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Olivier J. L. Heldens (born 1 February 1995) is a Dutch DJ and electronic music producer from
Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...
. He is regarded as a pioneer of the
future house Future house is a house music genre that emerged in the 2010s in the United Kingdom, described as a fusion of deep house, UK garage and incorporating other elements and techniques of other EDM genres. It is high in energy, generally consisti ...
genre, propelling it to international attention and scoring numerous chart successes, including "Gecko (Overdrive)", "Last All Night (Koala)", " The Right Song", " Fire in My Soul", and " Turn Me On". He also produces bass house songs under the alias HI-LO, which comes from "Oli H" in reversed form, and runs the label Heldeep Records. Through February 2021, he is the 460th-most-streamed artist on
Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...
, with over a billion cumulative streams.


Career


2013–2014: debut and "Gecko" breakthrough

Heldens began his professional music career when he signed to
Spinnin' Records Spinnin' Records is a Dutch electronic music record label founded in 1999 by Eelko van Kooten and Roger de Graaf. In September 2017, Warner Music Group acquired Spinnin' Records for over $100 million. Background Van Kooten is the son of former ...
in 2013. His first releases on the label included the songs "Stinger" and "Thumper", which features DJ Jacob van Hage. Heldens' 2013 song " Gecko" caught the attention of fellow Dutch DJ
Tiësto Tijs Michiel Verwest (; born 17 January 1969), known professionally as Tiësto ( ), is a Dutch DJ and music producer from Breda. He was voted "the Greatest DJ of All Time" by '' Mix'' magazine in a 2010/2011 poll amongst fans. In 2013, he was v ...
, who signed the song to his label, Musical Freedom, and later released a vocal version through
Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...
's
FFRR FFRR Records (sometimes credited as Full Frequency Range Recordings) is a dance music label previously run and founded by English DJ Pete Tong. Originally the dance music label of London Records, FFRR is currently a sublabel of Parlophon ...
with British singer
Becky Hill Rebecca Claire Hill (born 14 February 1994) is a British singer from Bewdley, England. She rose to prominence after appearing on the first series of the then BBC (now ITV) talent contest '' The Voice UK'', auditioning with John Legend's "Ord ...
on 23 June 2014 as "
Gecko (Overdrive) "Gecko" is a song by Dutch DJ and producer Oliver Heldens. It was released worldwide as a digital download on Beatport on 30 December 2013. It received a mainstream release as a digital download on 13 January 2014 in the Netherlands. The song ...
". The song peaked at number 1 on the UK Top 40 chart in June 2014, was named "Essential New Tune" by
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
's Pete Tong on 31 January 2014, and DJs including
David Guetta Pierre David Guetta ( , ; born 7 November 1967) is a French DJ and music producer. He has over 10 million album and 65 million single sales globally, with more than 10 billion streams. In 2011, 2020 and 2021, Guetta was voted the number one D ...
,
Martin Garrix Martijn Gerard Garritsen (; born 14 May 1996), known professionally as Martin Garrix and also as Ytram and GRX, is a Dutch disc jockey and music producer who was ranked number one on ''DJ Mag''s Top 100 DJs list for three consecutive years—201 ...
, and
Zedd Anton Zaslavski (russian: Антон Заславский; born 2 September 1989), known professionally as Zedd (), is a Russian-born German DJ, record producer, and songwriter. Zedd grew up and began his musical journey in Kaiserslautern, G ...
began supporting it. In January 2014, Heldens launched his Heldeep Mixtape on his official
SoundCloud SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming s ...
page, creating extended mixes which incorporate various genres of electronic music including different types of deep house and tech-house. The first mixtape included his remix of fellow Spinnin' Records signee Martin Garrix's "Animals". In March 2014, Heldens also released a remix of
Robin Thicke Robin Alan Thicke (born March 10, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his 2013 hit single " Blurred Lines", which is one of the best-selling singles of all time. At the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, h ...
's " Feel Good". Heldens entered the DJ Mag Top 100 of 2014, making his debut at number 34. In December 2014, he performed an Essential Mix on
BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
, and British radio DJ Pete Tong named him "one of the breakthrough producers of the year". Heldens released "
Koala The koala or, inaccurately, koala bear (''Phascolarctos cinereus''), is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae and its closest living relatives are the w ...
" on Spinnin' in August 2014, and on 6 October 2014 he released "This" with
Sander van Doorn Sander Ketelaars (; born 28 February 1979), better known by his stage name Sander van Doorn () or the initials SvD, is a Dutch electro house DJ and record producer from Eindhoven. Background Sander van Doorn began his recording career in 200 ...
. "Koala" became the second-most-searched dance recording from the 2014 Amsterdam Dance Event on music-recognition app Shazam. He achieved 12th place in the DJ Mag Top 100 2015, making him the highest-ranked house DJ on the list. In a '' Billboard'' interview at
Tomorrowland Tomorrowland is one of the many themed lands featured at all of the Magic Kingdom styled Disney theme parks around the world owned or licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Each version of the land is different and features numerous attractions t ...
, Heldens described his style as deep house while also acknowledging the mainstream influences in his music. On 17 December 2015,
BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
announced that Heldens was to have a residency show starting on 22 January 2016. Since then, Heldens has played a one-hour Radio 1 slot on the third Thursday of every month.


