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DJ Mag Top100 DJs
29
Nicky Romero
11

It’s been a prolific 2016 for Nicky Romero. He’s released five singles through his Protocol imprint already, including a diversion into day-glo disco with Chic legend Nile Rodgers, ‘Future Funk’, a new sound for the erstwhile EDM guru.

“We were in a studio session together with David Guetta,” Nicky remembers. “Nile had just got his guitar back from repair and was testing it out, and I heard this riff he was doing, recorded it and built a melody around that. We had the start of ‘Future Funk’. It was a great honour and privilege to work with such a legend and something I’ll never forget.”
He’s also continued to put his studio wizardry to work in other areas, creating music production plug-ins to aid the next generation of dance music-makers, like Kick2.

“It’s something that I have done for several years and is really another way of giving back to my fans,” he tells DJ Mag. “I hope that people get the same enjoyment out of using it that I do!”
BEN MURPHY

What have been the new frontiers for you this year? 

“I’ve been working with some amazing musicians outside of the usual dance music sphere such as Nile Rodgers, The Script and Colton Avery, and it’s been great to get creative with them.”

Is electronic music taken seriously enough as an art-form?

“Electronic music is everywhere now. In some ways that means it must be being taken seriously, but on the other hand there’s also a tendency to be more critical of stuff once it becomes popular.”

If you had to switch your style to another genre, what would it be?

“Maybe I would go for something completely different and compose scores for films and television.”

As a fan, what is the top price you would pay to see yourself DJ?

“I'm priceless!”

What can be done to prevent drug-related deaths at dance music events?

“I don’t think I have enough knowledge to know what the right answer is, other than for people to continue to raise awareness and encourage fans to be responsible.”