Style: “Trance, progressive house, and a twist of techno.” Best known for: “My inability to stand still in a DJ booth.” Tune of 2012: “Apart from my own stuff, W&W ‘Shotgun’.” Breakthrough DJ/producer of 2012: “Khomha.”
ØRJAN NILSEN
ØRJAN may only look about 13-years- old in some of his press photos, but he’s actually 30. The Norwegian trance/ progressive producer got his first keyboard at the age of 7, and hasn’t really looked back. Making his name for his arresting trance compositions, he’s hooked up with Armin van Buuren’s camp in recent years — a move that has really propelled his trajectory upwards. With a slew of cleverly crafted trance tracks in his discography, Ørjan is further living proof as to how music is a universal language. He lives in a remote Norwegian outpost, yet his tunes travel to the heart of the trance family.
“I made a track with Armin this year, which was a huge milestone in my career,” Ørjan tells DJ Mag. ‘Belter’ is indeed a belter, and Orjan adds that standing onstage in front of “an insane amount of people” during A State Of Trance 550 in Den Bosch was another highlight of his year. “I’ve been touring all over the world seeing and meeting new places and people,” says the man who was No.49 in the Top 100 DJs list last year. “I also played quite a few times at Privilege in Ibiza, which has been a lifelong dream!” CARL LOBEN
CALVIN HARRIS
MULTI-AWARD-WINNING DJ/producer Calvin Harris has had another momentous year, culminating in the imminent release of his new album ’18 Months’ that features a veritable who’s who of modern pop music. The album features tracks with Rihanna, Kelis, Ne-Yo, Florence Welch, Dizzee Rascal, Ellie Goulding, Tinie Tempah and Example and he’s backed up his massive chart success with a number of high-profile DJ shows from Creamfields to Coachella, Tokyo to T In The Park.
Several tracks from the album have already been released, such as ‘We Found Love’ featuring Rihanna and ‘Bounce’ with Kelis, and Calvin has already notched up 15 million single sales from this album alone – four million in the UK. ‘Sweet Nothing’ with Florence Welch will be the sixth single from the album, the follow-up to 2009’s
If you were a superhero, what would your superpower be? “World peace.” Should you play to the crowd or for yourself? “The crowd.” What does EDM mean to you? “The term makes me cringe a bit, but America has injected a new energy into clubs and festi- vals.” Should celebrities be DJs? “Let the people decide — they’ll go and see who they want to see.” Have you ever been thrown off the decks? “Thrown myself off a few times.” Are you a DJ if you don’t beat match? “Anyone can do it.” Where’s the next dance music capital? “Dumfries.”
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If you were a superhero, what would your superpower be? “Basically, I want to be Spiderman! I want to shoot webs from my wrists!” Should you play to the crowd or for yourself? “Hard to play for one and not the other, has to be both.” What does EDM mean to you? “Musical creativity and freedom.” Should celebrities be DJs? “If they love the music and are gifted, who cares what or who they are?” Have you ever been thrown off the decks? “Nope, when it comes to DJing, I’m a good boy.” Are you a DJ if you don’t beat match? “Well yes, look at the hip-hop DJs!” Where’s the next dance music capital? “Some- where in the States! Other than that, Holland will always be special.”
Style: “Dance.” Best known for: “Tallest DJ under 30.” Tune of 2012: “R Kelly ‘Clipped Wings’.” Breakthrough DJ/producer of 2012: “Otto Knows.”
breakthrough long-player ‘Ready For The Weekend’. His last four singles have peaked at No.2. A Calvin Harris show now exclusively features him DJing — he has given up singing live. He first made his name singing on his own productions such as ‘Acceptable In The 80s’, but — as well as being adept at rocking crowds himself – he’s developed into one of the go-to producers for big American urban artists wanting some big electro riff EDM action. CARL LOBEN