This week I had the opportunity to interview Fedde le Grand, an artist who stands on the edge of global superstardom. Fedde’s career is studded with worldwide number ones, packed arenas, throbbing dance floors, A-list collaborations, and a string of international awards. While he’s already accomplished much, Fedde is not resting on his laurels. He recently released iFedde, a pioneering iPhone application, and he has an upcoming gig at the Miami Ultra Music Festival. Needless to say, Fedde’s interview makes for interesting reading…
Q: Can you talk a bit about your early career? How did you get so into dance music that you decided to make a living from it, and which artists influenced you early on?
A: I actually started off DJ-ing at school, funnily enough. They didn’t teach it in lessons. But I used to bring my decks and tunes to school, and that’s where it all started off. I just worked my way up from there. My Sneakerz parties were very influential in the early years, then obviously “Put Your Hands up for Detroit” happened, which bought me to a wider audience. And I’ve been building on it ever since. I was influenced by people like Michael Jackson, George Clinton, those kind of guys from an early age. I definitely have an obsession with funk.
Q: At this point, you’ve cemented your position among the Dutch Masters – artists like Tiësto, Armin Van Buuren, and Ferry Corsten. What pros and cons have you experienced as a result of building your career in the Netherlands, a country that is home for so many acclaimed DJs?
A: I think the pros are definitely having a lot of support from your own country. We’re a nation of dance music lovers, and there’s great backing for homegrown talent and what we do. The cons? Maybe everybody expects me to do the same as all other DJs from the Netherlands? I don’t think there are very many cons to being Dutch 
Q: Over the years, you’ve explored a number of different musical styles, from electro house to darker, more minimal tech house. At present, which style is your true passion and why?
A: I don’t ever say there’s one style that I’m into at any given moment. I have an eclectic taste in music and also with what I produce. I tend to split my sounds between my Fedde le Grand name and my more underground FLG style. It just makes it easier for people to determine what mood I’m in with music I put out there. But I love everything from minimal beats to more house production to pop.
Q: You just launched an interesting iPhone application that allows people to access your music community without being tied to a computer. What was your motivation for developing this application? What do you hope it accomplishes?
A: iPhone apps are one of the most interesting new developments around, as far as communicating with fans goes. I think it’s so important for me to be able to talk to people wherever they are. I really like the idea of building a community of like-minded people, sharing ideas about music and clubbing and life in general. My online site was completely revamped last year to make it more user friendly, and we’re adding new options all the time, like giving people access to upload their own productions, share those across Facebook and MySpace and places like that. And people can give their opinions on the work and vote for the tracks they like. I’ve just actually signed up the first person from the feddelegrand.com site onto Flamingo Recordings which was great. So now with the iFedde iPhone App, we’ve extended everything we’ve done on the site into your mobile life, so you can check in whenever and wherever you want, get involved on the forums and chats even if you’re on the dance floor! For me that is mind-blowing. I love this new digital age we’re in. The developments and possibilities are exciting. (more…)
