Dmitri Vegas and Like Mike have been on top of the electronic music scene for a few years now, headlining shows and getting people grooving to their tunes. The Belgian duo were in the city as the main act for this year’s edition of the Sunburn Arena, and the brothers Dimitri and Michael Thivaios took some time out to tell us how it all started.
“We’ve grown up together, gone clubbing together and explored the island of Ibiza together, which is where Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike was born. I was playing in a small club and Mike started MC’ing over my set for fun — the crowd reaction was so crazy that we started DVLM as a duo,” Dmitri says, with Mike adding that it just “felt natural” for the two: “We always want to do something different. When we started there were very few artists in the EDM scene touring as much as we were so we brought something fresh to the game.”
The two also bring various influences to the (turn) table, with Mike currently inspired by the 808 and low-end style of beats, white Dmitri says he could be inspired by just about anything — “a specific location, a great view, a vibe or a movie”.
For them, working together in the studio doesn’t involve as much in fighting as one would expect. “That’s the only way it can work — if you’re not too protective of your opinions and willing to explore a different way to do something,” says Mike. “Absolutely! It’s never negative, we’re both super driven so it’s always because we want the best from what we’re doing… In most cases, it’s pretty much 50/50. We’re both open to each other’s ideas and suggestions,” laughs Dmitri.
The two also believe that EDM is here to stay. “You guys have welcomed some of the top DJs of the country with such warmth and it’s incredible. India has a huge role to play in the advancement of dance music as a genre. It is a very important market for most DJs today,” Dmitri says, before throwing in a teaser about a reported Bollywood collaboration: “I’m missing some of your spicy Indian food and maybe we are going to meet Salman Khan too!”
