September 11, 2023 • 23 mins
Celebrating his smash “Let Me Go” hitting #1 on the dance chart, Afrojack shares how the song was born w Theresa Rex! And how long ago they actually started working on it!!
Afrojack also shares the story behind his viral video of bringing a kid on stage w him that was front row at a festival he was playing! And why he decided to step back from social media.
Follow: @AmericasDance30 on all socials!
Count down the biggest dance songs in the country every week with Brian Fink on America’s Dance 30; listen on stations around the world!
Afrojack also shares the story behind his viral video of bringing a kid on stage w him that was front row at a festival he was playing! And why he decided to step back from social media.
Follow: @AmericasDance30 on all socials!
Count down the biggest dance songs in the country every week with Brian Fink on America’s Dance 30; listen on stations around the world!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
All right, got audio, gotvideo? You got audio? You got
a video? You got afro That'sall that matters. Dance counting down the
(00:23):
biggest dance songs in the country.This is America's Dance thirty. Afro Jack.
It has been way too long.Welcome back to America's Dance thirty.
Thank you, thank you. Howhave you been? I'm good. I've
been touring a lot this summer duringall around Europe bash Mikunos Italy, like
(00:45):
I've been everywhere. I just hada show in Kazakhstan this weekend and next
week I'm going to Uzbekistan. Somaking some interesting stuffs here and there.
What is it even like there?Like, what's the scene like there?
Interesting things? Like everyone when theysay Kazakhstan, they think like my sister.
(01:07):
But actually it's like it's almost likeSingapore. It's like a super advanced
society, is super high tech,very beautiful, everything's brand new. So
yeah, it's it's actually very impressive. I mean the airport, isn't the
airport's like out of the movie.I wasn't even thinking of the movie.
I was thinking more DJ Regard becauseRegard is from there, right, you
(01:30):
know, Imanbek is from Imanbek isfrom Kazakhstan, but DJ regard to no
way Kosovo, all right, youknow that's like like Kazakhstan is more like
Asia, Russia. Even Europeans don'tknow Albania is. Like it's very everyone
in Europe knows where Albania is.Did I just show how typical American I
(01:51):
am? It's okay, I dohave to say. It's like you know
where every state is. I knowwhere every state is because I traveled through
almost every state. But in Europe, like if you haven't actually been to
Europe, like there's so many countries. It's like Europe has its own states
early their countries. It's like Icannot blame you if you don't know that
(02:13):
Poland is next to Germany, andAustria's under Germany and Switzerland's under Austria's Like
it's like we grow up with it, you know, we get it in
school. You can actually drive itwith the car, so you're off no,
no, but like how long isit thank to drive from New York
to La oh god? At leasttwenty four hours. I'd imagine you can
(02:34):
drive from Amsterdam to Venice, Italyin twelve hours. And by doing that
you drive through Belgium, France,Germany, Switzerland and Italy in twelve hours.
So it's it's like like I livein Milana. If my studios in
Belgium, I drive up and downall the time. So it's like kind
(02:54):
of crazy when you think about it. Oh, yeah, today I've been
in Amsterdam, Belgium, France,Switzerland and Italy. It's like, wow,
that's so crazy. Actually it's notthat crazy. When I fly to
my studio, it's like one hourand twenty minutes flight. But that's got
to be such an amazing drive becauseyou're you're seeing so many different sceneries,
(03:15):
right, that's not that different.It's very there's a big cultural difference.
Of course, everyone speaks a differentlanguage, but like if you're going with
the car, like you're only seeingthe gas station, so it's like it's
not that different. It's the samething that like if you say like New
York and Miami, it's like it'svery different in the in the weather,
(03:38):
Like the weather is different, andit's the same if you go from Amsterdam
to Ibiza. Yeah, the weatheris very different. It's to our flight,
but like it's the same from NewYork to Miami's also to our flight.
Yeah, but I can assure youdriving in New York and driving Miami
are two different culture shocks. Yeah, well, of course, like are
(03:58):
you talking about Manhattan or just NewYork York in general. I'm just talking
about I mean comparing New York ingeneral to Miami. Well, you could
compare to New York to Florida.That's like two different things. But I
am. I am spending a lotof time in Miami. Have to say,
I really, I really like it. See a lot of headlines Florida.
Imm it doesn't happen anymore. No, it still does happen. Unfortunately,
(04:19):
Yes, it still happened. Thinkabout a crocodile in the swamp.
Let's not talk about Florida stuff.Let's talk about your number one Wait wait,
wait, I'm sorry. You livein Orlando, right, I live
in Tampa, Tampa, Okay,I have to come by, so I'm
gonna be. I'm gonna be inMiami for almost all of October and November
(04:41):
again, entering around America from there. Tampa was just rank sixteenth city in
the United States to survive a zombieapocalypse. If that tells you anything,
It's a good thing. Hey goTampa. Well, congratulations on another number
one with Teresa Rex. It wentnumber one last week. Let me go.
