Hardwell among many Dutch DJs taking over Vegas clubs

Here's a phrase you don't hear every day: "The Dutch Explosion." But it exists. Most of last weekend's biggest star DJs at Electric Daisy Carnival were Dutch.

"I think maybe 70 or 80 percent of the lineup are Dutch DJs. It's really, really crazy," Dutch DJ Hardwell told me on the day before EDC started.

They're huge DJ-producers, too - Afrojack, Armin van Buuren, Chuckie, Ferry Corsten, Sander van Doorn, Laidback Luke, Sidney Samson, Tiesto - and Hardwell.

Every one of those DJs has a residency, or gigs regularly, in Las Vegas nightclubs. Hardwell played at club Lavo last week (with Dutch opening acts), then headlined EDC.

And Hardwell will perform Saturday at Marquee Dayclub.

I asked him (his real name is Robbert van de Corput) why the nation of Amsterdam and Rotterdam is churning out DJs as steady as a windmill.

"I don't know. It's a small country," he said. "I just think we've got a really good club life there in Holland with a lot of parties. And I think Dutch people just love to party."

He also suggested the DJ boom is a sort of self-fulfilling situation at this point. That is, all the good DJs and producers there help each other improve and succeed.

"It's really easy to hook up with each other and share your experience," he said.

As for Hardwell, 24, his Dutch parents launched his career by taking him to perform in clubs when he was 14 years old.

"They were just waiting in the car sometimes. Sometimes, they were waiting at a bar backstage, or in a room, having some drinks," Hardwell said. "To them and to me, everything was completely new."

So his banker father and his working mom always supported him. They're proud, he said.

Now that Hardwell runs his own label, does he look for 14-year-old prodigies?

"Yeah," he said. "I'm really shocked. The last few weeks, all the demos I get, I listen to the demo and I think, 'Wow, this is sounding good.' "

Then he reads the bios that come with those demos and he discovers those aspiring DJs are 14 or 15.

"I'm like, 'Hey, when I was 14, I couldn't make music like that,' " Hardwell said. "They're getting younger and younger every day, because it's really easy to find some tutorials (and good software) programs on the Internet.

"When I was 14, I could Google whatever I wanted. But I couldn't find any tutorial lessons. So yeah, it's really easy these days."

Doug Elfman's column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Email him at delfman@reviewjournal.com. He blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman.