elektro exclusive interview with Showtek

Q: How do you keep the energy up if you’re playing 3+ shows/night?

Wouter: We work out in the gym almost every day for 45 minutes, so we keep in shape and don’t drink too much.
Sjoerd: We were up at 7:00 eating at McDonalds, you know, and that’s the only night we were really tired. But at this WMC weekend, it’s really cool and inspiring—you meet so many people.
Wouter: It’s just that after a week you have no voice-you’re at parties, talking loud to people, playing shows, smoking cigarettes. You’re just on stage and then off to the next show. We love it.

Q: What can a fan expect to experience at a Showtek show?

A: The last tracks we did were pretty much big time tracks and people know us for this high energy music as producers but also for the high energy performances. We’re not really the kind of act you want to go see and sit down, you know? You want to party. I think it’s going really well, especially after Cannonball, this new track was the most played track at Ultra Music Festival. Guetta played our track, Nicky Romero, Laidback Luke, Hardwell—we got aired for like three hours over the weekend, it was great.

Q: With your project Crazy Collabs, how do you decide who you want to work with?

A: We like to try more progressive stuff- a different approach, but still very Showtek. People know us from this very edgy kind of rough party music. We don’t only want to be those kind of guys, we also want to diversify. The goal is to play 90% Showtek stuff, start with softer stuff we do and then it build up like we would play at a show.

Q: Craziest moment from WMC?

A: Hardwell’s review party—everybody was there and was drunk, people were still walking around the streets at 7 in the morning. We were there with Armin, Hardwell, some guys from Spinnin and Ultra, then we had a drunk set after… my friends paid like $200 for four shots. They kicked it like crazy. The party at the Clevelander was the best party for us so far. We has bassjackers, had a lot of friends there.. We had like two bottles of Jagermeister, four bottles of vodka, nine champagnes in like one hour and 25 minutes. It was one of the only nights when we didn’t play so it was like our going out party.

Q: Which has higher energy to play: a huge festival or a small club?

A: A big crowd is hard to read, but once you can, they all go crazy. The best thing about a smaller crowd is that it’s more intimate, you can look people in the eyes and you feel what they want and really connect. And at a smaller club, you don’t do a one-hour set, you do a two-and-a-half hour set; you have to more see it as a job, you’re working to entertain people which is a bit harder to taste their energy. A festival like EDC or Ultra is easier because you can just play a big Showtek track and hit it… but it has to be the right timing. So I think smaller venues are a bit cooler because you can jump into the crowd, clap their hands, slap some girl’s ass, make it really crazy.

Q: And how many times have you done that?

A: [laughs] Too many. We love both though.

Q: Favorite drink?

A: Champagne & Bacardi 7-Up.

Q: Weirdest thing a fan has ever done at a show?

A: Ask for an autograph on her pussy.

Q: I’m guessing you said no to that.

Sjoerd: No, we did it. Well, she shaved, so it looked good.
Wouter: Oh, my god.
Sjoerd: Well, she wanted an honest answer.

Q: Place you’ve played with the craziest fans?

A: Glasgow.

Q: Favorite meal you’ve had this week?

A: Yellowtail tacos and rock shrimp tempura at Sushi Samba.

Q: Any traditions before you play?

A: Discuss the first track. We always get there about a half hour before we play, so we can listen to what the guys before us do and see what the crowd is feeling. Big shows we always box before we go on [laughs].

Q: Anything else you’d like to add?

A: We have a lot of new stuff coming out, so to stay updated check facebook.com/showtekofficial. And April 16 is a very important date; "Cannonball" was only the beginning.