Recently, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike teamed up with American rapper, Wiz Khalifa for a completely awesome single titled “When I Grow Up” and it has since been making waves across the music industry and gaining in millions of Spotify streams. This is no doubt going to rise higher and become one of their most-streamed songs and therefore becoming a hit.
The DJ brother duo already have a string of hits to their name and are one of the top DJ duos around the world. Their real names are Dimitri Thivalios and Michael Thivaios. Their biggest hits to date include “Tremor” which was a collaboration with Martin Garrix and “Complicated” which was a collaboration with David Guetta and featured Kiiara, the latter is nearing 100 million Spotify streams; their second most-streamed track is their first single of 2018, titled “Slow Down” which was a collaboration with Quintino featuring Boef, Ronnie Flex, Ali B, and I Am Aisha, which has over 22 million streams. They’ve toured all over the world and performed at many festivals, and continue to release music, proving they’re ones to watch when it comes to music. Recently, they dropped a brand new EP titled Tomorrowland 2018.
We don’t know how they find time for themselves with their busy schedule, let alone answer interview questions, but they managed to do just that for our exclusive interview and we will forever be grateful for this amazing opportunity. We managed to chat about the recent single “When I Grow Up”, about working with Wiz Khalifa, about the interesting music video, about their success to date, their festival appearances, and what we can expect from them.
Hi Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, how have you been? What have you been up to recently?
D: Our focus right now is on Tomorrowland. We’ve been super busy with the team preparing for what is the biggest and most exciting Tomorrowland yet! 200,000 crazy fans from all over the world per weekends.
M: Yeah, so that’s 400,000 of the most passionate dance music fans you can find. What a crazy couple of weekends it is going to be. The line-up for this year’s festival is insane!
Your latest single was “When I Grow Up” featuring Wiz Khalifa, can you tell us more about the song?
D: For a while now we are trying something different next to our club bangers. We were playing around with ideas and after a few different writing sessions and we got this demo. We wanted it to speak to a new generation of kids. Bring out a record with positive vibes and that was inspirational. It needed to have a kind of reflective feel, to touch that kid in all of us who had a big dream. Working with Wiz was something we wanted to do for a while already, we discussed tracks for years but with this top-line is was just a must to have him on it.
M: The lyrics aren’t to be taken literally, we were just saying you need to follow your dreams. Remember what they were/are and simply follow them.
What was Wiz Khalifa like to work with?
M: For us, it was a great moment. We’re huge fans of his music and have mad respect for what he does as an artist. So linking up for a track was something we’d long been thinking about and really happy that we all managed to find some time to make it happen.
How did this song come about?
D: We got this demo and fell in love with it directly.
M: It all happened quite quickly through some management channels and we found ourselves with the perfect outcome.
The song is becoming popular, with over 8 million streams on Spotify, what’s it like seeing the song’s streams go up?
M: For us, it’s something we’re still very proud to see. On this record particularly because it’s been a fun journey with this one and we wanted to share it with the fans right from the moment we had that hook.
D: We knew we had something special once that hook was done but getting Wiz involved just brought something else to the record. So seeing the success of the record continue to grow like it has is amazing!
A music video for the song has also been released, what are your thoughts on it?
D: We love it!
M: The kid versions of us are brilliant! Such a great vibe with that video.
It was directed by Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah, what were they like to work with?
D: The guys are really great to work with onset. They have a super professional approach to everything they do. We’ve known them for a while and actually made our feature film acting debut in their movie “Patser (Gangsta)”. We only wanted them making this video because we knew it needed the right vision, which they possess. It’s the reason why Hollywood is calling them because they’re going to be a big talent on the big screen in the years to come.
Do you have a favourite scene from the music video?
M: Not one scene but the entire video!
The song had its world premiere at EDC Las Vegas mainstage, what was it like to present, to the crowd, the unheard new single?
D: That was insane! We had a feeling the response would be positive but to have the crowd just instantly feel it like they did was amazing. We spent hours and hours working on this record and to play the final version out to a crowd, with Wiz in person, was a real special moment.
You’ve achieved so much in your career as a duo, what has been your biggest highlight to date?
D: Selling out four nights (across two weekends) Antwerp’s Sportpaleis with our ‘Bringing Home The Madness’ arena show definitely ranks up there. Prior to us doing it, as DJs, the only other artists that have achieved this are live acts like U2, Coldplay, Beyoncé, Michael Jackson and one or two others. That was a mind-blowing moment for us.
M: The runaway success of our Garden of Madness residency in Ibiza is also something we’re extremely proud of. It’s been such a crazy party this summer.
You went viral and charted all over the world with the singles “Tremor” with Martin Garrix and “Complicated” with David Guetta feat. Kiiara. What was it like to see those singles become chart hits?
M: A great feeling to see the success of our music being enjoyed by the fans like it has been! We work tirelessly on our music so it means so much to us for it be received in such a passionate way.
Is there plans to release another album full of all your latest singles if so, what can we expect from it?
D: We actually just dropped a Tomorrowland EP with 7 unreleased big room bangers. We just love spoiling our fans.
Who has been your favourite artist you have collaborated with? And who would you like to collaborate with in the future?
D: Everyone is different so it’s never easy to answer that. We have a great bond with our brother Steve Aoki and working with him in the studio is always fun, we have another record ready with David Guetta, a follow up on “Complicated” but Eminem or Dre stays a dream to work with, for us.
You are set to play at festivals Tomorrowland, Creamfields, Mysteryland, and various places in Ibiza. How excited are you for these festivals?
M: We love being on the road and our sound is built for mainstages so it’s a perfect period for us when we’re playing the best festivals the scene has to offer.
D: Next to Tomorrowland our hearts are in Ibiza. It’s a second home for us and our fans.
What can people expect from your set?
D: Energy, passion and a show filled with the best electronic music. We always aim to deliver the biggest, craziest show possible so be ready to dance and party.
Out of all the festivals you have performed at in the past, which one has been your favourite and why?
M: Tomorrowland is super special, we grew up on those grounds – played there as kids so the site is just magical. This stage is unlike anything else and it’s a special festival that is pure magic, so playing here is another level for us!
What can we expect from you in the future?
M: We just gave our fans a special ‘track of the day’ across this Tomorrowland period. 7 tracks in total which will culminate in a mega EP. Check out http://summerofmadness.com to be a part of this giveaway.
D: We have a lot of new records which we’re finishing so we’ll be announcing new music soon so keep an eye out on our social media for more news.
And, finally, do you have a message for your fans?
D: We love you guys! Thanks for believing with us and the continued support. See you on the dancefloor!
Thank you, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, for taking the time out of your busy schedule to chat with us, we are honoured to have had this opportunity and we cannot wait to watch you release more new music. We also hope that we get to see you two live, one day because from what we know, your sets are ones not to be missed.
You can check out their latest single “When I Grow Up” featuring Wiz Khalifa right now as it is available to download and stream via Smash The House. They have also dropped an EP, titled “Tomorrowland 2018” which contains eight tracks that are so worth listening to. While you’re at it, we suggest you check out the rest of their music, you’ll certainly recognise a few tracks.