2015–2016: HI-LO and Heldeep Records

In July 2015, the HI-LO song "Renegade Mastah" was the first track to be released on Heldens' new label Heldeep Records. In a later interview with the UKF blog, it was revealed that HI-LO was Heldens, who used the label to launch the HI-LO project. HI-LO has been called a deeper underground sound than Heldens' work under his own name. The title of the HI-LO project was chosen as a palindrome for Oli-H, to signify his name. The HI-LO tracks "Crank It Up", "Wappy Flirt" and "Ooh La La" followed, with the single "Scrub the Ground" by
Chocolate Puma Chocolate Puma are a DJ and music production duo from Haarlem, North Holland, consisting of René ter Horst ("DJ Zki") and Gaston Steenkist ("Dobre"). Their stage names include "Zki & Dobre", "The Good Men", and "The Goodmen". Zki & Dobre have ...
and Tommie Sunshine released on Heldeep Records in October 2015. Heldens launched Heldeep Records in 2015 to create a platform to showcase the music of budding producers. Heldeep would grow from a small imprint to a fully-fledged label, signing artists including Alok, Chocolate Puma, and
Dada Life Dada Life are a Swedish DJ duo formed in 2006, which consists of Olle Cornéer and Stefan Engblom. They have released three albums, a number of singles and remixes and one compilation. The duo had early chart success in Belgium and the Netherla ...
. The label has hosted stages at festivals including
Tomorrowland Tomorrowland is one of the many themed lands featured at all of the Magic Kingdom styled Disney theme parks around the world owned or licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Each version of the land is different and features numerous attractions t ...
,
Mysteryland Mysteryland is the leading electronic dance music festival in the Netherlands, organized by the Netherlands-based promoter ID&T. Being the first of its kind in the country when it was established, its organizers have billed the event as the o ...
, SW4, Electric Forest, Spring Awakening,
Sunrise Festival ''Sunrise Festival'', released in 2008, is a live album from the Ozric Tentacles, recorded 1 June 2007 at the Sunrise Celebration Festival, Somerset, England. This recording marks the return of Merv Pepler and Joie Hinton to the band, who had l ...
, Imagine Festival, Black Sheep Festival, and label nights during Miami Music Week and Amsterdam Dance Event. ''Heldeep Talent EP'' was released on 23 November 2015 and included the songs "I Can't Stop" by Death Ray Shake, "Hookah" by Bojac, "Slip Away" by Niko The Kid, and "Fall Under Skies" by Jonas Aden & Robby East. Since then Oliver released "Heldeep Talent EP Part 2" on 21 March 2016 Featuring three tracks: "Get Busy" by Steff Da Campo, "Lethal" by NOVKA, and "Mirrors feat. Stevyn by Tom Budin and Stevyn. "Waiting", an Oliver Heldens and Throttle collaboration, was released on Heldeep Records on 7 January 2016. Heldeep released a track by Mr. Belt & Wezol and Shermanology called "Hide & Seek" as well as another track by Bougenvilla & Out Of Cookies called "Break It Down" on 25 April 2016. The label also released "Space Sheep," a collaboration between Heldens and
Chocolate Puma Chocolate Puma are a DJ and music production duo from Haarlem, North Holland, consisting of René ter Horst ("DJ Zki") and Gaston Steenkist ("Dobre"). Their stage names include "Zki & Dobre", "The Good Men", and "The Goodmen". Zki & Dobre have ...
on 2 May 2016.


