Nicky Romero Is Dedicated to Being a Killer Producer, Mono Be Damned

Nick Rotteveel–that's Nicky Romero to you–is a Dutch producer/DJ that rose out of the streets of Holland into super stardom after being taken under the wing of former number one DJ in the world David Guetta. Currently deejaying all over the world including Ultra Music Festival and Coachella this year, the artist took over Sutra in Newport Beach on Sunday and Create in Hollywood last night as a part of Insomniac Event's “Road to EDC” series. We chatted with last years biggest breakthrough artist and highest new entry in the DJ Mag Top 100 Poll after his gig at Sutra to talk about bringing his mom to EDC, current collaborations and being sick for the past four months.

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Finding his talents in music through drumming for a band early on in his career, Romero was then asked to spin house and R&B records at gigs in his Holland hometown. His love for producing a unique medley of progressive house and electro was only the natural progression for the artist. Once the DJ's bootleg of David Guetta's “When Love Takes Over” reached critical acclaim, there was no turning back for him. Mentored under the French star himself, Nicky Romero began creating his own empire including his own Protocol Recordings while they worked on tracks endlessly from “Metropolis” to their collaboration for Rihanna's album Unapologetic. With the opportunity to join David Guetta for a summer residency at his “F*ck Me I'm Famous” club night in Ibiza last year, Nick's career took unprecedented heights into the global forefront of dance music.

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“I think it's important to create your own style, sound and music that people can recognize you from,” Romero says. Lucky for him, some of EDM's elite took an interest in his production style and work ethic which has given him the opportunity to collaborate with some of the biggest names including Nervo, Calvin Harris, Fedde Le Grand, Avicii, Hardwell and recently Krewella. “Producing is my main thing and deejaying mainly comes along with it,” he says. We're sure being the main star up on the DJ booth as fans sing along to your songs while holding up signs that say “Will You Marry Me” isn't a bad gig to have. At Sutra he kept the energy going as he jumped around while playing his hits such as “Like Home,” “I Could Be the One” and “Toulouse” as fans sang along and fist pumped into the night.

“If it was on me I would even skip some of my songs sometimes because I have heard them a million times,” says Nick. But like most world famous producers, he has to stick to a certain track list which includes an arsenal of his own originals with his own edits and mash-ups. “I try to play in different ways with acapellas sometimes,” he adds which is what you can expect from his gig at Electric Daisy Carnival on Friday. He's also adding a ton of new music and bringing his mom for the first time who originally was not happy with her son's choice profession. But working with big name artist including a current collaboration with Nile Rodgers who worked with Daft Punk on “Get Lucky” helped Nick's now super proud parents see that this is serious business. Not to mention a money making goldmine.

Nicky Romero hits a corporate KIA event in LA tonight before heading to Las Vegas for EDC Week where he will headline ECLIPSE at Daylight Beach Club Wednesday night and then his own imprint Protocol Recordings will take over LIGHT Nightclub on Thursday night as he kicks off his Vegas residency. With an in demand producing schedule, deejaying all over, his own Protocol Radio show and being a record label head we wonder where he finds the time to enjoy his success. “I don't really party a lot and I think for anyone that wants to be up there it's really important that you just give everything you have,” says Nick. Unaware by his fans, the artist has been suffering from mono for the past four months and has to sleep almost a whole day to be able to perform. But it's this kind of motivation and dedication that has put Nicky Romero as one of the biggest rising stars in dance music today.

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