Quick Facts
Biography
Olivier Heldens, (better known by his stage name, Oliver Heldens) is a Dutch DJ and electronic music producer from Rotterdam. His 2013 song, "Gecko", caught the attention of fellow Dutch DJ Tiësto, who signed him to his label, Musical Freedom, and released the track with vocals from British singer Becky Hill on June 23, 2014. Heldens also has a weekly podcast titled Heldeep Radio, which has been ongoing for over 2 years. In 2015, he began producing bass house songs under the alias HI-LO, which comes from 'Oli H' in reversed form. Under his alias, Heldens produced three singles titled "Crank It Up", "Renegade Mastah" and "Wappy Flirt", releasing the latter two on his label Heldeep Records.
Career
2013–2014: Debut and Gecko breakthrough
Heldens began his professional music career when he signed to Spinnin' Records in 2013. His first releases on the label included the songs "Stinger" and "Thumper", which features DJ Jacob van Hage. Later collaborations included "Panther" with 'Robby East' which was released on the Oxygen label on the December 2, 2013. The single "Gecko" was released in the same month on Tiesto's Musical Freedom record label. The song peaked at number 1 on the DMC Magazine Buzz Chart and was named "Essential New Tune" by BBC's Pete Tong on January 31, 2014.
In January 2014, Heldens launched his Heldeep Mixtape on his official SoundCloud page, creating extended mixes which incorporate various genres of electronic music including different types of deep house and tech house. The first mixtape included his remix of fellow Spinnin' Records signee Martin Garrix's "Animals". In March 2014, Heldens also released a remix of Robin Thicke's "Feel Good".
Heldens entered the DJ Mag Top 100 of 2014, making his debut at number 34. In December 2014, he performed an Essential Mix on BBC Radio 1; from British radio DJ Pete Tong named him "one of the breakthrough producers of the year". "Koala" became the second-most popular searched dance recording from the 2014 Amsterdam Dance Event on music recognition app Shazam. He achieved 12th place in the DJ Mag Top 100 2015, making him the highest ranked house DJ on the list.
Throughout his career, Heldens has played many high-profile events such as EDC, Amnesia Ibiza, Tomorrowland, Creamfields, Electric Zoo, Veld Music Festival and Stereosonic. In a Billboard interview at Tomorrowland, Heldens described his style as deep house despite acknowledging the mainstream influences in his music. In 2016 played Glastonbury 2016, and played regularly at Ushuaïa Ibiza alongside Robin Schulz.
On December 17, 2015, BBC Radio 1 announced that Heldens was to have a residency show starting on January 22, 2016. Since then, Heldens has played a 1-hour Radio 1 slot on the third Thursday of every month.
2015–present: HI-LO and Heldeep Records
At the end of July, the HI-LO song "Renegade Mastah" was the first track to be released on Oliver's label "Heldeep Records". However, it was revealed that HI-LO was Heldens in a later interview to the UKF blog, who used the label to launch the HI-LO project. The title of the HI-LO project was chosen as a palindrome for Oli-H, to signify Oliver Heldens. The HI-LO tracks "Crank It Up", "Wappy Flirt" and "Ooh La La" have been released since then, with the single "Scrub the Ground" by Chocolate Puma and Tommie Sunshine additionally released on Heldeep Records in October.
A new EP titled "Heldeep Talent EP" was released 23 November 2015 including the songs: "I Can't Stop" by Death Ray Shake, "Hookah" by Bojac, "Slip Away" by Niko The Kid and "Fall Under Skies" by Jonas Aden & Robby East. Since then Oliver released "Heldeep Talent EP Part 2" on March 21, 2016 Featuring three tracks: "Get Busy" by Steff Da Campo, "Lethal" by NOVKA and "Mirrors feat. Stevyn by Tom Budin and Stevyn.
"Waiting", an Oliver Heldens and Throttle collaboration, was released on Heldeep Records on January 7, 2016.