(05:04):
That's so awesome. Thank you,thank you very much. It's uh,
I'm lucky, me and Teresa.We made the song a while ago.
It was the first record I madeduring COVID, and then a year
later I completely redid all the production. Holy crap, I didn't even realize
that you've already played it for methat long ago. Yeah, yeah,
yeah, it's it's been out therefor a long time. But of course
(05:26):
we changed everything because like the soundchanged. Everything I played in my djsa
had changed, and then of courseduring COVID, I had no idea what
direction everything was going, so no, but yeah, that's that's the first
song actually that came out of COVID. So it did well. I'm very
happy. A big shout out,of course to everyone that supported it,
including yours. Truly, I think, thank you, thank you. It's
(05:54):
it's important, you know. It'slike I really started noticing in the in
the last years that like getting anumber one song isn't well of course,
like it's a big part about themusic, but it's also a big part
about finding people that can help presentthe song. I used to I used
to always say, like sorry,I used to always say, like effort.
(06:16):
I'm just gonna make music so goodthat it will reverberate automatically. And
then I noticed how much more funit is if you can work together with
people on music and on the promotionof music. That really changed a lot
for me. Yeah, and ofcourse let's shout out Carry Vans, who
always helps out. I mean,he always does such an incredible job getting
(06:36):
songs to number one. Well,before we delve deeper into this song to
find out how it was born,can we talk about how amazing the video
is that you posted of you bringingthat kid up on stage at the festival.
Ah. Yeah, and in Switzerlandthat was incredible. If you haven't
seen the video, hop on theafro Jack's ig. The kid was upfront
(06:59):
wearing an Afrojack hat and holding anAfrojack sign and you brought them up on
stage. What's crazy to me?That festival it was special because there was
these guys playing before me. Theirnames Offenbuck. They're getting some high right
now. They had a fan inthe crowd and they say, yeah,
come up, and like they puther in the DJ booth and like she
(07:24):
did a little thing for Instagram andthey were like filming it, and was
like, wait, is she reallya fan or did they just pay someone
to put up a sign and likefor the video shooter or whatever. So
I was watching that, I waslike, no, well, no,
she looks really happy, so it'sprobably real. Whatever, who cares.
Then I get those stage and Isee a family, but a family a
(07:46):
dad, a mom, a son, and I think two daughters. I'm
like, okay, that's that's cool. But they were all like wearing afro
jactually an afro jacket. I'm likereally like, this is my first time
in Switzerland in years, Like okay, well, I appreciate it. And
(08:07):
then then Fritz like okay, let'slet's get him on stage. We're like
yeah, sure, but I wasreally kind of like like surprised, like,
wow, I have these fans inSwitzerland. I didn't know. And
then the kid came on stage.It was so happy, it was crying.
I was like, WHOA, bringthe family up. So then at
the end of the show we gotthe whole family up to say hi and
stuff. It was pretty cool.The kid was very happy. Yeah,
(08:30):
it looks like it's interesting for me, because like I was like, oh,
well I have some fans. Yeah, open back, I have fans
too, So how much did youpay the family? No, I was
I was lucky. I've been lucky. I gotta tell you honestly. I
(08:58):
quit social media what no crap?Yeah, so I deleted Instagram and Twitter
off my phone x X yeah,and then now I have a private Instagram
account. I used to look atlike things I like personally, more like
interest stuff or funny memes or whatever. But I was really like like thinking,
(09:20):
like do I really want to knowwhat everyone is doing all the time?
Like do I really know that BrianFink is watching a movie tonight and
that Adam Rossikov is having dinner atMister Chaws and that this just happened at
Electric Zoo. By the way,it's funny, I didn't know I was
talking to someone. It's like,yeah, what we're doing with this New
(09:41):
York show? Oh yeah? Thepromoters not responding because of what happened with
the Electric Zoo. What happened withElectric Zoo? I didn't know anything because
I didn't watch social media, Soof course, very terrible everything that happened.
Very sad for all the fans thatI couldn't see their favorite artist.
Very sad for the promo older becausehe's in a world of poop right now.
(10:03):
Yeah, so very sad for everyone, but not sad for me because
I don't know. But like Ijust want to like imagine how my day
was, like going on social mediaand seeing this DJ played that new track,
This DJ did that. Maybe Ishould think about doing that too.
Oh wow, this problem. Ishould call my agent, I should call
(10:24):
the promoter, I should do this. No, you know what I did.
