After the debacle that was the Chicago Tribune interview with Skrillex, I suppose we should give Portland’s Sun Times some slack, because the interviewer did a decent job interviewing the world’s #1 DJ, Hardwell. They kept the questions general, but on topic, and never once assumed to know something that Hardwell hadn’t said before.
Although questions such as “How are your American fans different from your European or other international fans?” and “How do you balance innovating with pleasing your fans and staying true to your sound?” were asked (very, very tired questions), we were able to find out a bit of new info concerning Dutch House Mafia and even his debut as a voice actor.
Regarding Dutch House Mafia, Hardwell said, “I always say, in Holland, there’s one big Dutch House Mafia instead of like three guys from Sweden.” Almost a month ago, we reported on a possible supergroup (though it was a bit tongue in cheek) between Dutch stars Dannic, Dyro and Hardwell – the former two being proteges and signed to Hardwell’s Revealed Recordings label. In reality, the limits of Dutch House Mafia are endless, and an open invitation extends to any Dutch DJ to join in on the fun.
Hardwell also said that he’s carrying on the legacy of Tiesto, who mentored Hardwell and helped him rise to stardom when he was just starting out.
STN: Do you feel like you’re paying it forward and carrying on a tradition started by older DJs like Tiesto?
H: Definitely. Tiesto took me under his wing, and now I can do the same thing for other guys.
When Hardwell isn’t at work, touring or producing music, he’s found some time to cross an item off his bucket list – voice acting.
STN: You’ve traveled the world, released an album and become the No. 1 DJ in the world, things most people dream of. So what’s on your bucket list?
H: Well, I actually just fulfilled one of the things on my bucket list in Holland. You know that the new “Minions” film is coming out, right? I did one of the voices for one of the characters in Dutch, in the Dutch version of the movie.
Being a voice actor, I’ve always wanted to do something like that. I play Walter Jr., he’s one of the guys on the big criminal tour, one of the criminals in the movie.
We were kind of hoping he would play Kevin, but oh well.
Read the whole interview from the Sun Times here.