For W&W, the young Dutch duo of Willem van Hanegem and Ward van der Harst, it all started with an exclusive play on A State of Trance. ‘Mustang’ was the bass beast that sky-rocketed the career of the talented producers. In 2008, Willem and Ward decided to bind their strengths and instead of going for solo-careers, focus on the W&W project. To great success. Each of their productions was given a very warm welcome by the crowds and the musical synergy of the guys translated into energetic DJ sets at some of the world’s biggest festivals and famous clubs. In 2011, W&W released their debut album ‘Impact’ at Armada Music. And impact it had. To W&W, A State of Trance 550 is more than just a few gigs lined up. It’s something very special. Not only did they play at several of the previous ASOT celebrations, but their track ‘Invasion’ was voted as the official theme of ASOT 550!
Hey guys, what’s up? All geared up and ready for ASOT 550?
W&W:”We’re great thanks! We’re still preparing a lot of stuff for ASOT 550, like gathering new exclusive material and finishing own new tracks. We can’t wait for the festivities to start!
The ASOT events have always been quite a highlight to both of you, but especially now..with ‘Invasion’ being the official theme! You must be incredibly proud to be part of it in this special way?
W&W:”We’re extremely proud to have the official anthem for A State Of Trance 550. We’ve always been big fans of the show so of course it was a big honor when Armin asked us to join the competition for the anthem.”
It was tough competition, with the tracks of DJ Eco, Shogun, Sebastian Brandt and Alpha Duo participating for the ASOT 550 theme as well. Why do you guys think ‘Invasion’ has won?
W&W:”Of course we owe that to our fans, they are the ones that voted for it so we want to thank every single one again for the massive support!”
Was ‘Invasion’ produced with ASOT 550 in thoughts? And how did you try to capture that massive happening into sounds?
W&W:”Well, when you get asked to produce an anthem for such a great event, it’s not easy because you know the expectations will be high. We wanted to have a mystical breakdown with the real ASOT feeling which then explodes with a massive hook line. We constantly thought ’how would this sound in the Brabanthallen?’.”
What difference has A State of Trance made for you both – personally? Have you been a fan of the show for a long time?
W&W:”Yeah, we’ve been listening to the show for a long time already! When we first got to play at an ASOT event it was like a dream come true! A couple of years down the road now we notice that the ASOT events are a very important part in our career. We get so much feedback and so many reactions from all over the world after every set, it’s just incredible!”
W&W have your own ‘Mainstage’ radio show, also a part of the A State of Sundays broadcast. Think you guys will ever reach number 550?
W&W:”Let’s hope so! We love making our radio show. It gives us the opportunity to share our musical taste with people from all over the globe, and that’s exactly what DJ’ing is about, sharing music!”
You’ll be playing in Moscow and Den Bosch. Got any special plans for those sets? Any exclusives or surprises?
W&W:”As some people might know, we always love to come up with a lot of exclusive material, and especially at the ASOT parties. So expect a lot of new stuff which you’ve never heard before, from new talented producers as well as from ourselves!
Got anything to say to Armin in order to congratulate him with this remarkable feat?
W&W:”Armin, a massive congrats with this huge achievement and thanks for the constant support throughout the years!”