I had breakfast and I was thinking, like what kind of song should
I make today? So like Ireally have to say, like, of
course you need social media for workor for communication, but I would really
suggest to like put it in acertain moment in your life or like give
(10:50):
it a certain time, but youdon't need all that information. And for
me, it's like since I deletedit, like what a month ago or
something, it's so chill. It'sso nice. The only thing I do
have to say is like I reallymiss a fan interaction. That's that's that's
a big thing. Because of course, like before I could go on Twitter,
(11:13):
Instagram, so like, Yo,I'm doing this. What you think
about it? And now it's likeI'm doing this. Uh hey, Brian,
how are you? Oh so that'swhy I got videos of your dog
licking you. You know what?You can post the video you use,
you use it for your social mediaand you you tag me, And that's
(11:37):
something that I would usually post onmy own Instagram, And now I was
like, I don't have nothing topost. Sometimes it's okay, I gotta
tell you. I mean, I'mI'm severely jealous because social media as a
job is exhausting. It is acompletely separate career, so I totally get
it. I don't know if it'sgood for my business. I don't know
(11:58):
if it's good for afroject, butit's good for me and I am affroject,
so probably it will work itself out. I think it will. Well.
If you haven't heard yet, didyou hear what went on at Burning
Man? Oh? No, tellme, Oh seriously, you don't know.
No, no, I don't knowwhat happened. So do you remember
(12:20):
the last year of tomorrow world andhow it was, Yeah, this wouldn't
be a pocalypse soon. That's whathappened at Burning Man. But people know
that that's what they signed up for. It's it's a zone bee a pocalypse.
Yeah, but dude, people wereslower, no showers, no food,
good luck. But people were stuckthere because there was a crazy rainstorm
that came through and people were legitstuck there, like could not get out
(12:45):
of Burning Man. It was insane. All right, is everyone okay?
I'm gonna have to send you anewsletter so you're up with everything. I
have to say it's it's nice andthen I can actually hear about it from
a friend, which is even nicerthan seeing it on some random blow like
no disrespect, but you know,like you're gonna draw your own conclusions.
You don't know what happened. ButI have to say I was watching a
(13:09):
lot of burning Man DJ sets fromlast year, so yeah, burning Man
looks cool. You know. It'sinteresting right now that the whole like the
DJ scene, like everyone on theindustry side of things like, oh yeah,
you have to play this underground event, you have to play this,
you have to play more calm,Like I like calm music, but when
I go to a festival, Iwant to go hard. Right, I'm
(13:31):
sorry, I'm still going to gohard. I love kind of music amazing.
I can dance to it for threehours, four hours, and then
I want some Carl Cox to getinto the groove, and then some Swedish
house Mafia, and then I'll goon top of that with BP. Oh
(13:52):
my god, I have to snipjust that. I always I always said
this to people. It's like,just because you love chicken doesn't mean you
are chicken. Like sometimes I liketo eat salmon. Sometimes I like to
eat chicken. Sometimes I like toeat pancakes. I love pencakes, but
it's not like because I say Ilove pencakes. It's the only thing I
(14:13):
listened to ever. And that's likewhat you see a lot of the time
when there's like some hype coming upin the industry, everyone's trying to jump
on it, like, no,we're all tech house. Everyone has to
be tech house. It's like,no, no, it doesn't have to
be that way. I do haveto say, though, I really love
what I know. John Summit isAmerica's favorite, but I really love what
(14:33):
Fisher is doing with tech House JohnSummit too, But Fisher's approach to all
these records, and of course ChrisLake, it's very inspiring to see how
how people can put new breath,new life into a pretty long standing genre.
You know. By the way,Chris Lake has been like working at
it for years. I used toplay his records fifteen twenty years ago.
(14:56):
Yeah, so it's really good tosee, like now he's getting his moment
recognition over the last year. He'sreally ah yeah, he's the tech house
guard Like yeah, he actually wasfor twenty years. But sometimes you have
to just keep going and then atsome point you get the respect twenty years
later. That's crazy. Yeah,well right, respect man. Yeah,
(15:28):
really quickly, Let's go back tothat video of that kid, which you
know I've been to can't even tellyou how many festivals as an adult.
I mean, that's a life changingmoment for that kid to be able to
get up on stage with you.So it's really incredible. He told me
he wanted to be a DJ.That's amazing. I think he believes he
can. Do You remember the firstfestival that you ever went to cal Cook
(15:50):
some friends in Ahoy, Rotterdam.Did you ever tell him, Matt,
Oh, yeah, I told him, you know, like we don't.
It's very funny because like a lotof people like, wow, what was
your first festival and then like usas DJ is like we don't care at
all. So like someone comes tome, it's like, hey, man,
(16:10):
I saw you at the first festivaland now I'm a DJ too,
Like that's nice. And I cameto cal Cox it was like that was
funny. The first time I everwent to a festival was cal Cox in
France, hill in right today andit's like, oh that's nice. No
one cares like you're here now,So it's funny, Like how those things,
(16:32):
even though they're like they're supposed tobe impactful, they're just another building
block of the entire story. Thething is, I have to say,
I think that the most significant buildingblocks are the ones you don't talk about.
