Dutch DJ and Producer Julian Jordan started touring the world at the age of 15 and has not stopped since. Now 23 years old, Jordan has expanded beyond the DJ booth and started his own record label called GOLDKID Records in addition to launching a fashion line. It takes many artists a lifetime to achieve what Jordan has done in seven short years, however, the producer has an energetic and optimistic disposition despite an admittedly heavy workload.
You started touring at 15. Do you ever feel like you missed out on being a normal teenager?
Yeah. It was crazy because when I started touring it was all international, so I was traveling all over really quickly. I definitely missed out on some of the time with friends most people have growing up. It’s funny now though because I am booking a lot more shows close to home, so I am actually getting to see friends more now and live more of that life that I missed out on earlier.
Do you prefer making music as a producer or DJ?
I don’t know actually…When I produce music I always think about how it sounds live, I always want to test it out live. So I think I couldn’t do it with DJing. I like to create stuff, I like to tour so I think it’s 50/50. I think it’s really important to remake and make your own style profile. It’s not about how many followers, but how many true fans you have, thats the most important thing. I think it’s important to gauge fans by the way you are, be yourself create your own profile and create your own sound. If you like it you are always going to have people who like it as well. Those are the real people who like you for who you are thats the most important thing, bring something thats not there already. If they can be a fan of you, they can be a fan of a lot of other artists, I think you have to be unique to have something people can be a fan of.
EDM is really big with Dutch artists at the moment.
Yeah, I always get the question; how is it possible everyone is always Dutch on the EDM scene, I’m like, I never have an answer for that one. I’m just like, I just can’t really, I don’t know… Why, I don’t know really, maybe it’s in the culture, always had a lot of festivals in our country, we really started with electronic music, with electronic festivals like really early, but I don’t know if that’s it.
You once said that you like to think outside of the box, and that what inspires you are other artists who do that as well. Who are some of the artists who inspire you?
I would have to say Pharrell. I love his music and he is incredibly innovative. I really love his stuff, and he has always been a huge inspiration for me.
Of all of your collaborations, do you have a favorite person that you have worked with?
I would have to say Martin Garrix. We are just really on the same wave length as artists and kind of approach things the same way. A lot of the time you get in the studio with someone and they just want to do things their way, but with Martin we work really well together and bounce ideas off of each other.
You guys grew up friends right?
Yeah it’s funny– we met each other online as we were getting into music, and I would brag to him about this music school I was in. Then he eventually actually joined my class at school, and we went to school together for a few years. He’s one of my good friends.
Is there someone you haven’t worked with yet that you would really like to?
I would say Tiesto. He was one of my biggest inspirations growing up and still is to this day. When I was 5,6, and 7 years old listening to music, he was already spinning, and he brought a lot of attention to our country in terms of the music scene. He is definitely a big inspiration for me.
If you weren’t a DJ, what would you be doing?
I don’t know… I mean I always wanted to be an entertainer and be in the spotlight. In school, I would rap on the playground and loved entertaining people. When I found music, that fell into place where I could do something that I love and entertain those around me. But I always like trying new things and I think musically I would like to do something unexpected moving forward, like work with a rock band or something different like that.
Is fashion something you have always been interested in? Or did you learn you were interested in it once you started working on your Chasin’ collaboration?
I have always been interested in it because fashion is an important part of being an entertainer. This isn’t a collaboration where we sat down and had a meeting and did the collaboration. I was just hanging out with them and we were throwing out ideas, and that is where the collaboration was born.
When you aren’t touring or in the studio, what are you doing with your time?
Well that’s hard to answer because I feel like touring and being in the studio is already a really hard thing to balance. I would say I’m usually on my couch and spending time with my family if I am not in the studio. It’s really hard being able to see them and spend time with them, so I use every moment I can get outside of work to be with friends and family.
Where do you want to be in a year, 2 years, 3 years time, what’s the vision?
I actually enjoy what I’m doing already, like what I’m doing right now, the life, the touring. The combination between my life and my private life is perfect right now, so I really like it. After 2 years, I hope even bigger crowds, I really want to do a stadium, that would be really sick. It could happen in 1, 2, maybe 10 years.