Label Owner, DJ, Producer And Especially Legend, Our Interview With Sander van Doorn

Dutch producer Sander van Doorn is a busy man. Both his label and his productions are doing very well and he still is one of the leading producers in the EDM-scene. With these achievements, you also get more obligations. Isn’t it hard to deal with that?
Van Doorn sees this as a challenge. “Of course I have my own label, I produce my own tracks, plan the future myself and I have my own radioshow. It can be hard to combine everything in the right way, but luckily I’ve got a strong team to help me with my label. Still, I must do many things myself and it is a big challenge to deal with this in the right way.”

That’s not just it for Van Doorn, who headlines many big festivals and makes people travel the world just to see him. The question is, isn’t hard to stay focused and recharge for the next event?
Van Doorn answers firmly: “For me it’s not that hard to get ready for a new festival or party. Every country and even every city has its own charm, so it’s interesting and fun to see so many different places and audiences. Everything is different every time, which makes it very interesting to do.”

The fact that he’s such a busy man, is the result of the achievements he reached in the past and in the present. The worldhits, international tours, high rankings in DJ-competitions, a huge fan base, they all show us that Sander van Doorn is one of the most successful producers of all time. With all these achievements, what more does he want to accomplish?
“The most important for now is to continue doing this for at least 10 years. I also want to produce even more tracks, support and help younger artists with my label and after my producing career I might want to join a label, to help young and upcoming artists. At this moment, they are developing in a strong way, which is a positive sign.”

At the moment, more and more young and talented producers are coming up. This also brings some negative views, especially about EDM. Ghostproducers, the same sounds, these are just a few opinions about the development of the genre. Of course van Doorn is familiar with these critics, but he doesn’t see it as something negative.
“I create my own music and I’m proud of that, because dj’ing is a tough job at itself. I think EDM will change again soon, it will be more musical. The basis is strong already, so it will be no problem for the new guys to adapt to the new style. Who the future leaders will be? I think of Martin Garrix, DVBBS and Firebeatz. They’re enormously creative and always deliver strong productions.”

Talking about the new leading artists, we wonder who needs to be watched in the future, according to Sander van Doorn. Besides the earlier mentioned Garrix, DVBBS and Firebeatz, he also adds Dubvision and Oliver Heldens to the list.
“I love the Dubvision style, they always deliver something special and fresh. Heldens is bringing something new and with the Deep House music, we can see the same trend in the nineties. People were looking for something different as well and Hardcore came up more and more. The same can be said about Deep House now; it differs from EDM and that appeals to the people.”

The fact that young producers are so popular and famous after a huge hit worldwide doesn’t appeal to anyone. Van Doorn disagrees with this view:
“It is very positive to see how the young artists are doing right now. I came up in a completely different way and it was a long process to become a bigger name. I do think it’s very important that young producers get the right coaching from their management and create their own music. Because if you are 18 years old and already use a ghostproducer, you can’t deny you’re doing something completely wrong. As long as talents join the right management that can help them further, I see it as a positive development.”

During the interview Van Doorn shows his knowledge and experiences in the scene in a very relaxed and enthusiastic way. He lights his cigarette and calmly listens to the questions. When I ask him about his favorite track, he immediately answers.
“Riff” is in my eyes the best track I’ve created. What I find very important is the process of creating the track. In fact, a track is never completely finished, it can always be improved. It’s also important to be able to leave aspects that aren’t essentially needed in the track. You’ll see that many drops are quite dry; they’re not filled with annoying effects that distract you from the actual climax. Lately I also created a track with my own vocal in it. The small things can make or break your track.”

Even though Van Doorn is a very experienced producer, it doesn’t mean his productions take less time to be created.
“Producing takes even longer than before. In the past I created my tracks digitally, but now I’m focusing more on the analog approach. In that way I’m working on a track much longer than before, but it also sounds way more smooth and tight.”

Now we’ve taken a look at his past, the future of EDM and the productions, but what about the future of Sander van Doorn and his label?
“Doorn Records is totally booked till May with releases. During last ADE we had a special label night in Amsterdam and we’re now focusing on expanding the reach of the label. We have planned a night during the Ultra-weekend and we’re also trying to get the label night to countries as Argentina. There are also many tracks coming this year. For example the one I mentioned before, with my own vocal, but also a collab with Firebeatz. We are definitely not slowing down!”