Music producer DallasK stopped by the K-Swiss pop-up studio during the Nexus Lounge Amsterdam to join us for a chat.
Dallas James Koehlke, better known by his stage name DallasK, is a multitalented American DJ, writer, artist, and singer based in Los Angeles. He is best known for his work with Hardwell and Tiesto as a DJ, but as a songwriter he has helped produce many hits with pop acts such as Fifth Harmony and The Chainsmokers.
DallasK talks about the story and work behind the creation of “I Know,” a song he teamed up with Sarah Hudson and Clarence Coffee Jr. to create. What started out as a voice memo recorded on a phone in a high-ceiling Airbnb evolved into a professionally produced house track released by record label Musical Freedom.
The musician’s successful career is evidently a result of years of perseverance: we learned from our chat that DallasK has known he wanted to be a DJ since he was fourteen years old. Throughout high school, DallasK was in the business of music––he even DJ’d at school dances and basketball games.
When asked where the musician draws his inspiration, he took a moment to think before giving this answer: art. More specifically, DallasK explains:
“The parallels between music and art and also the differences between art as a form of expression and as an interactive experience and how the business of art works relative to the business of music.
I think experiential art and experiences in general are like the future of how we consume and the things that we leave our house to do. You know, we don't need to go shopping anymore. We can order our case from the internet. But what will we leave the house for are these immersive, crazy experiences that like are once in a lifetime. And if you miss it, you can't go again. So I have a lot of friends doing stuff like that and I'm thinking about how I can do stuff that relates to my music. And I think that's definitely a really inspiring thing to me. And I'll be out now just to travel. Yeah. Just getting out of your comfort zone, seeing a new place, seeing a new city that is so different from where you're from. I think that's like the spice of life.”
To hear more about the musician, including what shoes he would create and which DJs he would take with him to the Amazon rainforest for a year, check out the rest of our interview with him below ↓
