If we had to pick the DJs DJ of EDM, few names would fit the bill better than Oliver Heldens. Someone who prides himself on creative tune selection, hes just as likely to play tech-house as he is future house and disco in an EDM set. And thats just when hes playing as Oliver Heldens. His more underground alter ego HI-LO is strictly driving tech-house and techno. “I play tech-house but Im not a techno DJ. I play mainly house — future house,” he tells DJ Mag. “I play anything thats groovy, old house stuff or electro-house.”
While before he felt a little out of place dropping his tunes on EDMs main stages, over the past 12 months he found himself playing slots at crossover festivals like Lollapalooza and Glastonbury, and it was as if something clicked. “Now I can rock the main stage,” he adds. “A lot of commercial stuff mixed with cool club records and it goes off, and Im happy with that.”
However, hes not bothered about working on a live show or becoming the next EDM pop star. Its as a disc jockey that his heart lies. “I prefer to DJ. As a DJ you can play a lot of different stuff and you can play on the fly — but with live stuff, youre really bound to what you can do live.”
Its his appreciation of all types of dance music — something borne into him since the age of 10, growing up in Rotterdam listening to hard dance — that marks him out as one of EDMs leading selectors. Hes someone who appreciates disco and the groove of classic house as much as he does drum
℗ Atlantic Records, ℗ 2020 Artist Partner Group, Inc.
Recorded by: Ben Hogarth
Masterer: Chris Gehringer
Bass, Guitar, Keyboards, Programmer: Emanuel «Eman» Kiriakou
Editor, Engineer, Producer: Emanuel «Eman» Kiriakou
Vocals: Jason Desrouleaux
Engineer: John Hanes
Mixer: Serban Ghenea
Bass, Guitar, Keyboards, Programmer: Teemu Brunila
Editor: Teemu Brunila
Producer, Recorded by: Teemu Brunila
Writer: Jason Desrouleaux
Writer: Emanuel Kiriakou
Writer: Teemu Brunila
Writer: Sarah Solovay
Writer: Shawn Charles
ahhhhhh r u ok is finally out!!! really listen to the lyrics — this ones a special one to me. i love you guys soooo much. lemme kno what u guys think of this vid in the comments. GO STREAM ON SPOTIFY, APPLE AND ALL PLATFORMS!
love, tate smarturl.it/ruokx
Are you okay?
‘Cause you’re the one who needed space
And finally now I’m doing fine
You would rather see me cry
Are you okay?
You’re acting like we never changed
And finally I can sleep at night
Makes you wanna lose your mind
I know that you’ve been scared of love
And everything it did to us
But how am I supposed to open up?
When you were just so good at closing off
You’re up and down, I’m inside out
You ripped my heart right from my mouth
And then I had to go and pick it up
And play it like I didn’t give a fuck
You called up my phone 50 times from that party
3am, you thought I’d be there in a heartbeat
It’s your life but you might wanna put down the Bacardi
Mean this sincerely dude
Are you okay?
‘Cause you’re the one who needed space
And finally now I’m doing fine
You would rather see me cry
Are you okay?
You’re acting like we never changed
And finally I can sleep at night
Makes you wanna lose your mind
You called my friends, you called my Dad
You begged for help to win me back
And they would never say it to your face
But no, they never liked you anyways
You missed my birthday and my shows
You made me feel so damn alone
And somehow now you got so much to say
Don’t got time to listen anyway
You called up my phone 50 times from that party
3am, you thought I’d be there in a heartbeat
It’s your life but you might wanna put down the Bacardi
mean this sincerely dude
Are you okay?
‘Cause you’re the one who needed space
And finally now I’m doing fine
You would rather see me cry
Are you okay?
You’re acting like we never changed
And finally I can sleep at night
makes you wanna lose your mind
CREDITS
DIRECTOR — JORDAN HALL
PRODUCER — JEFF SO
DOP — DENNIS GRISHNIN
EDITOR VFX — PHILIP SPORTEL
COLOR — CLINTON HOMUTH
CREATIVE DIRECTOR — EDDIE MANDELL