Where you're in the studio for twelvehours and nothing comes out. You
stay the thirteenth hour and then itdoes come out, or like this type
(16:53):
of stuff, you know, youknow, the endles of hours you pour
into your work and nothing happens,and then something happens and it's like,
oh wow, it's magic. It'slike, yeah, sure it was magic,
and I've been trying for some hoursand the endless hours that nobody sees.
That's like the really good stuff likethat. You know, you're not
(17:15):
out there at the festival. That'sthe that's the gold right there. Yeah.
So so it's a thing actually whenyou think about it, like when
you think you see someone do withDJ set. I don't know how deep
people prepare, but like for me, like I'm working in record books and
and uh Efel Studio, like myproduction program to make edits and to plan
(17:36):
days in advance, and not evento plan like a full set, but
just to I want to make surethat like someone's going to be in the
audience and listen and go like ohwow, that's school. Oh wow,
what was that? And doesn't haveto be everyone, but just like one
person that family up front one hatslike nah, effort ex old and it's
(18:00):
like, oh but that was prettycool, you know. Like I put
a lot of effort in all thoseedits, mashup new drops. You know,
a lot of times I actually makerecords for the sets and I only
play them once or twice or maybefor like two months, and I just
I never even released them. It'sjust like I made it for the set.
Yeah, you've shared with us inthe past about you know, I
(18:22):
want to say for Ultra that youspend like months planning out your set.
Yeah, because Ultra is always likethe moment, you cannot do what you
did last year. So whatever Idid this summer, I cannot do it
Ultra because it would be a repetition. And it's not just because it's Ultra
Music Festival. It's because of thestream and what goes on YouTube afterwards.
(18:45):
And this is how I experienced it. Every year I go on YouTube and
everyone kind of gets to present themselveswith their Ultra set. The same thing
with Tomorrowland in the summer, likeeveryone gets to present themselves what is your
summer thing during Tomorrow? So Itake it's serious. But I have to
say, I see so many livesets coming on now, people broadcasting their
(19:07):
Brooklyn Barrage sets, other sets,so there's like people doing a Space Miami
uploading that. So it's actually becominga more more steady playing field throughout the
year, which I think is nicebecause it's low. It lowers the pressure
for every set because it's not like, oh, this set has to be
perfect. No, it's like youcan do a few sets and just upload
(19:30):
them. That being said, you'restill going to plan for months for ultra.
Oh yeah, exactly my favorite.It's still to me, it's like
the relevancy wise, it's the numberone music festival in the world when it
comes to relevancy. I gotta behonest, I wish Tomorrow World had survived
because that was such an incredible festival. I talked to the Tomorrowland guys a
(19:55):
lot, and they're planning a lotof things. And also, like I
was watching today, I was watchinga review of some rock guys, like
three or four rock guys. Theygo to all the rock concerts and festivals,
and they said, we're going togo to Tomorrowland. And they don't
like em, they don't like techno, nothing like that, but they just
wanted to experience it. And Tomorrowlandthey said, it's like, by far,
(20:18):
quality wise, the best festival they'veever seen. But have you been
there? No, I haven't,but I was at Tomorrow World. Look
like Disneyland. It's ridiculous based onwhat they did with Tomorrow World in Atlanta.
I mean they took the entire forestand made it into a festival,
which was just unbelievable, Like eventhe trees were lit up. Everything was
(20:38):
just so amazing. Yeah, that'sthat's Tomorrowland. It's like completely next level.
Only then in America they had thewalking that situation, it happened,
poor one. Yeah, in Europethat never happened. If you ever get
the chest to like see it.I would also suggest to any EDM fan
in the world, if you everget a chance to go outside of America,
(21:00):
make sure to visit tomorrow Land.Well, let's talk about your latest
number one, this smash with TeresaRex. I can't believe that you started
working on it that long ago.How was it born? With Teresa?
I was in touch with her.We're talking about a few songs that she
already wrote, and then this one. She wrote a part of it,
but it wasn't finished. But Ireally, really, I really really loved
(21:23):
the vocal and I really love herson. She has a very distinct sound
in her voice. And then Istarted working on it, and I remember
this was during COVID. I wasjust I made like ten different versions and
the tenth one was so cool andI was so happy, and I just
let it repeat for hours and hoursdays from my studio through my entire house.
(21:49):
And then yeah, then, likeCOVID stayed for a while, and
then a year later, year anda half later, it was finally ready
to put out, and then theentire sound changed, the entire sounds so
it sounded super old, so thatI was like, I have to completely
redo it. So the final version. So the final version, which was
(22:15):
it closest to out of the eleventhat you produced, It was very close
to the final one. I justchanged the beats, I changed the tempo,
changed some of the instruments. Yeah, I changed some things. I
say so well, congratulations on itgoing number one. That is so amazing.
