“I wouldn’t really call it a phenomena, it’s just what happens after you’ve been listening to and making the same music for a long time,” says Samson of dance music taking over the ‘States. “All the big hip hop stars, they dominated the scene for a long time, and I think what’s happened now is that all the big players are hungry for something new which is a pretty important trait for any artist or producer. They are starting to like this dance music and they find it interesting and I think they’re seeing they can do so much more with it. Now they’re collaborating with guys like us. For example, if you’re a big fan of Rihanna, you might look at some of her songs and you’d notice, ‘Oh, she’s done a track with Calvin Harris – who’s Calvin Harris?’… Facebook and Twitter have helped out a lot with that, too. People are finding out about all these dance producers, this whole other world, through the artists they’re already fans of. I mean, it’s taken a while for it to happen, but it’s happening, and that’s great news for our side of the world.”
Because when it comes to house music, Holland is your destination, as Samson insists. Describing his native country as the hotspot of the genre, Samson’s likens the Danish obsession with dance music to Brazil’s obsession with soccer…
“I get asked about Dutch DJs a lot,” laughs Samson. “People want to know what our secret is, and it’s really not a secret, it makes more sense that you think. You might as well ask, ‘why are so many amazing football players Brazilian?’ The answer is because they’ve been doing it for a long, long time. They’ve been brought up on it, they’ve been practicing it since they were kids, and their entire culture is obsessed with the sport. In Holland, dance music is the only thing we know because in Holland we can’t really speak English, and when we do we’ve got a really thick Dutch accent – so you can forget about singing and smashing the charts! We’re able to produce hip hop tracks just like the Americans, but then when you put a Dutch accent over it, they either can’t rap or will have that same accent and it just doesn’t sound right. The next plan has been house music – and that’s something that we’ve really found we’re good at. And it doesn’t require singing! We know we can do it well and we know it’s our only definite shot to make that crossover to the rest of the world because we can add English vocals to it. When kids in Holland get their first laptop, they start making house music straight away because it’s our speciality – just like playing soccer on the beach is to the Brazilians!”
For Samson, it’s DJing where his heart lies, rather than production – it’s the former that has allowed him to travel all around the world for a living and live the lifestyle most people only dream of. But production has its perks too, as Samson adds – especially when it comes to joining forces with Steve Aoki, will.i.am and Lil’ Jon.
“It’s really happening in the US for me right now,” he admits. “It’s never been this out of control and so my plan is to keep concentrating on America and do as much as I can over there. Of course, I love producing music, it’s given me the opportunity to work with will.i.am and Lil’ Jon. The song I did with Lil’ Jon called Mutate, I just sent him a demo and he came up with the vocals pretty much straight away. The song I did with will.i.am has a basic hip hop beat and he really liked it…But my heart is really in DJing and getting the chance to play my songs everywhere around the world and meet lots of different people. My lucky break was a track I produced called Riverside, but that gave me the opportunity to go all over the world and meet new people, which is what I enjoy doing the most.”
As one of the many leading DJ/producers belonging to Amsterdam-based DJ agency ACE, Samson is currently right where he belongs – networking and mingling with the best of the best at the 2011 Amsterdam Dance Event conference/festival with the likes of Afrojack, Dimitri Vegas and Nervo.
“This week, everybody is here in Amsterdam!” he enthuses. “This is where it’s all happening for house music right now and I’m really enjoying myself. I’m meeting lots of people I’ve already met, I’m meeting some new people as well, there are tour promoters from all around the world and DJs from foreign places. This is the best part of what we do. “
