Fedde Le Grand Tells Us Why He Calls Ultra Europe Home in an iEDM Exclusive Interview

As one of the top 30 most influential DJs for nearly a decade, Fedde Le Grand is no stranger to the people of the electronic landscape. 

He continues to receive award after award for his remixes of songs by world renounced artists like Madona, will.I.am, and Coldplay. His 6th anniversary of his weekly radioshow Dark Light Sessions is just around the corner, and his fan base continues to grow thanks to his high energy performances at music festivals and nightclubs around the world. 

iEDM got to sit down and talk to Fedde Le Grand at one of his favorite places in the world, Croatia, at Ultra Europe 2017.

iEDM: You're at Ultra Europe! How does it feel to be here?

Fedde Le Grand: Awesome. I mean, this is my backyard, so it's cool that they're here. I love Miami, but this one is definitely my favorite. 

iEDM: What do you notice that's different between Ultra Europe and Ultra Miami?

Fedde: For me personally, the fact that it's so close to home. Especially Croatia. I've had such a long-standing love for Croatia. I just love it here, it's so beautiful. And I think a lot of people underestimate it. It has beautiful beaches, beautiful cities, and the countryside is great.

The thing is, if you travel a lot, there's a few points in the year that you meet the same people over and over again. This is one of those places. Over time, the older guys, the video guys, the guys that actually organize the festival, it actually becomes family. And for them this is also a nice place to be, you know, get some time off here and there and go hang out in the sun and enjoy it. It's just a very happy place and it's great. 

iEDM: It has been over 10 years since "Put Your Hands Up 4 Detroit" was released. How has your music progressed since then?

Fedde: I went through a big journey. Just as I think any artist should. You look at painters and they go through phases, I think it's only healthy. The funny thing is, the music now has almost gone back to that old sound.

To be honest, at the moment, I'm super comfortable. There were some parts obviously, because in my opinion every 2 years there's a new thing that pops up. You can't always agree with everything, but right now I'm just in a very nice comfortable spot.  

iEDM: If you could collaborate with any artist, dead or alive, who would it be?

Fedde: James Brown. He's the legend of legends. I actually have two people. I love James Brown because he inspired people Prince, Michael Jackson, Justin Timberlake.. and then they inspired people. So I think he's the starting point for so much music. And also back then he really made a difference. 

My second would be George Clinton from the Parliment-Funkadelic. It's crazy when you look at how much of his music is still being sampled. Pretty much all your rap music, especially from the 90s, use it. A lot of French house artists use it.

I think those two people have just moved so many other people and that's why I like them. 

iEDM: Do you have anything else you’d like to say to your fans?

Fedde: I love you guys. I know I don't see some of you enough, so I hope to come to some places that I haven't been to a in a while this year. And all those people I don't see every year, I'd love to see you again. Let's have some fun!

You can listen to more Fedde Le Grand on his SoundCloud, and check out more iEDM exclusive artist interviews HERE.