Next time we chat, I expectyou to be wearing a Brian Fink
(22:38):
shirt. You're gonna send me one, like, for real, make me
one. I'll make your one offjust for you. Make me one off,
double excel to make sure, like, because I'm working out a lot
now, so sometimes I'm super buff, sometimes I'm super skinny or so like
a little bit chubby, So makea double excels So if it is for
(23:00):
sure all right? That sounds good. Nick Afrojack, congratulations on another number
one. It's always awesome chatting withyou. Thank you so much for your
time on America's Dance thirty. Thankyou so much. See zoom America's Dance
thirty's counting down the biggest dance songsin the country. America's Dance thirty
All right, got audio, gotvideo? You got audio? You got
a video? You got afro That'sall that matters. Dance counting down the
(00:23):
biggest dance songs in the country.This is America's Dance thirty. Afro Jack.
It has been way too long.Welcome back to America's Dance thirty.
Thank you, thank you. Howhave you been? I'm good. I've
been touring a lot this summer duringall around Europe bash Mikunos Italy, like
(00:45):
I've been everywhere. I just hada show in Kazakhstan this weekend and next
week I'm going to Uzbekistan. Somaking some interesting stuffs here and there.
What is it even like there?Like, what's the scene like there?
Interesting things? Like everyone when theysay Kazakhstan, they think like my sister.
(01:07):
But actually it's like it's almost likeSingapore. It's like a super advanced
society, is super high tech,very beautiful, everything's brand new. So
yeah, it's it's actually very impressive. I mean the airport, isn't the
airport's like out of the movie.I wasn't even thinking of the movie.
I was thinking more DJ Regard becauseRegard is from there, right, you
(01:30):
know, Imanbek is from Imanbek isfrom Kazakhstan, but DJ regard to no
way Kosovo, all right, youknow that's like like Kazakhstan is more like
Asia, Russia. Even Europeans don'tknow Albania is. Like it's very everyone
in Europe knows where Albania is.Did I just show how typical American I
(01:51):
am? It's okay, I dohave to say. It's like you know
where every state is. I knowwhere every state is because I traveled through
almost every state. But in Europe, like if you haven't actually been to
Europe, like there's so many countries. It's like Europe has its own states
early their countries. It's like Icannot blame you if you don't know that
(02:13):
Poland is next to Germany, andAustria's under Germany and Switzerland's under Austria's Like
it's like we grow up with it, you know, we get it in
school. You can actually drive itwith the car, so you're off no,
no, but like how long isit thank to drive from New York
to La oh god? At leasttwenty four hours. I'd imagine you can
(02:34):
drive from Amsterdam to Venice, Italyin twelve hours. And by doing that
you drive through Belgium, France,Germany, Switzerland and Italy in twelve hours.
So it's it's like like I livein Milana. If my studios in
Belgium, I drive up and downall the time. So it's like kind
(02:54):
of crazy when you think about it. Oh, yeah, today I've been
in Amsterdam, Belgium, France,Switzerland and Italy. It's like, wow,
that's so crazy. Actually it's notthat crazy. When I fly to
my studio, it's like one hourand twenty minutes flight. But that's got
to be such an amazing drive becauseyou're you're seeing so many different sceneries,
(03:15):
right, that's not that different.It's very there's a big cultural difference.
Of course, everyone speaks a differentlanguage, but like if you're going with
the car, like you're only seeingthe gas station, so it's like it's
not that different. It's the samething that like if you say like New
York and Miami, it's like it'svery different in the in the weather,
(03:38):
Like the weather is different, andit's the same if you go from Amsterdam
to Ibiza. Yeah, the weatheris very different. It's to our flight,
but like it's the same from NewYork to Miami's also to our flight.
Yeah, but I can assure youdriving in New York and driving Miami
are two different culture shocks. Yeah, well, of course, like are
(03:58):
you talking about Manhattan or just NewYork York in general. I'm just talking
about I mean comparing New York ingeneral to Miami. Well, you could
compare to New York to Florida.That's like two different things. But I
am. I am spending a lotof time in Miami. Have to say,
I really, I really like it. See a lot of headlines Florida.
Imm it doesn't happen anymore. No, it still does happen. Unfortunately,
(04:19):
Yes, it still happened. Thinkabout a crocodile in the swamp.
Let's not talk about Florida stuff.Let's talk about your number one Wait wait,
wait, I'm sorry. You livein Orlando, right, I live
in Tampa, Tampa, Okay,I have to come by, so I'm
gonna be. I'm gonna be inMiami for almost all of October and November
(04:41):
again, entering around America from there. Tampa was just rank sixteenth city in
the United States to survive a zombieapocalypse. If that tells you anything,
It's a good thing. Hey goTampa. Well, congratulations on another number
one with Teresa Rex. It wentnumber one last week. Let me go.
(05:04):
That's so awesome. Thank you,thank you very much. It's uh,
I'm lucky, me and Teresa.We made the song a while ago.
