RS: You've been referred to as the next Tiesto, how do you respond to that?
Don Diablo: There was even an award that I won as like the successor
of Tiesto in my own country. I think they made up the award
especially for me. What do I think about it? Well first off, I'm
doing a totally different thing in all different ways. I respect
Tiesto very much for what he achieved, obviously everybody does, but
we're just two different guys. I mean yes, he has his approach, I
have my approach, his music is very different from mine.
RS: Well I think the way they meant it is that you're a Dutch DJ
who started in that market and broke out to the world, and that's why
they see you as the next Tiesto, not necessarily the genre but more
how you're breaking through.
Don Diablo: I understand that because the thing is that I've been too
much of a control freak. Tiesto is very smart and he's a very good DJ
and musician but also he's a very smart businessman. He needs to be a
businessman because at the end of the day he can make very cool and
interesting and great music, but you have to get people around the
world interested in what you're doing and in order to do that you have
to be visual, which basically means you have to have a big team around
you to actually get the last breakthrough done. I guess I just
realized that, like a few months ago, there comes a point when you
need help, and I'm not sure I'm going to be the next Tiesto. In my
own country it's very hard for people to grasp as well because you're
kind of a combination between everything. There was a reporter who
called me a combination of several people: Prince, because I do my
own music and I produce it and sing it all myself, Justice because
it's very electronic, and then there's the small Kanye West element
because of the whole fashion and lifestyle thing around it. So with
those three combined, it's very hard for people to understand and then
they want to compare you to someone, to just one person. So let it be
Tiesto because he's a big artist that came out of Holland and he's a
big personality, and I guess it's not a bad thing, right?
RS: Yes, I wouldn't say it was.
Don Diablo: It's not. So I'll take it, I'll be the next Tiesto.
RS: You mentioned the fashion, you won an Esquire award for best
dressed man. How important is fashion and looks to what you're doing?
Don Diablo: To what I'm doing it's not so important, but for me the
whole thing is important because from what you wear to the videos you
make to the artwork that you do, that's the artist that you are.
That's who you want to be, that's who you reflect, that's how people
see you. It's part of the whole thing and how you express yourself.
For me it's not just expressing myself by playing records in a club at
night, it's more than that. It's when I wake up – I am an I think
that's important and what we need in the dance scene. There's a
typical Dutch saying, just act normal then you're crazy enough. If
you are a little bit out of the ordinary people will try to put you
down, because it's a very negative thing. That's a shame because I
think you always need colorful people, and if I look at the people
that I like, they're mostly people who express themselves even outside
of the music. There shouldn't be a fashion thing, because it's not
important - if you make great music, screw it, then you make great
music. If you don't care about that, I understand that.