DJ Mag Malaysia #002 DJ Mag Malaysia #002 | Page 18

Cover Story

Merely 21, this dance music force has been throwing it down
in the scene and making his mark amongst the upper echelons of
electronica ranks. Hailing from the Netherlands where dance music
is said to be coursing through the veins of its citizens, it came as
no surprise that this expressive and undeniably talented youngster
has set for superstardom. In the four years since the start of his
p r o f e s s i o n a l c a r e e r, O l i v e r H e l d e n s h a s t o p p e d c h a r t s , e a r n e d t o p
rankings, headlined festivals and toured the world; it’s safe to say
h e’ s o n a o n e w ay j o u r n ey t o w o r l d d o m i n a t i o n .
Oliver Heldens recently followed up his stream of previous successes
with his brand new star-studded track “The Right Song” that tapped
o n a n d N a t a l i e L a R o s e t i t l e d “ G h o s t .” T h e r e i s n o q u e s t i o n t h a t t h i s
21 year old high flyer is achieving success way beyond his years. But
his story is definitely one for the books as his career launched to
fame at 18 when he was signed under Spinnin’ Records. Following
up on his signing, Heldens had a run of various successful singles
with the Dutch powerhouse label. At 19, Oliver Heldens experienced
the impossible, with his other worldly talent and a pinch of luck he
made it big in a matter of 15 minutes. This Dutch DJ made a melody
i n h i s c a r w h i l s t o n h i s w ay b a c k f r o m w h a t w e’ r e g u e s s i n g w a s a n
inspiring vacation in France. He then decided to try his luck and
sent the track to Tiësto that garnered him a reply within 15 minutes.
That experience then led him to ‘hang out’ with the superstar at the
Amsterdam Dance Event which basically sealed his position in the
i n d u s t r y.
T h e t ra c k “G e c ko” b e c a m e O l i ve r H e l d e n s b r e a k t h r o u g h t ra c k w h i c h
g o t a n u d g e w i t h v o c a l s f r o m B e c k y H i l l s . P e t e To n g t o o k n o t i c e
and his FFRR imprint carried the track to the UK No. 1 spot which
went on to garner Platinum sales status. Heldens followed up Gecko
with Koala (Last All Night) that became a chart topper on its own
r i g h t w i t h S i l v e r s a l e s c e r t i f i c a t i o n . T h a t s a m e y e a r, t h e 1 9 y e a r
old launched his Heldeep Mixtape on his official SoundCloud page
that raked in notable press coverage and gave him well deserved
recognition.
2014 seemed to be Oliver Heldens year as he made his debut on
D J M a g ’ s To p 1 0 0 l i s t a t a s t a g g e r i n g n u m b e r 3 4 . T h e r e a r e n ’ t
many 19 year olds who could have achieved such notable success
but this Dutch DJ beat the odds and made his mark in the scene.
Heldens ended the year performing an Essential Mix on BBC Radio
1 t h a t r e a p e d p r a i s e s f r o m P e t e To n g w h o n a m e d h i m “ o n e o f t h e
breakthrough producers of the year” which almost immediately
sealed his status as a prolific DJ.

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