It was the first record I madeduring COVID, and then a year
later I completely redid all the production. Holy crap, I didn't even realize
that you've already played it for methat long ago. Yeah, yeah,
yeah, it's it's been out therefor a long time. But of course
(05:26):
we changed everything because like the soundchanged. Everything I played in my djsa
had changed, and then of courseduring COVID, I had no idea what
direction everything was going, so no, but yeah, that's that's the first
song actually that came out of COVID. So it did well. I'm very
happy. A big shout out,of course to everyone that supported it,
including yours. Truly, I think, thank you, thank you. It's
(05:54):
it's important, you know. It'slike I really started noticing in the in
the last years that like getting anumber one song isn't well of course,
like it's a big part about themusic, but it's also a big part
about finding people that can help presentthe song. I used to I used
to always say, like sorry,I used to always say, like effort.
(06:16):
I'm just gonna make music so goodthat it will reverberate automatically. And
then I noticed how much more funit is if you can work together with
people on music and on the promotionof music. That really changed a lot
for me. Yeah, and ofcourse let's shout out Carry Vans, who
always helps out. I mean,he always does such an incredible job getting
(06:36):
songs to number one. Well,before we delve deeper into this song to
find out how it was born,can we talk about how amazing the video
is that you posted of you bringingthat kid up on stage at the festival.
Ah. Yeah, and in Switzerlandthat was incredible. If you haven't
seen the video, hop on theafro Jack's ig. The kid was upfront
(06:59):
wearing an Afrojack hat and holding anAfrojack sign and you brought them up on
stage. What's crazy to me?That festival it was special because there was
these guys playing before me. Theirnames Offenbuck. They're getting some high right
now. They had a fan inthe crowd and they say, yeah,
come up, and like they puther in the DJ booth and like she
(07:24):
did a little thing for Instagram andthey were like filming it, and was
like, wait, is she reallya fan or did they just pay someone
to put up a sign and likefor the video shooter or whatever. So
I was watching that, I waslike, no, well, no,
she looks really happy, so it'sprobably real. Whatever, who cares.
Then I get those stage and Isee a family, but a family a
(07:46):
dad, a mom, a son, and I think two daughters. I'm
like, okay, that's that's cool. But they were all like wearing afro
jactually an afro jacket. I'm likereally like, this is my first time
in Switzerland in years, Like okay, well, I appreciate it. And
(08:07):
then then Fritz like okay, let'slet's get him on stage. We're like
yeah, sure, but I wasreally kind of like like surprised, like,
wow, I have these fans inSwitzerland. I didn't know. And
then the kid came on stage.It was so happy, it was crying.
I was like, WHOA, bringthe family up. So then at
the end of the show we gotthe whole family up to say hi and
stuff. It was pretty cool.The kid was very happy. Yeah,
(08:30):
it looks like it's interesting for me, because like I was like, oh,
well I have some fans. Yeah, open back, I have fans
too, So how much did youpay the family? No, I was
I was lucky. I've been lucky. I gotta tell you honestly. I
(08:58):
quit social media what no crap?Yeah, so I deleted Instagram and Twitter
off my phone x X yeah,and then now I have a private Instagram
account. I used to look atlike things I like personally, more like
interest stuff or funny memes or whatever. But I was really like like thinking,
(09:20):
like do I really want to knowwhat everyone is doing all the time?
Like do I really know that BrianFink is watching a movie tonight and
that Adam Rossikov is having dinner atMister Chaws and that this just happened at
Electric Zoo. By the way,it's funny, I didn't know I was
talking to someone. It's like,yeah, what we're doing with this New
(09:41):
York show? Oh yeah? Thepromoters not responding because of what happened with
the Electric Zoo. What happened withElectric Zoo? I didn't know anything because
I didn't watch social media, Soof course, very terrible everything that happened.
Very sad for all the fans thatI couldn't see their favorite artist.
Very sad for the promo older becausehe's in a world of poop right now.
(10:03):
Yeah, so very sad for everyone, but not sad for me because
I don't know. But like Ijust want to like imagine how my day
was, like going on social mediaand seeing this DJ played that new track,
This DJ did that. Maybe Ishould think about doing that too.
Oh wow, this problem. Ishould call my agent, I should call
(10:24):
the promoter, I should do this. No, you know what I did.
I had breakfast and I was thinking, like what kind of song should
I make today? So like Ireally have to say, like, of
course you need social media for workor for communication, but I would really
suggest to like put it in acertain moment in your life or like give
(10:50):
it a certain time, but youdon't need all that information. And for
me, it's like since I deletedit, like what a month ago or
something, it's so chill. It'sso nice. The only thing I do
have to say is like I reallymiss a fan interaction. That's that's that's
a big thing. Because of course, like before I could go on Twitter,
(11:13):
Instagram, so like, Yo,I'm doing this. What you think
about it? And now it's likeI'm doing this. Uh hey, Brian,
how are you? Oh so that'swhy I got videos of your dog
licking you. You know what?You can post the video you use,
you use it for your social mediaand you you tag me, And that's
(11:37):
something that I would usually post onmy own Instagram, And now I was
like, I don't have nothing topost. Sometimes it's okay, I gotta
tell you. I mean, I'mI'm severely jealous because social media as a
job is exhausting. It is acompletely separate career, so I totally get
it. I don't know if it'sgood for my business. I don't know
(11:58):
if it's good for afroject, butit's good for me and I am affroject,
so probably it will work itself out. I think it will. Well.
