JEDDAH: Belgian DJ brothers Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike are fired up for their upcoming performance in Saudi Arabia.
The pair, ranked by DJ Mag as the best DJs in the world, are performing at King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) on Thursday at the opening of the Saudi International Golf Tournament.
Arab News caught up with them ahead of their show, where they detailed their preparations for the Saudi audience.
“We’re expecting the atmosphere to be insane. We’ve received a lot of feedback online and reports from the organizers around the event. We think it’s going to be a really cool show,” said Dimitri.
He talked about the rush of touring as an artist and the experience of meeting their fans. “We’re absolutely excited to perform in Saudi,” added Mike.
The pair revealed that they had prepared a “crazy” setlist for Saudi fans. They have been working on new music, and fans can expect to hear their latest tracks at KAEC.
“It’s going to be a crazy set from us of amazing music, so we might drop some special edits of our latest tracks,” said Dimitri.
Before venturing into a new country, Dimitri and Mike look into its local music as part of their preparations to understand a country’s sound.
Dimitri said they have listened to Arabic music before and they are open to learn more about it on the trip. “You never know where inspiration comes from,” he teased when asked whether or not they might collaborate with an Arab artist.
As for their advice to aspiring DJs in a brand new age for Saudi Arabia, they kept it direct and motivational. Mike said that the way to start is by believing in yourself and following your vision with passion until you make it.
“The music industry can be a difficult world to break into but if you are dedicated, believe in yourself and set yourself goals that you work hard toward achieving, anything is possible,” Dimitri added.
Dimitri and Mike’s latest hit from last year “Instagram” — where they worked with Daddy Yankee, Natty Natasha, Afro Bros and David Guetta — has been streamed more than 200 million times, being played around the world and remixed by major DJs.
“The love for the record has been incredible! We have seen such an amazing response from fans on the dance floor all over the world. We mixed that Latin vibe with our own styles of electronic music, and it fits so well for the kind of party style we bring to our shows,” said Dimitri.
With several broken records, No. 1 hits and their huge status on the music festival circuit, the brothers still have a long way to go.
“We’re just getting warmed up. For us and what we want to do this all feels like the beginning,” said Mike.
“We have big goals and dreams that we are constantly chasing and adding to. It’s an exciting period in our career because we’re starting to make more and more of dreams come alive but we have much more to come yet,” he added.
The brothers plan on riding the momentum of their wave of success and fame. For the new year, they have returned to the studio to work on new music and have already began touring extensively, with upcoming shows in Japan, Germany, the US and Thailand.
“It’s a busy period for us and the year has not started yet. We also have Tomorrowland Winter coming up, which is going to be insane,” said Dimitri.
The pair added that they are working on different collaborations with artists they respect, and that fans will love what they have in store.
This will be Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike’s second performance in Saudi Arabia, their first visit was in November 2019 at Riyadh Season with Egyptian megastar Ams Diab and American-Moroccan rapper French Montana.
