When one thinks of Don Diablo, the mind drifts to soul-stirring music and memorable collaborations. So naturally, after working on his third album Future for many years now, Don released it in early February to a global fanbase. “People were looking for Believe and there was no album for it, but when I did release it, it was a real career moment and I’ve been riding that wave till now and on December 8, I’ll be doing my biggest concert, Future XL , in the Netherlands which is going to be another great milestone.”
Speaking of tours, the Dutch DJ’s India Tour is another great career moment and when asked about it, he chuckles as he says over the phone, “This was supposed to be my week off. It’s been a crazy time leading up to the summer, and the summer itself is going to be crazier. While I needed my body to regenerate I looked at this potential set and thought ‘A chance to play in India may never come again’ and personally this was very important and high up on my bucket list.”
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When it comes to dealing with the multitudes of demands, Don deals with it all by “not sleeping ever,” he laughs again. “I sleep two to three hours per night. I don’t really have a private life either. Every moment and bit of energy goes into creating.”
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‘A creative explosion’
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For the 38 year-old future house savant, life has also gone beyond making music — he’s neck deep in running a record label named Hexagon as well as a popular and affordable clothing line of the same name which features fun and futuristic jackets and utterly edgy T-shirts sporting Don’s logo. “Doing all of these things turned into a creative explosion,” comments Don, “and I’m looking for ways to make the shipping more accessible for India. Through social media, I love seeing people enjoying the music but then to see them style the Hexagon clothes on a daily basis is really a bizarre thing in an exciting way. When I come to India, I may see a lot of bootleg merchandise made there but it doesn’t matter to me; I don’t do this just to make money.”
The DJ, whose real name is Don Pepijn Schipper, has a considerable social presence, with his 2.5 million Facebook fans and 1.4 millon on Instagram, with posts rich with travelogues. He’s moving to YouTube soon too, and then exclusively reveals to us that he’s currently working on a series called Hex Sessions wherein he’ll be playing music for an hour, which people haven’t heard on any of his sets or albums, explaining, “It’ll be visually stunning and quite artful and covering the purer side of DJ artistry.”
Expect equally stunning visuals too at Don’s performance this Saturday as he, for the first time, experiences an Indian summer, while trying some biryani and other Hyderabadi specialties.
Don Diablo will be playing at Ola Sunburn Season Closing on Saturday June 24 at 10:15pm at Beats Per Minute. Tickets are available online for ₹1500.