2017–2020: "Turn Me On" and other singles

In 2017, Heldens released the single "Ibiza 77". In 2018, he signed to
RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...
. His 2018 single " Fire in My Soul" features vocals from singer Shungduzo and was co-produced with
Oak Felder Warren "Oak" Felder (born November 9, 1980)Dale KawashimaSongwriter Universe, September 7, 2017. is a Turkish-born American songwriter and record producer based in Atlanta and Los Angeles. He is known for his work as part of the production duo Po ...
. It reached number 1 on the ''Billboard'' Dance Club Songs chart, and number 18 on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart. Also that year, he released a remix of
Chic Chic (; ), meaning "stylish" or "smart", is an element of fashion. It was originally a French word. Pronounced Chick. Etymology '' Chic'' is a French word, established in English since at least the 1870s. Early references in English diction ...
's "
Le Freak "Le Freak" is a 1978 funk / disco song by American R&B band Chic. It was the band's third single and first ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and R&B number-one hit song. Along with the tracks " I Want Your Love" and "Chic Cheer", "Le Freak" scored number ...
" on Atlantic Records, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Atlantic Records' all-time best selling song. In 2018, he partnered with the
Plastic Soup Foundation Plastic Soup Foundation is a non-profit marine conservation organisation that aims to reduce plastic pollution. Established in 2011, Plastic Soup Foundation advocates towards imposing bans and/or voluntary phase-outs of microbeads in cosmetics at ...
as their new ambassador, to help eliminate ocean pollution. His 2019 single " Turn Me On" with DJ Riton and singer
Vula ''Vula'' first appeared in Cape Town in December 1984. Distributed to beach bathers and the like, it quickly became one of the country's top, alternative publications, before disappearing sometime in 1987. Other SA Alternative Publications * ' ...
peaked at number 10 on the Global Shazam Top 200 chart, number 12 on the UK Top 40 chart, number 1 on the MediaBase Dance Radio chart, number 1 on the ''Billboard''
Dance/Mix Show Airplay Dance/Mix Show Airplay (formerly Hot Dance Airplay) is a monitored electronic dance music radio chart that is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. History The chart came about as a result of the small but influential impact of electronic ...
chart, and number 5 on the Dance Club Songs chart. For the single, he and Riton sampled the 1982 song " Don't Go" by Yazoo. Also in 2019, Heldens released "Lift Me Up", a collaboration with
Firebeatz Firebeatz is a Dutch DJ and music production duo consisting of Tim Benjamin Smulders (; born 14 August 1985) and Jurre van Doeselaar (; born 7 July 1987). The duo formed in Tilburg in 2008, and gained fame in the EDM scene through their dance f ...
and producer Schella, with vocals from Carla Monroe, collaborated with Nile Rodgers of Chic and Devin on "Summer Lover" "This Groove" with Lenno and released the single "Cucumba" with
Moguai André Tegeler (born 9 August 1973), known by his stage name Moguai (stylised as MOGUAI), is a German music producer and DJ. In the early 1990s, he took the alias Moguai and began organising his own club nights and parties in Ruhrgebiet and M ...
. As a remixer, Heldens has released remixes for many high-profile artists, including Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa's " One Kiss",
