If the titles weren’t enough, then the sounds of Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike’s tracks ‘Tremor’ and ‘Body Talk (Mammoth)’ with their hippo-sized basslines, shrieking hyena riffs and drum-rolls that stampede like rhinos show that Belgian brothers Dimitri and Michael Thivaois are amongst dance music’s big beasts. And they’ve been roaming far and wide this year, playing across Mexico, Brazil and the UK, launching a new residency in Ibiza, and returning home to the Tomorrowland festival, which they’ve headlined for five years.
“Tomorrowland is huge for us because we have been residents there since almost the beginning,” they enthuse. “But it means so much more, it’s actually held in the field near to our grandparents' house where we played football as young kids. Obviously it has helped our careers but we’ve worked hard to build up our profile outside of Tomorrowland.”
This included playing to over 36,000 people at two sold-out ‘Bring the Madness Home’ shows in Antwerp in December, which has now been developed into a show which will mark their entrance into the arena gig arms-race to take on your Guettas and Aviciis next year. “There is an element of competition with other acts, so we are always looking to push things further,” they claim. “What is really unique about this tour is we have given our fans the chance to pick where we will take the tour next, they’ve been able to vote via a dedicated website, and it is the first time anything like this has ever been done.”
Even though their credo might seem to be ‘bigger is always better’ — whether that’s sales, shows or sonics — Dimitri and Mike know that even the biggest beasts need to evolve to survive. That’s why, alongside picking up fresh new artists for their Smash the House label, the brothers have been making “more experimental” music themselves, and collaborating with rap producer Scott Storch.
Still, all the fans who’ve voted them into the Top 100 for their massive EDM anthems probably shouldn’t worry that the brothers are about to turn their back on them just yet. “The music we make must fit our sound, which is totally focused on the dancefloor, so in that sense we do tend to make big tracks we can smash the festivals and clubs with,” they say.
Hear them roar.