If you haven't heard yet, didyou hear what went on at Burning
Man? Oh? No, tellme, Oh seriously, you don't know.
No, no, I don't knowwhat happened. So do you remember
(12:20):
the last year of tomorrow world andhow it was, Yeah, this wouldn't
be a pocalypse soon. That's whathappened at Burning Man. But people know
that that's what they signed up for. It's it's a zone bee a pocalypse.
Yeah, but dude, people wereslower, no showers, no food,
good luck. But people were stuckthere because there was a crazy rainstorm
that came through and people were legitstuck there, like could not get out
(12:45):
of Burning Man. It was insane. All right, is everyone okay?
I'm gonna have to send you anewsletter so you're up with everything. I
have to say it's it's nice andthen I can actually hear about it from
a friend, which is even nicerthan seeing it on some random blow like
no disrespect, but you know,like you're gonna draw your own conclusions.
You don't know what happened. ButI have to say I was watching a
(13:09):
lot of burning Man DJ sets fromlast year, so yeah, burning Man
looks cool. You know. It'sinteresting right now that the whole like the
DJ scene, like everyone on theindustry side of things like, oh yeah,
you have to play this underground event, you have to play this,
you have to play more calm,Like I like calm music, but when
I go to a festival, Iwant to go hard. Right, I'm
(13:31):
sorry, I'm still going to gohard. I love kind of music amazing.
I can dance to it for threehours, four hours, and then
I want some Carl Cox to getinto the groove, and then some Swedish
house Mafia, and then I'll goon top of that with BP. Oh
(13:52):
my god, I have to snipjust that. I always I always said
this to people. It's like,just because you love chicken doesn't mean you
are chicken. Like sometimes I liketo eat salmon. Sometimes I like to
eat chicken. Sometimes I like toeat pancakes. I love pencakes, but
it's not like because I say Ilove pencakes. It's the only thing I
(14:13):
listened to ever. And that's likewhat you see a lot of the time
when there's like some hype coming upin the industry, everyone's trying to jump
on it, like, no,we're all tech house. Everyone has to
be tech house. It's like,no, no, it doesn't have to
be that way. I do haveto say, though, I really love
what I know. John Summit isAmerica's favorite, but I really love what
(14:33):
Fisher is doing with tech House JohnSummit too, But Fisher's approach to all
these records, and of course ChrisLake, it's very inspiring to see how
how people can put new breath,new life into a pretty long standing genre.
You know. By the way,Chris Lake has been like working at
it for years. I used toplay his records fifteen twenty years ago.
(14:56):
Yeah, so it's really good tosee, like now he's getting his moment
recognition over the last year. He'sreally ah yeah, he's the tech house
guard Like yeah, he actually wasfor twenty years. But sometimes you have
to just keep going and then atsome point you get the respect twenty years
later. That's crazy. Yeah,well right, respect man. Yeah,
(15:28):
really quickly, Let's go back tothat video of that kid, which you
know I've been to can't even tellyou how many festivals as an adult.
I mean, that's a life changingmoment for that kid to be able to
get up on stage with you.So it's really incredible. He told me
he wanted to be a DJ.That's amazing. I think he believes he
can. Do You remember the firstfestival that you ever went to cal Cook
(15:50):
some friends in Ahoy, Rotterdam.Did you ever tell him, Matt,
Oh, yeah, I told him, you know, like we don't.
It's very funny because like a lotof people like, wow, what was
your first festival and then like usas DJ is like we don't care at
all. So like someone comes tome, it's like, hey, man,
(16:10):
I saw you at the first festivaland now I'm a DJ too,
Like that's nice. And I cameto cal Cox it was like that was
funny. The first time I everwent to a festival was cal Cox in
France, hill in right today andit's like, oh that's nice. No
one cares like you're here now,So it's funny, Like how those things,
(16:32):
even though they're like they're supposed tobe impactful, they're just another building
block of the entire story. Thething is, I have to say,
I think that the most significant buildingblocks are the ones you don't talk about.
Where you're in the studio for twelvehours and nothing comes out. You
stay the thirteenth hour and then itdoes come out, or like this type
(16:53):
of stuff, you know, youknow, the endles of hours you pour
into your work and nothing happens,and then something happens and it's like,
oh wow, it's magic. It'slike, yeah, sure it was magic,
and I've been trying for some hoursand the endless hours that nobody sees.
That's like the really good stuff likethat. You know, you're not
(17:15):
out there at the festival. That'sthe that's the gold right there. Yeah.
