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This episode I had a chat with Dutch martijn van Langen a.k.a. DJ Baba. “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.”
Spider Willem
“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.”
“Mijn muziek is mijn passie en ik voel me altijd bevoorrecht als ik deze mag laten horen op een evenement. Zolang ik er plezier in heb, ga ik door en ben ik niet stoppen!”
Dit interview met DJ Baba verscheen oorspronkelijk op DJMag.nl op dinsdag 8 juli 2014.
Wie is DJ Baba?
Martijn van Langen, also known as DJ Baba, is widely recognized for his creative freestyle mixing skills with oldschool, hardclassics, hardstyle, and hardcore sounds. To perform for audiences, DJ Baba created events such as Rebirth, Platinum, Trance Nation, and Hard Time. He toured in Germany, the United Kingdom, Austria, France, and Belgium, and performed at major festivals like Defqon1, Dance Valley, and more.
Spider Willem introduced DJ Baba to the Amsterdam DJ scene. DJ Baba got his first real gig as a birthday present from him during a Mushroom event at Hemkade48. Today, DJ Baba is the regular host of the Hard Moon zone at Spider Willem’s events: White Moon and Full Moon Festival.
DJ Baba became a resident at the legendary Multigroove events, starting at the Roothaanhuis in Amsterdam in earlier times. He is still a resident at their events such as No Bullshit, Hellbound, De Samenzwering, and Ground Zero Festival. Multigroove has always been a major influence on him, and DJ Baba remains loyal to the brand and the people behind it.
Together with Laurens Weijers (Mainstage Maffia), DJ Baba created the Hardcore Fighters concept – a hardcore tour for Fight Cancer (KWF) in the Netherlands.
Since 2021, DJ Baba has been a teacher at the DJ School Zaanstad, where he gives lessons in both digital and vinyl DJing. His regular gigs include Immortal, Thunderchurch, Arina’s Leuke Oldschoolfeest, and Hakkûh 4 Kids.