Nicky Romero is young, but he is responsible for some of the biggest dance tracks of recent memory. “I Could Be The One,” “Lighthouse” and “Legacy,” just to name a few. He helms his own weekly radio show, Protocol Radio and his own record label, Protocol Recordings. Did I forget to mention he is only 27 years old?!
Nicky recently released a single titled “Novell,” out now on Protocol Recordings, and I can’t stop listening to it. In an effort to further promote the release, I reached out for an interview. I’m a big fan, and it is my pleasure to introduce you to Nicky Romero.
I’ve been a big fan for many years, but the point of this interview is to learn more about promote your new single “Novell.” So, tell me more about the single.
It’s the second single that I’ve released this year, the first being “Future Funk.” Whereas “Future Funk” was a bit of a change in production style, “Novell” is more of the classic Nicky Romero sound that people will be used to. It’s kind of a sign of new beginnings and that’s one of the reasons I decided to name it “Novell,” after my good friend Hatim’s newborn son, in the first place.
“Novell” is out on your own Protocol Recordings. Do you find having your own label makes it easier to release songs? What are some other recent tracks you’ve released on Protocol?
Definitely, it was one of the reasons that I started Protocol Recordings in the first place. I felt that as an artist it’s important to have control over your releases and be able to have that creative freedom that comes with having your own label. We’ve got some amazing talent that have been releasing with us and that always makes me so proud. One of the key aims for us was to make sure that we are putting quality over quantity which is one of the reasons we decided to only release one single each month that we could really focus all our efforts on and give our artists the attention they deserve. The most recent one was Florian Picasso’s “Final Call.”
Steve Angello premiered the song during his main stage set at Ultra Music Festival. Did you know he was going to drop it during Ultra? When a DJ does something like that, do you get the chance to approve it, or are you just excited for the support?
It’s always really exciting when someone who you have respected for a long time openly supports your work!
Novell El Khatib is your tour manager’s son. He was born in January. When did you know you wanted to produce a song in honor of Novell and how did Hatim react when he heard the news?
As well as being my tour and production manager, Hatim is a great friend and we’ve spent so much time on the road together. We were all so excited at the newest addition to our Protocol family and it just felt right to name the track after him. I wanted it to be about new beginnings and mark the beginning of a new journey both musically and personally. He was very surprised and also honoured that I called the track after his son!
“Novell” is a pretty big hit and 2016 is already “off to the races,” so to speak. With having had such a great start to the year, what’s next for Nicky Romero? I am sure a tour is in the works!
(Laughs.) You said it! Definitely going to be doing a lot of touring over the summer. We also have loads of new music coming out on Protocol, some my own, some Protocol artists, and of course not forgetting the third part of the Nicky Romero Trilogy, so keep an eye out for that!
Connect with Nicky Romero:
Website: http://www.nickyromero.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/djnickyromero
Twitter: https://twitter.com/nickyromero
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nickyromero
