One of the most respected DJs in electronic music has joined us virtually here at Nexus Lounge Virtual at theROOF at theWIT. Eelke Kleijn talks about his back-on-the-road routine as a DJ, his latest projects and takes part in our Take 5 interview.
Eelke van Kleijn has been known for his electronic dance music since the early 2000s, but currently, he is also composing tracks for anime, games, and commercials. In addition, he focuses on music for Hollywood film trailers and television series and hosts the ‘Days Like Nights’, a weekly radio show/podcast. Thus, he walks the line from an electronic producer to an authentic modern-day composer. Now he is back on the road with a DJ routine, performing local and international gigs.
Despite his busy schedule, he still manages to attend to his daughter’s ‘Bring Your Dad To School’ day. “Believe it or not, I was more nervous for that than I’ve been for a gig in a very long time. Because kids are unforgiving.. I had to explain what my profession was and what I do on a day-to-day basis. And, it gave me the nerves for quite a bit, but once I got started, it was nice, and they were very enthusiastic. So it was a very cool experience.”
Eelke took ADE 2021 a little bit more relaxing than the previous one. He mentioned he goes home on Friday and Sunday instead of Wednesday to Sunday straight performances. “I had my US tour, and I had a couple of intense weekends before and also after that, and it’s just been, you know, madness so that I could use the extra sleep and the extra time off.” The DJ mentioned it was a challenge, in the beginning, getting it back onto the DJ schedule when he’s traveling all the time, but thanks to muscle memory, he eases into it in no time.
He is currently working on remixes of his last album, Oscillations, released in September 2020. He teased there would be one or two tracks along with the remixes. And when asked when we can expect these masterpieces, he said, “I want to say late this year, but it’s probably going to be next year, early next year, I think. I’m down to just writing a lot of new music at the moment.”
Eelke Kleijn’s path from amateur trance producer to one of electronic music’s most revered DJs has been everything but easy. Despite early success, Eelke Kleijn struggled to develop his genuine sound identity throughout the years. When asked what the worst professional decision he has ever made, he answered, ‘Well, to be honest, there hasn’t been a lot. Like sometimes there are things you regret, but I’d rather look at them as learning moments than awful decisions.”
To know more about Eelke Kleijn, including the funniest WiFi name he has seen, listen to our full interview below. And once done, you can also listen to his SoundCloud Channel for a piece of 5-hour uninterrupted music!
