This post is also available in: Nederlands (Dutch)
This episode I had a chat with the Dutch DJ Baba a.k.a. Martijn van Langen. “My first real gig was a birthday present from Spider Willem.”
“The DJ and house adventure started for me by listening to Grooveyard on Radio 100. This was the show in which Dano would play his newest records. You could also win tickets to events like Multigroove. Immediately I was a fan of Dano. At my highschool were lots of fans like me, with whom I exchanged tapes after each show. I did everything to not miss one minute of all those fat tunes and mixes.”
DJ virus
“During a birthday party at friends I was infected by the DJ-virus. Nobody was taking care of the music, so I started playing with CD’s. Afterwards more than a few people told me that I should continue doing this. From that moment on, I started buying record and practiced wherever and whenever I could. Finally, I bought my own turntables and equipment.”
Spider Willem
“Subsequently my cousin Senja introduced me to Spider Willem. He was looking for someone to do the decoratios for a party. Because I also loved to draw this felt like a nice challenge. Spider taught ne what a good organizer has to do to realize an event.”
Mushroomfeest
“My first real gig was a present of Spider for my birthday. He gave me my own area during a mushroom party in the Hemkade48 in Zaandam. Of course, I was very nervous and practiced every single day before the event. In the end it all turned out fine and I had a massive birthday! After that, Willem let me play more often at other events like Erotic Vibes and I Love Trance.”
Point44
“After that first gig in the Hemkade48 I became surer of myself behind the spinning wheels. Thanks to the many artists I was able to perform with, I learned how the gear works and how to deal with feedback from the audience. William Jordens became my manager and also a good friend. Thanks to him I got my first booking abroad in Austria. He also arranged for gigs all around The Netherlands. I taught at his DJ school and am a member of his label Point44, that is looking forward to some pretty interesting developments.”
No surprises
“When I play B2B with a colleague, I like to prepare our set together, in order to get a feel of each other and to know which tracks match with others. Before every event I always run through my digital tracks. When I play with vinyl I put the tracks in order in my flightbag, so I won’t be confronted with surprises.”
“Music is my passion and I always feel privileged to be able to perform at an event. As long as I’m having fun, I’ll keep going and I won’t stop!”
This interview with DJ Baba was originally published on DJMag.nl on Tuesday July 8th 2014.
Who is DJ Baba?
Martijn van Langen, aka DJ Baba, widely known for his creative freestyle mix-skills with oldschool, hardclassics, hardstyle and hardcore sound. To play in front of an audience, DJ Baba created events such as Rebirth, Platinum, Trance Nation, and Hard Time.
He went on tour in Germany, United Kingdom, Austria, France and Belgium and performed at Defqon1, Dance Valley and more.
Spider Willem introduced DJ Baba in the Amsterdam DJ scene. DJ Baba got his first real gig as a birthday present from him at a Mushroom event at the Hemkade48. In present time, DJ Baba is the resident host of the Hard Moon area at the events of Spider Willem: White Moon and Full Moon Festival.
DJ Baba became a resident at the legendary Multigroove events, beginning at Roothaanhuis Amsterdam back in the day and he still is a resident at their events such as No Bullshit, Hellbound, De Samenzwering and Ground Zero festival. Multigroove has always been a big influence for him and DJ Baba is true to the brand and people behind it.
Together with Laurens Weijers (Mainstage Maffia), DJ Baba created the Hardcore Fighters concept, a hardcore tour for Fightcancer (KWF) in the Netherlands.
DJ Baba is a teacher at DJ School Zaanstad since 2021. He gives digital and vinyl lessons. Resident gigs are Immortal, Thunderchurch, Arina’s Leuke Oldschoolfeest, Hakkuh 4 Kids.