David Guetta Pierre David Guetta ( , ; born 7 November 1967) is a French DJ and music producer. He has over 10 million album and 65 million single sales globally, with more than 10 billion streams. In 2011, 2020 and 2021, Guetta was voted the number one D ...
and Anne-Marie's "
Don't Leave Me Alone "Don't Leave Me Alone" is a song by French DJ and music producer David Guetta featuring English singer Anne-Marie. It was written by Noonie Bao, Sarah Aarons, Guetta and Lotus IV, with production handled by the latter two. The song was released t ...
", The Chainsmokers' "
All We Know "All We Know" is a song by American DJ duo The Chainsmokers. It features vocals from Andrew Taggart (one half of The Chainsmokers) and American singer Phoebe Ryan. The song was released on September 29, 2016, through Disruptor Records and Columbi ...
", Katy Perry's "
Chained to the Rhythm "Chained to the Rhythm" is a song by American singer-songwriter Katy Perry that served as the lead single from her fifth studio album, ''Witness''. It features vocals from Jamaican singer Skip Marley. The artists co-wrote the track with its pro ...
", Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding's " Outside",
Charlie Puth Charles Otto Puth Jr. (; born December 2, 1991) is an American singer and songwriter. His initial exposure came through the viral success of his song videos uploaded to YouTube. Puth initially signed with the record label eleveneleven after p ...
's " Attention", and
Jamiroquai Jamiroquai () are an English funk and acid jazz band from London. Formed in 1992, they are fronted by vocalist Jay Kay, and were prominent in the London-based funk and acid jazz movement of the 1990s. They built on their acid jazz sound in th ...
's " Superfresh". In 2019, Heldens commemorated the fifth anniversary of his label Heldeep and the 250th episode of his weekly radio show Heldeep Radio, which is syndicated in 65 countries, broadcast on over 90 stations and reaches over 118 million people a week, with the Heldeep 5 World Tour, taking Heldens and friends across North America, Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Europe, Indonesia, Japan, and South Korea. In early 2020, he collaborated with South Korean girl group
Itzy Itzy (stylized in all caps; ) is a South Korean girl group formed by JYP Entertainment and consisting of members Yeji, Lia, Ryujin, Chaeryeong, and Yuna. They debuted on February 12, 2019, with the release of their single album ''It'z Different'' ...
to produce a sidetrack titled "Ting Ting Ting." In June that year, Heldens released a remix of Katy Perry's hit song " Daisies." He also released singles of his own. These include "Take A Change", "The G.O.A.T.", and, in collaboration with
Mesto Melle Kiet Stomp (born 30 September 1999), better known by his stage name Mesto, is a Dutch electronic musician, record producer, remixer and DJ. He gained recognition after collaborating with Martin Garrix (born in the same town of Amstelveen) o ...
, "Details" featuring Boy Matthews for the vocals. Others are "Rave Machine" with
Rowetta Rowetta Idah (born 5 January 1966, in Manchester), also known as Rowetta or Rowetta Satchell, is a British singer. She is best known for her work with the Happy Mondays, recording and touring with the band from 1990 and recently reforming with th ...
, "Break This Habit", "Freedom For My People" with Shungudzo and the single "Set Me Free" together with MAX and Party Pupils. "Set Me Free" was the first song to be released on the new Label OH2 Records, which was founded by Oliver Heldens as his second record label. OH2 Records is intended to feature more vocal house songs.


