Hardwell announced his hiatus from touring in September 2018, and it’s now been a full calendar year without seeing his name at the top of festival lineups. If you’ve felt a sort of unidentifiable unease when seeing all the lineups drop, that probably had something to do with it.
Now, in the second episode of the official Revealed Podcast, Hardwell opens up for the first time since that announcement over a year ago. Over the course of the 60 minutes, he hits on all the topics you’d expect: why he’s taking a break, when he’s coming back…
Hardwell says he’s never been happier spending time with family and friends and just “enjoying life.” Things we all take for granted like doing our own grocery shopping or even just seeing our friends on their birthdays, he’s really been able to experience again for probably the first time in years. 
In speaking about the reasoning behind his break, he admitted that Avicii had a lot to do with it.
“When Tim died, for me, that was an eye opener. I wanted to make the best out of [my life]. Taking some time off, not that I really needed the time off, it felt like, ‘I need to take a step back right now to come back stronger than ever.’ That was the purpose of taking the break.”
And as for when he’s coming back, there’s less of a definite answer. “The honest answer is I don’t know. I’m working on a lot of music right now, I’m getting more satisfied every day when I come back to the studio. […] I wanna get that butterflies in my stomach feeling before I get on stage, but I want to get them right now in the studio.
“The moment I get that feeling, that crazy excitement, I will be back right away.”
It’s a long interview, but watching the whole thing is worth it. Catch it below.
