Joining us in the Nexus Lounge, Amsterdam, at this year’s ADE, we spoke with Don Diablo about his experiences working both as a musician and a visual artist, as well as everything in between.
Coming hot off the trails of a run of shows in Brooklyn, Brazil, and China, suffice it to say that this year’s Amsterdam Dance Event was something of a break for Dutch DJ and digital artist Don Diablo
With almost three decades of experience working in the music industry, Don Diablo has been everything from a genre pioneer to a successful fashion designer with a career that many musicians and artists would envy. Also known as Big Pineapple and Camp Kubrick, he’s always been a creative explorer, pushing both his own boundaries and those of the genres he’s working in and that’s as true today as it has ever been.
Discussing his recently ended comic book series, Diablo noted the sense of disconnect he sometimes feels with his public persona and his identity as a DJ.
“I’m known as a DJ producer, but I’ve always felt more like a guy acting through life that calls himself Don Diablo, pretending to be a DJ. I’m just doing stuff that I love, you know?”
Outside of music, much of his focus goes into his designer clothing brand Hexagon. While most of Diablo’s show outfits are designed by a tailor, the majority of his brand’s output comes straight from the mind of Diablo himself.
What’s his process? Diablo says he keeps a large collection of fabrics from which he draws inspiration to create his unique looks and styles. This is similar to how he makes his music, drawing inspiration from the world around him.
Speaking of music, Diablo teased that he may have some major upcoming releases in 2025. Not only does he have the beginnings of several albums underway, but he’s also recently completed several collaborations, one of which he says was with iconic DJ MK.
Diablo also hosts a radio show. Five hundred episodes in, he’s just released a 90-minute mix tape, showcasing some of the show’s very best sets. As if that wasn’t cool enough, you can even get a physical tape to really give you that old-school feeling.
“I think it’s all the same. Music is sound design. You’re just drawing on a computer and it’s all the same in the end.”
If you’d like to learn more about Don Diablo, his experiences with social media, his work in fine art, and his time at ADE 2024, then why not check out the full, exclusive, Nexus Radio interview? You can also follow him on instagram for all the latest about his upcoming releases/concerts.
