A person, Nick Leonardus Van de Wall aka Afrojack, trusts with his life is himself. When the going got tough, he was the only one standing up for himself. The story is quite different now. This Dutch music producer and DJ finds his name counted in the list of some of the best music spinners in the world. Performing in the city as part of his India tour, Afrojack talks to us about how he got here and where he’s all set to go.
It’s Sunburn bringing the artiste to India and he is quite excited about the tour. “It’s always amazing to play for my Indian fans. Their response has already been overwhelming. This is my second time in the country and I’m twice as excited, headlining Sunburn Arena with my troupe. So, get ready for a big fat party with some Afro classics and some new hits,” says Afrojack.
Sitting behind a computer screen making music all night long, the motivation to keeping going at it comes from his daughter who inspires him deeply. “She is at the soul of my music, and everything that I do in life. I am wiser with my money now, and more responsible for her and my life,” he says, adding, “I am working very hard to secure her future.”
A man who has seen tough beginnings knows the value of even a little bit of money. Never taking what he earns for granted, he gives back to people he loves in equal measures. “I grew up in a little town called Spijkenisse in Holland. We didn’t have much. My mother was living on welfare. I was in school and felt that I had to do something to make a living. Around that time, when I first walked into a club and saw people communicating through music, I knew I wanted to do it too. Of course my mom and grandma thought I was crazy, but ironically it was my grandmother who eventually told me to follow my heart,” he says.
In the following years, he devoted more than 11 hours a day producing music. “I still remember the first time I got to play in a club. There were only 20 people. Nonetheless, I had the best time of my life. I couldn’t care about who was listening and what they were saying about me.
All I knew was that I had never been that happy,” says the artiste, who got his stage name Afrojack from the gigantic afro on his head when he was young. Jack, on the other hand, is synonymous with dance music hailing from house music’s past.
A little known fact is that as a child, he learnt to play the piano and drums, which he still can but much less now. “Creating music is something I can’t take my mind of, even though I would like to play those instruments more often. I don’t sleep to much, and that works in my advantage because I get more time to do what I love. When I do sleep is when the world is beginning to rise around 7 am. My sheer will power has kept me going. I’ve never ever given up, and never ever will.