Andrea Oliva, DJ and music producer rocking parties around the world. We had the opportunity to learn from him where this passion comes from, what’s coming, future shows, and more.
Andrea, so nice to have you here! How are you and how is everything in your life going right now?
Good, my life is busy again. And I’m working, building, and creating. I’m very much looking forward to playing out and so far, so good. I try to make the best out of any situation.
So we know that you started playing with music from the age of 13 years old, that’s incredible! Tell us about your journey of becoming the legend you are today.
Thank you for the “legend”, haha, but I think we throw the name legend around too easily. I think we only have a few legends in our scene, and I’m definitely not there yet. I don’t know if I’ll become a legend one day, but for now, no.
I really started when I was 12 or 13, and it has been quite a journey. Sometimes I forget where I come from. Careers work in cycles, and sometimes you get things, and you don’t know why you got them in your career.
I see that you are the modest type, cool! You’re playing at huge festivals and parties around the world, and on that note, tell us your best memory from a show,
There’s really a lot, I played a lot. A lot of festivals, so many, for example, I played a festival in Peru one time, and we drove through neighborhoods where it was really dangerous. But then you get to the festival and the energy is so incredible. People are so nice and go really nuts. And you are just the DJ. Then you play Coachella and you’re backstage with Will Smith next to you. Or you play in Ibiza, which is always great. Or Playing Tomorrowland for the first time with Ants, wow! We have Ants and the stage is rammed. I played the closing set, There are 10,000 people! It’s amazing. Or I played the opening of Street Parade in Zurich, there were like 200,000 people. So many impressive things. I can tell you so many stories.
Awsome! I can tell you that I would s*** myself if I were you! elrow is one of your upcoming shows this December! How do you usually prepare your set for such an event? Anything special for this one?
I would say I never prepare for a show normally. But Elrow is always special, because Elrow is a lot of production, big stages, and people react on drops a lot. There is so much going on in the room with the decoration and everything that there really has to be something going on in your music. So my sets are very energetic when I play Elrow.
The crowd always falls in “trance” every time you play. What’s your secret to making all your shows special?
It depends on which mindset and which attitude you approach a gig with. For me, every time I play, I first want to smash it. I want to be the guy who puts a smile on the face of people. And I want them to have a night to remember. You want to take them on a journey, and you want to make it special, not only for yourself but really for the crowd. Then they go home and say “the guy really blew me away”, or “the guy really took me on a journey”. This is also how you create a proper fan base.
What advice would you give to someone young, having the same passion you had when you first started your music career?
Produce your own music. Because this is how you make a difference.
What is Andrea Oliva preparing for us in the near future?
We’re working on a lot of music for ‘All I Need’. On the stage production for the ‘All I Need’ tour. We work on visuals, we work on artwork, on fashion, on music, so it’s a bit of a 360 which keeps us busy.
Last one, if you could be an animal for a day, what would you be and why?
I would be a puma. Superfast. Yeah. Not to fuck about with the Puma, you don’t joke around with the Puma. Just don’t get next to him, and everything’s fine.
Any message for all your fans?
To support and look out for young artists who support club culture, to support local clubs, support local DJs. This is the main message. People can’t afford festival tickets anymore. And clubs can’t open anymore because they can’t compete with big lineups. So the best thing you can do is support your local club with local artists, so your club can run club nights with local people. Yeah, and eventually they can start to afford international artists again, and the whole machinery starts picking up again.
This is the message I would give to my friends – go support your local artists and your local clubs.
Keep in touch with Andrea Oliva on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