2021–Present: more focus on HI-LO tracks

2020 saw the rise of releases by HI-LO, the darker alias of Oliver Heldens. This started off with the singles "Kronos", "Zeus" and "Athena", all of which he produced himself. This continued into 2021, and he also started collaborating with a lot of new artists, this time DJs that are known from the techno scene. The most notable among these is Reinier Zonneveld, a Dutch techno legend with whom HI-LO now collaborates a lot. This resulted in the singles "Saw Of Olympus", ""Existencia", "Balearic Mornings" and "String Theory". Two other singles are "Check" with Will Clarke and "HADES" with Italian DJ T78. All of these were released on the "Filth On Acid" label by Reinier Zonneveld. HI-LO also remixed the song "Skycrapers" by Nina Kraviz, which resulted in "Skycrapers (Hi-Lo Remix)". Another novelty for him included the release of "Hypnos" and "Hera" on Drumcode Records. These two songs are solely produced by HI-LO and are the start of an association with
Adam Beyer Adam Beyer (born 15 May 1976 in Stockholm, Sweden) is a Swedish techno producer and DJ. He is the founder of Drumcode Records, and is one of several Swedish techno artists to emerge in the mid-1990s, along with Cari Lekebusch and Jesper Dah ...
and his techno record label. Oliver Heldens singles from this year include "Never Look Back" feat. Syd Silvair, "Zapdos", and "Another Change" with
Roger Sanchez Roger Sanchez (born June 1, 1967) is a Dominican-American house music DJ, remixer and producer. He won a Grammy Award for his remix of " Hella Good" by No Doubt in 2003, and is best known for his song " Another Chance", which was an internati ...
. He also remixed Calvin Harris'd "By Your Side (feat.
Tom Grennan Thomas Grennan (born 8 June 1995) is an English singer and songwriter from Bedford and is based in London. Grennan found fame as the guest vocalist on Chase & Status's " All Goes Wrong" in 2016. His debut album, '' Lighting Matches'', was rel ...
)", and OH2 Records saw its second big release by Oliver Heldens with the song "Deja Vu", which featured the vocals of
Anabel Englund Anabel Englund (born September 1, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and DJ from Southern California. She is best known for her collaborative work with electronic and house music artists such as Hot Natured and MK (DJ), MK. ...
. In 2022, he first released a remix of the song "In The Dark" by Purple Disco Machine and Sophie and the Giants. HI-LO then released the track "Industria" with Eli Brown. In March 2022, he confirmed an upcoming single in collaboration with Tchami, again featuring vocals by Anabel Englund. He also has confirmed HI-LO collaborations with techno artists Space 92 and Layton Giordani. Heldens is managed by Dave Frank, Alex Harrow, and Lucas Keller at Milk & Honey, and he is signed to
RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...
(Sony) and his own Heldeep Records. He's additionally published worldwide by Universal Music Publishing Group, Universal Music Publishing.


Performances

Heldens has performed at festivals and venues including Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Coachella, Glastonbury Festival, Glastonbury, Lollapalooza, Electric Daisy Carnival, Ultra Music Festival, Ultra,
Tomorrowland Tomorrowland is one of the many themed lands featured at all of the Magic Kingdom styled Disney theme parks around the world owned or licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Each version of the land is different and features numerous attractions t ...
, Amsterdam Dance Event, Electric Zoo, Creamfields, Veld Music Festival, Stereosonic, Djakarta Warehouse Project, Sensation (event), Sensation, Brooklyn Mirage, Echostage, Fabric, Governors Island, LIV, Printworks, and Red Rocks. He has held residencies at clubs in Las Vegas and Ibiza including Hakkasan, Omnia, Wet Republic, Marquee, HÏ, Ushuaïa and Pacha.


Discography


Awards and nominations


DJ Magazine Top 100 DJ


References


Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heldens, Oliver 1995 births 21st-century Dutch musicians Dutch DJs Dutch house musicians Dutch record producers Living people Dutch male musicians Musicians from Rotterdam George FM Progressive house musicians Future house musicians Electronic dance music DJs 21st-century male musicians FFRR Records artists FL Studio users