Before Nick Van De Wall was jet-setting across the globe on his own personal jet, a young Afrojack was breakdancing and hacking together samples in a cracked version of Fruity Loops. The Dutch DJ recently sat down with MTV for their “This Is How I Made It” TV series, discussing his humble beginnings, his first dance music experience, and more. The 30 minute look into the early years of one of dance music’s most successful and iconic producers paints a small town, grassroots, picture of the megalithic DJ.
Preview the episode above and tune in this Saturday at 12pm EST for the official airing.
Fresh off an announcement of their incredible residency roster, Wynn Las Vegas has announced the lineup for their take over of the Park City Live venue in Park City, Utah. Scheduled to coincide with the famed film festival, Wynn’s lineup will feature dance music all stars, Afrojack, Avicii, Cedric Gervais and Nero – all of whom will be spinning at the famed club throughout the weekend.
Hop past the break for the official event schedule and more info.
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The Chicago-based Spring Awakening Music Festival is back for its second year, and early bird tickets are on sale now. The festival is expanding from two to three days and is set to take place Friday, June 14th through Sunday, June 16th at Soldier Field (rave in a football stadium!). The early bird ticket for this three day festival is now set at a very reasonable $65 price. Last year the lineup featured powerhouse headliner names like Skrillex, Afrojack, Moby, Diplo, A-Trak, Ferry Corsten, and Markus Schulz –to name a few. Between this, the newly announced EDC Chicago, and Lollapalooza, Chicago is shaping up to be a veritable festival city this season.
UPDATE: First round of early bird tickets are now sold out.
Purchase tickets
Best of Instagram is a feature from Dancing Astronaut that showcases our favorite pictures from our favorite DJs on Instragram each week. This week, we’ve got gems from Steve Angello, Rukes, Dillon Francis, and more.
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Best of the Rest is a daily feature from Dancing Astronaut that recaps the most important posts of the day as well as the stuff we didn’t get to. With the rapidity that dance music news and releases come out it’s difficult for us to hit everything — we hope BOTR serves as a catch-all. Make sure to check it out at the end of each day to ensure you don’t miss anything!
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It was the night before the night, the eve before New Years Eve, and Pier 94 had filled up with 7,500 New York City dance fans well before 11pm. Afrojack was the night’s headlining act only 24 hours before he would host his Jacked affair at the same venue, but the unanimous hype within the crowd was for the man they call Diplo. Putting these two heavyweights on the same bill was a unique move that captured an unprecedented vibe that lasted beyond 3am.
Having seen Diplo several times over the past year, and Afrojack at least 10 times in the same duration, I closely observed track selection and crowd reaction to grasp all that there was to behold in hopes of catching on to yet another EDM trend. There was a feeling at the pier that couldn’t be ignored, and by the time Afrojack was wrapping up the night, the light bulb in my head had flashed. For most, their sets provided one of the rowdiest nights of the year to bring 2012 to a close; for me, I had come to the realization that these guys have captured the essence of what dance music will thrive on in 2013.
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2012 has been an exciting year for dance music, the scene has grown beyond any of our comprehensions, supplanting itself in popular culture, fueling the soundtrack of commercials, sitcoms, and even a Disney movie — shaking the foundation popular culture by establishing a new wave of music consumer. At the forefront of everything have been the artists, the true pioneers of the electronic dance music wave. With a scene as large and expansive as EDM, it was hard to honor only 50 – for every David Guetta or Calvin Harris there are droves of aspiring bedroom producers all doing their fair share of pushing the movement — simply by creating and sharing their art. With the EDM explosion officially in full swing in 2012, we saw countless new artists emerge, seasoned producers experiment with new sounds, and massive collaborations form that made crowning the “best” artist a nearly impossible task.
We’ve already covered 40 of the Biggest Artists of 2012 – hop past the break to see our picks for the final 10.
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In a late Christmas gift to fans, Afrojack released a compiled preview of tracks off of his upcoming album. Said to be released in early 2013, the album features tracks we have come to expect from Nick. Filled with his signature Dutch house style, the three and a half minute preview contains at least four upcoming tracks and is accompanied by another preview for his upcoming track, “Rocker.” It also seems that Afrojack is trying his hand at a trap with the sampled track around 2:15.
Listen to the album preview below and the preview of “Rocker” past the break. Want to hear these new tracks live? We bet he plays them in NYC on 12/30 during his show with Diplo: Buy Tickets
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Whether you have a love-hate relationship with “Gangnam Style” or a hate-hate relationship with it, the tune’s popularity is undeniable. The music video recently reached a milestone 1 billion views on YouTube and the dance has been parodied by everyone from prisoners to military personnel. While we’d rather see an Afrojack dance parody, we’ll gladly accept a remix from the famed producer instead. Just in time to count as a Christmas gift, Afrojack has uploaded a preview to SoundCloud. With bleepy Dutch synth sounds, it’s exactly what we’ve come to expect from him. We’re not fond of the way the vocals were integrated, but the track serves its purpose of energizing crowds.
Best of the Rest is a daily feature from Dancing Astronaut that recaps the most important posts of the day as well as the stuff we didn’t get to. With the rapidity that dance music news and releases come out it’s difficult for us to hit everything — we hope BOTR serves as a catch-all. Make sure to check it out at the end of each day to ensure you don’t miss anything!