Heldeep Records also released A track by Mr. Belt & Wezol and Shermanology called "Hide & Seek" as well as another track by Bougenvilla & Out Of Cookies called "Break It Down" on April 25, 2016.
The label also released "Space Sheep," a collaboration between label owner Oliver Heldens and Chocolate Puma on May 2, 2016.
Singles
As lead artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NLD | AUS | AUT | BEL | FRA | GER | IRL | SWE | UK | ||||
| "Stinger" | 2013 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles | |
| "Juggernaut" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Striker" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Thumper" (with Jacob van Hage) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Triumph" (with Julian Calor) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Buzzer" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Onyva" (featuring Alvar & Millas) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Javelin" (with Martin Mayne) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Panther" (with Robby East) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Gecko" | 32 | — | — | 46 | 73 | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Gecko (Overdrive)" (with Becky Hill) | 2014 | 48 | 71 | 35 | — | — | 23 | 30 | 55 | 1 |
| |
| "Koala" | 23 | — | — | 33 | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "This" (with Sander van Doorn) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Pikachu" (with Mr. Belt & Wezol) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Last All Night (Koala)" (featuring KStewart) | — | — | 67 | — | 132 | 53 | — | — | 5 |
| ||
| "You Know" (with Zeds Dead) | 2015 | — | — | — | 106 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Melody" | — | — | — | 62 | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Bunnydance" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Shades of Grey" (with Shaun Frank featuring Delaney Jane) | 65 | — | — | 60 | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "MHATLP" (HI-LO Edit) (with Da Hool) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Wombass" (with Tiësto) | — | — | — | 84 | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "The Right Song" (with Tiësto featuring Natalie La Rose) | 2016 | 46 | — | — | — | — | — | 57 | 100 | 39 |
| |
| "Waiting" (with Throttle) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Ghost" (featuring Rumors) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Space Sheep" (with Chocolate Puma) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Flamingo" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Good Life" (featuring Ida Corr) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "I Don't Wanna Go Home" | 2017 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "—" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released. | ||||||||||||
As HI-LO
| Title | Year | Label | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Crank It Up" | 2015 | Mad Decent | Non-album singles |
| "Renegade Mastah" | Heldeep | ||
| "Wappy Flirt" | Free | Free download | |
| "Ooh La La" | Heldeep | Non-album singles | |
| "Steam Train" (with Chocolate Puma) | 2016 | ||
| "Wtf" (with Sander van Doorn) |
Remixes
- 2014
- Martin Garrix - "Animals" (Oliver Heldens Remix)
- Robin Thicke - "Feel Good" (Oliver Heldens Remix)
- Disclosure featuring Sam Smith - "Latch" (Oliver Heldens Remix) (NOTE: Would later devolve into the remix of Lady B's cover of Return Of The Mack)
- Coldplay - "A Sky Full of Stars" (Oliver Heldens Remix)
- Lady Bee featuring Rochelle - "Return of the Mack" (Oliver Heldens Remix)
- Dr. Kucho! and Gregor Salto - "Can't Stop Playing" (Oliver Heldens & Gregor Salto Remix)
- The Voyagers featuring Haris - "A Lot like Love" (Oliver Heldens Edit)
- Tiësto featuring DBX - "Light Years Away" (Oliver Heldens Remix)
- 2015
- Calvin Harris featuring Ellie Goulding - "Outside" (Oliver Heldens Remix)
- Oliver Heldens & Da Hool - "MHATLP" (HI-LO Edit)
- 2016
- G-Eazy featuring Bebe Rexha - "Me, Myself & I" (Oliver Heldens Remix)
- Moby - "Go" (HI-LO Remix)
- The Chainsmokers featuring Phoebe Ryan - "All We Know" (Oliver Heldens Remix)
Awards and nominations
| Year | Organisation | Award | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | DJ Magazine | Top 100 DJs | Himself | 34th |
| 2015 | 12th | |||
| 2016 | Style Icon Asia | Iconic Global Producer of the Year | 1st | |
| DJ Magazine | Top 100 DJs | Himself | 8th |