I have been listening to Sander van Doorn for a LONG time. He is probably one of my favorite DJs, and produces some of the best dance tracks around. I put him in the same league with guys like Armin van Buuren, David Guetta, ATB and Above & Beyond. Everything he touches just turns to gold. He also puts on an incredible live show using lights and the power of a smile to his advantage. This guy isn’t just producing some timeless beats… He’s having a blast while doing it. My buddy Johnny Monsoon has performed with Sander a few times. He as well had nothing but good things to say about him. (The funny thing is… As big as he is, he is extremely accessible. He is running a great Twitter campaign, and is easy to connect with.) I am so stoked to be sitting here with Sander van Doorn. (He has a great podcast too!)
I only get ten questions… So I better hurry! Before I even get going here, tell me about “From Dusk Till Doorn.” What cities and venues are you looking forward to? Who is going to be with you on the road? What a GREAT name for a tour, by the way!
Thanks! “Dusk Till Doorn” is a clubbing concept that I came up with a few years back that is now a full on touring production. I also have an album of the same name which is a double mix compilation that is sort of a take home version of the club night.
I recently sat down with Johnny Monsoon for an artist interview. I hear you guys are friends. How do you guys know each other?
We’ve played together and Johnny is a cool guy for sure.
You have seen SO much success over the last few years. What was that process like for you? I assume you start just spinning for friends, but tell us a little bit more about your journey as a DJ.
My story is not unique. I started going to parties and decided that I really wanted to give music a go. It’s a lot of dedication and hard work, but worth it!
You have a show on YouTube called SanderVanDoornTV. How, in your opinion, has the Internet (not just social media, but the Internet in general) changed the way people absorb music?
It’s great that we can connect to fans directly. This wasn’t available even five years ago, so it’s a really cool time to be an artist. It’s all about accessibility.
Your radio show is called Identity. The guys in Above & Beyond have Trance Around the World. Armin has A State of Trance. It seems like every DJ has a podcast. What is the inspiration for yours? Do you listen to the other podcasts or just focus on your own?
The radio show takes up a lot of time every week, so I stay focused on that. I do listen to other shows on occasion, but usually if I have time I would rather be in the studio!
You have played shows all over the world. First off, how many stamps do you have on your passport? And do you ever get sick of being on the road so much?
I get new pages added to my passport regularly and I couldn’t count how many places are represented in there. Traveling is one of the things about my job that I don’t like that much, but I’m not complaining.
Let’s say you were not producing music. What would you be doing with all your free time?
I guess I would take a holiday and do some wine tasting in Napa!
You have remixed some pretty killer tracks over the years. You have worked with The Killers, Sia, and Robbie Williams… even Depeche Mode. When you do a remix like that, do you get to work with the artist directly, or do they just send you a disc and tell you to have fun?
For remix work, I just get parts of the track, I don’t usually work directly with them. Sometimes we may go back and forth through email, but that’s about it.
When you set out to produce a track, an original piece of music, who writes the lyrics for that? Do you write them and then pick someone to sing them? How does that work?
The songwriter that I use will write the lyrics.
In all of the interview that I do, I always let the artist get the last word. Go.
Thanks!
Connect with Sander van Doorn:
Website: http://www.sandervandoorn.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SandervanDoorn
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/sandervandoorn
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/sandervandoorntv
