Fedde Le Grand: 2024 and beyond [Interview]

From pushing boundaries with his releases and being behind some of the most iconic tracks in the electronic scene, Fedde Le Grand is a name synonymous with party-starting anthems. A DJ, producer, label owner and much more, there isn’t much that he hasn’t achieved. 

Ahead of his American tour which sees him hit up places such as Miami Music Week with his own label takeover, we spoke to him about his plans for the month (hint: lots of new music), thoughts on the current electronic music climate and much more. 

Hi Fedde, thanks for joining us. Can you tell us about some of your upcoming releases for the next few months and what fans can expect from them?

“I’m basically going back to where I started. I think they flow between house and tech-house but sometimes it’s tricky to define. I’ve always been around those genres and scenes for most of my career, and it’s been fun.”

Does it feel nostalgic going back to your roots?

“A little bit, especially now, because there’s so many tracks that I know from when I started clubbing myself, or that I still have on vinyl, that are being redone. It’s done in a new way so I don’t mind it, and I think it’s cool in a sense that there’s some very familiar terrain, so I feel like a fish in water.”

Do you ever feel pressure today to create massive hits?

“Not really. I think first of all, you can make the most amazing track ever but things have to come together, and you need the right label for it. Especially in today’s world, some kid that makes an awesome TikTok video or a track that gets played in a Boiler Room session could blow up because of these factors. 

I wouldn’t say I don’t care, I just love to do what I do and whatever happens, happens. I think that’s actually better because it doesn’t influence your state of mind when you’re in the studio and therefore makes everything flow better. I’m just having lots of fun, which is great.”

Like every year, Fedde Le Grand is in the full swing of a busy touring season, seeing him bring his signature sound and infectiously energetic sets to the masses worldwide. 

You’re back into the full swing of touring now with an American tour on the horizon. What are some of the differences between playing there and in Europe?

“I have to say that America is really interesting right now, because overall they made a full on switch to house and tech-house music, finally (if I may say so). I think it’s absolutely great. The past few times I’ve played there it’s been interesting because if you look at Europe we’ve overall been at it a bit longer and especially the UK. It’s normal that a particular club will do drum & bass, whereas another one would do hard dance or hard techno, it can all co-exist together. I think Fred again.. is a great example of different styles fusing. I don’t really see that in the US right now, so in that regard it’s a bit interesting.”

Do you find yourself having to switch up your sets drastically when you go to America because of this?

“It’s always been like that for me to be honest. When the States was full of EDM I still did super underground stuff that you would find in Eastern Europe, but I think that’s the upside of doing this for so long. People know what you do. I always switch it up a little bit and obviously if you’re playing at a huge festival it will be a lot different than if you’re playing a smaller club, but for me it’s always been like that.” 

Not just playing at some of the biggest events, Fedde Le Grand curates his own, also. With a focus on house and dynamic names of established and fresh talents, he has carefully put together a lineup that is stacked from open to close. 

During Miami Music Week you have your Darklight Sessions event. What can fans expect from it?

“We have some fairly new talent, and rediscovered talent such as one of the guys from Shermanology. I did a track with them way back, but they’ve found their style again so they’re doing pretty well. At the same time, I also have Roger Sanchez who’s been doing this for decades as well. I think it’s a nice mixture but there will be an overall house vibe, definitely.” 

What is the thought process of putting together a lineup for your own event?

“For me I always try to get people I admire or really enjoy their sets, so for me it’s almost always a personal preference. Sometimes we take young talent from the label, sometimes friends I’ve been seeing throughout the years and I’ve never had the chance to see play or have only seen them play once before. I’ve played with Roger [Sanchez] before but its been a long time. It’s just my personal preference, really.”

Speaking of the label, what can fans expect from upcoming releases?

“There’s a few guys that we’ve been supporting throughout the years. I always say it’s house and tech-house orientated because I don’t want to pigeonhole myself or the label so it’s broad, but definitely on the house side. There’s also really interesting tracks coming out.”

When you say you don’t want to pigeonhole, do you ever feel restrained by genre expectations?

“Sometimes. There’s certain events or certain countries that are really strict in what they do and don’t like. Then again, if you look at guys that have been doing this for a long time such as Carl Cox, Tiësto or Green Velvet, I’m like them where I just play what I think is cool. Sometimes I think genre names are for people who don’t really know what’s going on, just so they can ‘put it somewhere’ or categorise it.”

What do you think has changed the most about the scene from when you started out?

“It’s definitely gotten a lot more professional. When I started, America was not interested in dance music at all. There was some things going on but we used to label it as indie-pop for them, because as soon as it would be dance, it would be a no go. No radio would play it. I think in that regard, things have gotten a lot more professional and open and I think we have America to thank in that regard, now. I started back in 2005-2006 and I would say things are starting to feel again like they did back in that period.”

A lot of artists also mention social media being part of a big change. What is your opinion on that?

“In some cases it does make things easier. I think that is actually the most interesting thing going on right now. I see the most changes there. I feel like you can overdo things now whereas I didn’t see this before. Social Media has gotten simpler instead of more complicated, you don’t have to do complicated things to get attention. I would say in terms of virality, that has of course changed. In the end though, it gives people a bigger platform and things have become more visual.

When I started out, the record store was your Instagram or TikTok. In a way, it still works the same way, just on a different platform.“

What do you think has changed about yourself as an artist?

“Over the years, so much. I think I have learned a lot, but the main thing for me is that I’m now at a point where I don’t feel pressure. If people like me, great, then if they don’t like me I won’t lose sleep over it, whereas I used to. It used to a bit of a rat race for me at times, and now I just want to what I think is awesome. I’ve figured that if I think it’s great then there’s five or six more people that think the same way.”

Outside of the next few months of releases, what else can fans expect from Fedde Le Grand?

“I think this year is pretty standard. The whole year pretty much starts in Miami with a few more dates in the States following that, then coming back to Europe and then summer starts. That will always be crazy. Then slowly we’ll go towards fall again, and that typically means I will venture towards Asia and New Year’s always depends. Then the whole cycle starts again. These are just shows that will be great, but I am also working on a few interesting things for Amsterdam Dance Event that I hope to announce soon!”

Fedde Le Grand’s new single ‘Here Comes That Sound’ is out now, and you can also grab tickets to his Miami Music Week event here.