Interview with Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike before their performance at Tomorrowland 2011
Just in the knick of time, and with Tomorrowland 2011 looming large, homegrown superstar siblings ‘Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike’ join forces with Grammy award winning ‘Afrojack’, and irresistible Aussie twins ‘Nervo’ – the production duo behind the likes of Kylie Minogue, and Britney Spears – to deliver this year’s official Tomorrowland anthem! Entitled The Way We See The World, this eagerly awaited festival smasher is finally upon us, so keep your ears to the ground and feet ready to move, because this one’s insanely good!
Following on from the unprecedented success and popularity of last year’s anthem Tomorrow (feat. Dada life & Tara McDonald), the Belgian brothers were unsurprisingly commissioned to create the anthem for the second year. This time, and with global superstars Afrojack and Nervo on board, they have successfully managed to generate an entirely different, yet equally worthy, interpretation. Trademark Dimitri-Mike melodies and euphoric interludes, mind-warping Nervo vocals, and dark industrial, metallic, Afro-esque basslines – this gritty, up-beat anthem has attitude in spades. Drawing inspiration from all angles, the world-class collective exceed all expectations with a record that proves to us all that five heads are definitely better than one!
With Tomorrowland 2011 but moments away, trying to control the overwhelming excitement is proving difficult to say the least. The mere thought of how The Way We See The World will go down when performed LIVE on the festival main stage doesn’t even bare thinking about – equally at home in the early hours of dark clubs and muddy tents, don’t be surprised if you hear it everywhere you go this summer.
It was more than natural and demanded by our web site visitors to request once again an interview with Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike to find out all the backstage little details of the production of The Way We See The World and of course to check if they are excited as we are too of course for their performance at the ID&T main stage Saturday 23rd of July and for their own Smash The House stage on Sunday 24th of July at this year’s 3 days Tomorrowland festival in Belgium.
Belgium's favorite electronic brothers return once again to take on two of the biggest challenges in one weekend! Chosen as second best act right after David Guetta by the crowd last year… Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike will perform the infamous main stage on Saturday, and then return on Sunday to host their very own Smash The House arena!
There is only one way these boys are going, and that’s straight to the top! Having already delivered a slew of top tracks and remixes on A-list labels like Axwell’s Axtone, Sebastian Ingrosso’s Refune, Juicy Music and Defected, and with remixes aplenty for musical heroes like Snoop Dogg, Tiesto, Nelly Furtado, Sean Paul and Florence & The Machine - their music and radio show is invading airwaves, charts and playlists worldwide.
With their new ‘One Look’ rework alongside Axwell out now, an upcoming single on Steve Angello’s Size Records, a release on Steve Aoki's DimMak and stack of collaborations with some of the globe’s finest artists, 2011 promises to be an unforgettable year for the brothers!
Interview is written and conducted by Dimitri Kechagias “Flux presents House Anthems Only radio show”
Dimitri: Its big pleasure to have another hot interview with you guys after the last year. I would like to know as first question if you consider that to be headliners at last year’s Tomorrowland and to have your own “Smash The House” stage have helped your career to progress and reach even a higher status?
Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike: Definitely, it was kind of a big deal for us since we got such a great spot from the first year on the Main Stage... ever since then, we noticed people took us a lot more seriously than before. It was an amazing experience that we'll never forget and we can't wait for the next one!
Dimitri: This year you perform on the same day and on the same stage with the legend Dj Tiesto. What is your opinion about him and his decision to move from Trance to more progressive house sound something that more trance djs are doing nowadays? i.e. even Armin van Buuren had a number 1 at beatport trance chart with a prog house mix of Avicii.
Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike: Tijs is great... we respect him a lot! It took courage for him to take such a drastic turn in his career... but he showed that he is one of the most versatile DJs & producers around and still on top of the game!
Dimitri: Have you ever performed again on the same stage with Tiesto and are you looking forward for this experience to happen?
Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike: No… it's our first time... we're pretty nervous about it to be honest! :)
Dimitri: This year ID&T Belgium decided to extend the festival from 2 days to 3 days. What is your opinion about this decision and do you think that the festival will be successful as it was last year and the 3rd day added will be for good?
Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike: Man... they sold out in less than 2 weeks! :) I think that says enough... I think it's a bold and irreversible move to add another day to the festival but there is no doubt in our mind they will succeed! ID&T are the best in what they do... so it will be a big success!
Dimitri: From this year’s lineup are there any djs that you are looking forward to experience their sets and dance along with them?
Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike: We'll have a lot of running around of course Saturday and Sunday since we're also recording a video clip for the new Anthem on Saturday and then on Sunday we host our own stage again, so we have to get drunk there all day... But definitely coming down Friday to see the Swedes perform and of course our boys from Miami Digital Lab & Pedro Henriques who will do their first show on the Main Stage, along with Yves V...another young talent we really support!
Dimitri: Everybody is pretty wild at the moment waiting from you to deliver this year’s Tomorrowland anthem that is co-produced by Afrojack( Billboard number 1 producer with Pitbull), the excellent Nervo from Australia and you of course. Can you reveal to us about the backstage of the production of this anthem?
Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike: I think it’s a perfect blend between all the styles... Nick is a great producer... it was a hard project to complete since all of us had such busy schedules - that is why we're pretty late - but we couldn't be happier with the result!
Dimitri: At the moment you have released the top recreation of an ever green trance classic Madagascar by Art of Trance. Why you choose to touch this trance anthem and turn it into a big room electro house banger and if you had any response like an official approval from the original producer of the track Simon Berry?
Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike: Yes we did, he actually insisted that it was called Madagascar... as we actually had another title for it first. Madagascar is actually the first in a series of classics we revamped... so there is more to come. We love our classics and just want to find a way to make them compatible again in today's sets... Of course we could do bootlegs or edits, but as far as possible we try to make something that's available for everyone... and we are not big supporters anymore of just putting bootlegs out for free, it's not fair to the original artists... so we just make a new track with them and clear all the necessary rights.
Dimitri: For this particular release you co-operate with Yves V and Anger Dimas. Is it possible to let us know how this collaboration came about and if you are going to do it again for future house anthems as well.
Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike: As far as Angger goes...he's a f*in genius! We love working with him and also asked him to join us on Tomorrowland and for sure we will do more tracks together!
We try to support new Belgian talent, and Yves is definitely one of the most promising ones... we already have strong follow up ready and are now looking for a good vocal. We want to build an army of strong new producers around Smash The House and Yves is definitely one of them. We are now working on another new project with a couple of very promising talents of our neighborhood... and it's starting to sound pretty good!
Dimitri: When you are in the studio from where do you get the inspiration to produce a track and do you usually start a track from its 1st beats or from the breakdown as many producers do?
Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike: Really depends... we each have our own way of working and there is no standard way of working... we don't sit together in the studio that often anymore... most of the time one of us starts a project and the other finishes it... there is so much work we kind of need to divide tasks...
Dimitri: Have you done any major upgrade to your home studio lately? Did you add any new software, hardware or pluggin that you went totally in love with it and is worth recommending to the people who will read this??
Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike: Well we had the choice... to get a nice new car each or to get new studios... so we're still driving a crappy car! :) But that doesn’t matter since we're not really home that much... We got a lot of new stuff to play around with and everyday is a new adventure.
Dimitri: Smash The House is your homebase that I guess more big room anthems will be released. Is it possible to give us a taste of future releases that are coming on this great label?
Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike: Well there is a new one on the way, one we did together with Promise Land... and we also did one with another very big Belgian artist, then there is the new one with Yves... remixes for Madagascar also... and a couple we can't really say that much about yet... but I think we will have about a release per month from now on!
Dimitri: Are you searching for new talents to send you demos for future release at Smash The House and if yes what kind of sound are you looking for? What you value most on the demos you receive quality and originality or if it sounds like something else that is currently very successful at the download portals charts?
Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike: We just opened an email account to check promo's of new talents around the world
( demo@smashthehouse.com ) and already after a few weeks we can't keep up with the mails... we can't really say exactly what we are looking for.. but I guess, like our own tracks, it needs to be something we want to play in our sets... Smash The House is our trademark so everything on there needs to be 100%...
( demo@smashthehouse.com ) and already after a few weeks we can't keep up with the mails... we can't really say exactly what we are looking for.. but I guess, like our own tracks, it needs to be something we want to play in our sets... Smash The House is our trademark so everything on there needs to be 100%...
Dimitri: From last year that we have met till now you have done some great remixes including your remix on the classic Cosmic Gate anthem Fire Wire. Is it possible to choose your favorite remixes that you have done for other artists and your favorite remix that other artists did for any of your original tracks.
Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike: The favorite we did will most likely always be our remix for Axwell, Angello, Ingrosso & Laidback Luke's Leave The World behind... and the favorite one someone did for us, probably the remix Dada Life did for Under The Water - that s* was harrrrd!
Dimitri: Summer is a wonderful period for djs as they are invited to play in wonderful summer resorts like Ibiza and Myconos in Greece. How went your performance at the Paradise Club in Myconos and do you like Myconos night life? Do you have other favorite summer resorts in Greece that you enjoy having your holidays or playing as djs?
Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike: Mykonos is great and Paradise Club is off the hook... it was our first time, but we absolutely fell in love with the club. The owners, managers and staff are really great and made us feel really welcome... open air, amazing crowd...what more can u want? The hotel we stayed at ( Grecophilia ) was also off the hook , the villa was so nice we almost decided to not go back to Belgium...
Dimitri: Can you reveal to us the main reasons that you enjoy so much to get involved with the dance music industry and djing? Is it just only for the pure joy of music or is also about fame, money and being popular amongst women? Do you feel that being a successful dj or producer make you instantly more attractive to women and this ultimately means more chances for one night stands with groupies?
Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike: We both have had girlfriends for many years so it's definitely not to pick up women :) It's hard to describe... to make a cool track in the studio and afterwards to see the crowd go nuts on these beats... indescribable... the money helps too...
Dimitri: One of my favorite questions to all the djs is that one about self-reflection and self-criticism. Out of 10 with what score do you rate the various elements of your dj performances and why?
Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike:
a)your mixing skills:
hahh... we really can't be our own judge on skills...we leave that for the fans and haters to discuss
b) your ability to choose the right track for the right occasion:
ermm... 8? That’s saying: we think we're pretty good at that but not so arrogant to say we're the best!
c) your friendly attitude towards the fans that are coming to shake your hand when you perform and after that?
9... I think we always try to make time for our fans... you can have your off moment but that rarely happens. if the people do the effort to come and see you, the least you can say is hello...
Dimitri: Are you use active and passionate user of the internet and the social networks? Everyone nowadays talks about the facebook or twitter generation after the MTV generation. Do you believe in the importance of facebook or you feel is a bit exaggerated and overhyped from the media? Last cases the riots in Egypt or the violent attacks of police against innocent protesters in Greece.
Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike: Facebook, like it or not, is a part of our daily lives... Twitter too... it brings a closer connection to artists and fans and is probably one of the best ways for artists to promote themselves and a good way to see how they are doing career and fanwise. It has its positive points and also it's negative ones... but that's the case with almost everything I guess.
Dimitri: Last question is of course again about Tomorrowland. Please give us your message to all those visitors of the party that will travel to Belgium from all over the world and to all those that didn’t manage to book a ticket and will not be there.
Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike: Guys, we can't wait to smash that festival into pieces with you... we've been waiting one year-we hope you're ready!! And for the people who missed out... it's a shame we can't hook you up, but hopefully we will see you next year!!
Many thanks to Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike for their time to reply on this interview despite traveling and being really busy producing the anthem, new tracks and mixing the latest Tomorrowland 2011 compilation that will be out soon.
If you visit Tomorrowland do not miss their performance in the ID&T main stage from 22.00-23.00 Saturday 23rd of July
The full line up of their Smash The House stage on Sunday 24th of July:
Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike 22:30 > 00:00
David Tort 21:00 > 22:30
Sidney Samson 19:30 > 21:00
Regi 18:00 > 19:30
Michael Woods 16:30 > 18:00
R3hab vs Quintino 15:00 > 16:30
MC Ambush 15:00 > 16:30
Angger Dimas 13:30 > 15:00
Swanky Tunes 12:00 > 13:30
Yves V 11:00 > 12:00
David Tort 21:00 > 22:30
Sidney Samson 19:30 > 21:00
Regi 18:00 > 19:30
Michael Woods 16:30 > 18:00
R3hab vs Quintino 15:00 > 16:30
MC Ambush 15:00 > 16:30
Angger Dimas 13:30 > 15:00
Swanky Tunes 12:00 > 13:30
Yves V 11:00 > 12:00
Many thanks to Debby from Diamonds & Pearls , Kat and Luke from GetinPr for their amazing support to organize this interview and accept us at Tomorrowland 2011 to cover it as press and bring to you the immense buzz of the most important dance festival in the world.
50 countries will be represented at Tomorrowland. Its going to become the annual meeting of the various tribes of EDM music.
Do not forget that the full line up of the exact timetable of the various stages is online now for you to check and device your own schedule with all the djs that you wish to attend their sets. Go now at
Additional info about Dimitri Vegas & Like Mikehttp://www.dimitrivegasandlikemike.com
http://www.dimitrivegas.com
http://www.myspace.com/mclikemike
http://www.twitter.com/like_mike
http://www.twitter.com/dimivegas
http://www.soundcloud.com/dimitrivegasandlikemike
http://www.dimitrivegas.com
http://www.myspace.com/mclikemike
http://www.twitter.com/like_mike
http://www.twitter.com/dimivegas
http://www.soundcloud.com/dimitrivegasandlikemike