So so it's a thing actually whenyou think about it, like when
you think you see someone do withDJ set. I don't know how deep
people prepare, but like for me, like I'm working in record books and
and uh Efel Studio, like myproduction program to make edits and to plan
(17:36):
days in advance, and not evento plan like a full set, but
just to I want to make surethat like someone's going to be in the
audience and listen and go like ohwow, that's school. Oh wow,
what was that? And doesn't haveto be everyone, but just like one
person that family up front one hatslike nah, effort ex old and it's
(18:00):
like, oh but that was prettycool, you know. Like I put
a lot of effort in all thoseedits, mashup new drops. You know,
a lot of times I actually makerecords for the sets and I only
play them once or twice or maybefor like two months, and I just
I never even released them. It'sjust like I made it for the set.
Yeah, you've shared with us inthe past about you know, I
(18:22):
want to say for Ultra that youspend like months planning out your set.
Yeah, because Ultra is always likethe moment, you cannot do what you
did last year. So whatever Idid this summer, I cannot do it
Ultra because it would be a repetition. And it's not just because it's Ultra
Music Festival. It's because of thestream and what goes on YouTube afterwards.
(18:45):
And this is how I experienced it. Every year I go on YouTube and
everyone kind of gets to present themselveswith their Ultra set. The same thing
with Tomorrowland in the summer, likeeveryone gets to present themselves what is your
summer thing during Tomorrow? So Itake it's serious. But I have to
say, I see so many livesets coming on now, people broadcasting their
(19:07):
Brooklyn Barrage sets, other sets,so there's like people doing a Space Miami
uploading that. So it's actually becominga more more steady playing field throughout the
year, which I think is nicebecause it's low. It lowers the pressure
for every set because it's not like, oh, this set has to be
perfect. No, it's like youcan do a few sets and just upload
(19:30):
them. That being said, you'restill going to plan for months for ultra.
Oh yeah, exactly my favorite.It's still to me, it's like
the relevancy wise, it's the numberone music festival in the world when it
comes to relevancy. I gotta behonest, I wish Tomorrow World had survived
because that was such an incredible festival. I talked to the Tomorrowland guys a
(19:55):
lot, and they're planning a lotof things. And also, like I
was watching today, I was watchinga review of some rock guys, like
three or four rock guys. Theygo to all the rock concerts and festivals,
and they said, we're going togo to Tomorrowland. And they don't
like em, they don't like techno, nothing like that, but they just
wanted to experience it. And Tomorrowlandthey said, it's like, by far,
(20:18):
quality wise, the best festival they'veever seen. But have you been
there? No, I haven't,but I was at Tomorrow World. Look
like Disneyland. It's ridiculous based onwhat they did with Tomorrow World in Atlanta.
I mean they took the entire forestand made it into a festival,
which was just unbelievable, Like eventhe trees were lit up. Everything was
(20:38):
just so amazing. Yeah, that'sthat's Tomorrowland. It's like completely next level.
Only then in America they had thewalking that situation, it happened,
poor one. Yeah, in Europethat never happened. If you ever get
the chest to like see it.I would also suggest to any EDM fan
in the world, if you everget a chance to go outside of America,
(21:00):
make sure to visit tomorrow Land.Well, let's talk about your latest
number one, this smash with TeresaRex. I can't believe that you started
working on it that long ago.How was it born? With Teresa?
I was in touch with her.We're talking about a few songs that she
already wrote, and then this one. She wrote a part of it,
but it wasn't finished. But Ireally, really, I really really loved
(21:23):
the vocal and I really love herson. She has a very distinct sound
in her voice. And then Istarted working on it, and I remember
this was during COVID. I wasjust I made like ten different versions and
the tenth one was so cool andI was so happy, and I just
let it repeat for hours and hoursdays from my studio through my entire house.
(21:49):
And then yeah, then, likeCOVID stayed for a while, and
then a year later, year anda half later, it was finally ready
to put out, and then theentire sound changed, the entire sounds so
it sounded super old, so thatI was like, I have to completely
redo it. So the final version. So the final version, which was
(22:15):
it closest to out of the eleventhat you produced, It was very close
to the final one. I justchanged the beats, I changed the tempo,
changed some of the instruments. Yeah, I changed some things. I
say so well, congratulations on itgoing number one. That is so amazing.
Next time we chat, I expectyou to be wearing a Brian Fink
(22:38):
shirt. You're gonna send me one, like, for real, make me
one. I'll make your one offjust for you. Make me one off,
double excel to make sure, like, because I'm working out a lot
now, so sometimes I'm super buff, sometimes I'm super skinny or so like
a little bit chubby, So makea double excels So if it is for
(23:00):
sure all right? That sounds good. Nick Afrojack, congratulations on another number
one. It's always awesome chatting withyou. Thank you so much for your
time on America's Dance thirty. Thankyou so much. See zoom America's Dance
thirty's counting down the biggest dance songsin the country. America's Dance thirty
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