EARMILK's Electric Daisy Carnival Series, Part 1: Nicky Romero

The first day of the second annual Electric Daisy Carnival New York meant quintessential early summer New York weather, a new venue, crazier crowd and a festival experience tailored by the famous Insomniac Events. As dusk was setting in, Dutch house star Nicky Romero took the stage for what would be the most energetic, packed set of the day. People poured in to the crowd by any means possible to see the artist who over the past year has really engrained himself as a major power player in the industry and in any club dance music fan’s mind. After seeing his set that was bursting with melodic electro flare, we got to sit down with the artist to see what he’s been up to.

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Earmilk: You had a great performance tonight, and the crowd was the craziest it’s been all day. How did that compare to your other experiences at Electric Daisy Carnival? 

Nicky Romero: Well I played Electric Zoo New York last year, I played at Ultra, and I feel like the energy was really really good today. And I have such an honor to play with the rest of these other artists. I kept thinking of the fact that Dirty South was literally performing 50 meters away and I could actually hear his songs at some points. Beforehand I thought, “Hmmm how exactly is this going to work?” So I was kind of afraid of how that was going to work out, but it ended up going really well and there were two separate vibes. Pasquale, the head of EDC just called me to tell me that my set was the most energetic from the whole day. And you’re telling me that now too!  I'm really appreciative and excited by the reaction the performance has been getting.

EM: You also just did your first appearance and performance at Coachella, was that memorable?

NR: Yeah my first performance at Coachella was great, and after Ultra and EDC Vegas two times on the main stage, I feel like I’ve done it all.

EM: So your latest track “Symphonica” has been a huge hit. What was your inspiration behind it?

NR: For me and for other artists it’s really hard to come up with new things. There are so many good artists around the world and they’re getting younger and younger… It sort of feels like a lot of the stuff out there is starting to sound generic.  And I kept thinking, “How am I going to create something fresh?” So I really tried to do something new and came up with the idea of using an orchestra. And I just played a really easy progression, came up with the chords under it and got it to sound like a real orchestra but completely digital since I made it on the computer.   

EM: How did you decide back in the day that this is what you wanted to do?

NR: I never really decided, I just did it as a hobby and it turned out to be my job. I did my best to achieve something, and my goal was to get up to that level of the best DJs in the world and to “play in the champions league” as they say. It’s the best of the best and I just wanted to be in that, be up on that stage, to play Tomorrowland, Sensation, EDC. And if I start something I always have to do it right, and I try to that all the time. And now, it’s like I got there and achieved that goal, and now my goal is to maintain that level or even get bigger and bigger. I have a great time that has been working with me to help me achieve it all. I didn’t really have a goal, things just happen in life. I never said, “Oh, I want to be this.” It just happened to me. I made my music, and I became a DJ.

EM: I’ve been checking out your Instagram a little bit lately, it seems like you’ve got a lot of interesting collaborations in the works.

NR: I’ve been working with David Guetta in LA, and Avicii asked me to do a new collab as well as a follow up to “Nicktim” and “I Could Be The One.” So I’ll be working on that this year. I worked a little on the new album with David Guetta, I worked with Nile Rogers, I worked with Krewella on a new song called “Save My Life” which is going to be released real soon over the summer. There are many cool things happening, and my label Protocol Recordings is doing really well. I’m really happy with all the positive things and projects that are in the works at this moment. 

EM: I always like to end with this question: Who would be your dream collaborator?

NR: My dream collaboration would be with Chris Martin of Coldplay. Oh and I have to add that it would be an honor to work on a song with Daft Punk as well.