Sander van Doorn Talks Alias 'Purple Haze' in iEDM Exclusive Interview

We've been to music events and festivals all over the world, but there is nothing out there quite like Miami Music Week. From locals to internationally known talent, during this eventful week, Miami is flooded with everything an EDM lover could dream possible. There are sold out pool parties down every street and rooftop views under the sun while dancing to your favorite electronic beats. 

During this annual event, Miami gets to see some of the world's most influential and well-known DJs. Among 2018's MMW line up was one of the Netherlands' best, Sander van Doorn. He also produces under a "sharper, darker, rougher" alias, Purple Haze, which Sander launched at Ultra Music Festival 2017.

This year Purple Haze kicked off MMW Wednesday on the W Miami's rooftop with Dakota, Markus Schulz's other alias. Spinnin' Records then took over the Nautilus South Beach for Sander's annual pool party on Saturday. We were able to catch up with him before all of the madness. 

"We were actually discussing this whole idea of doing a Purple Haze show for Miami and I was getting questions like ‘who do you want to do the night with?'" said Sander.

The first name to pop up in his head was Markus Schulz because he always loved his set.

He said, "It has a lot of feel to it. We are a really cool combination. I mentioned his name and the ball started rolling."

Schulz's team thought it was an amazing idea and the fans responded phenomenally.

Last year, Sander was playing Ultra, so he had to move his annual pool party to a Thursday.

"Saturday is the preferable day for me," he told us. "All of the pool parties before then were on Saturdays. I'm really happy to be back on a Saturday. Really cool DJs are playing together with me, a lot from the label Doorn Records. It's going to be a pretty cool party."

Ultra Music Festival is one of the biggest productions in the world. The team of Armin van Buuren's State of Trance, was really interested in what Purple Haze really embodied and invited Sander van Doorn to launch it during their event at Ultra 2017.

"They really felt like I was compatible music-wise on that stage," said Sander. "I did my first US show there. Before that, I did two test runs over in Australia and it really connected. I played in the States before as Sander van Doorn and it felt really good to be back on that stage."

iEDM asked, what inspired Purple Haze's, sharper darker, rougher sound?

Sander answered, "It's just something that happened in the studio." 

Sometimes he feels like producing more of a cheerful track instead of a Doorn track. Other times, he likes to go a little bit deeper and melodic.

"I really felt like it was a part of me that really needed to get out. Also, I have to keep track with my Sander van Doorn side because I need the Doorn side to have the other side," he said.

Entering the music scene in 1995, Sander van Doorn has been around for a quite some time. He has a massive following and became one of the most influential DJs in the world.

He told iEDM that Purple Haze makes him feel like a new artist in a sense because it's a completely different style and approach to making and playing music. 

He was already producing Purple Haze tracks about 11 years ago in the studio, but never really thought about making it a live concept. About a year and a half ago he started producing tracks again and they had the same Purple Haze feel to it. He decided he really wanted to do something with it this time and organically Purple Haze was brought back to life.

"There's nothing more fun than creating a whole new artist. You start from scratch with zero fans at first and then you see it building. It happened quite fast actually, in a year's time," he stated.

His performances are known for putting on a show. He has a visual artist who is able to dive deep into his brain and translate all of his sounds into visual art. He does this for every single track and it becomes one big show.

We had to ask what are some of the main differences he sees in Sander van Doorn and Purple Haze.

"I would say Sander van Doorn is really a base for club shows and certain lineups. Purple Haze is really more of an experience from start to finish on the music side of things but also on the visual side of things," he told iEDM. "It's all about getting from point A to B and that's a completely different way of mixing. Purple Haze is more storytelling, a lot darker and euphoric. Sander van Doorn is a lot more driven by percussion and a little friendlier but still, you know it's Sander van Doorn, I can go a little bit dark as well. I would say Purple Haze is definitely the darker side."

Sander van Doorn's latest release was "No Words" featuring Belle Humble. It started when a few years ago he received a vocal and started producing a track around it. Unhappy with the results, he started trying out different things.

He said, "It took awhile to get the track as it is, but a couple months ago I was stuck in the studio and I was like ‘Okay, let's give it a shot' and, well, the track is what happened."

Now, he is working on a lot of things both for Sander van Doorn and Purple Haze. He has a lot of festivals coming up and will be in Europe for a lot of this year with some time scheduled in Ibiza.

"I'm already thinking about producing my next album," he was excited to tell us.

We thank you, Sander van Doorn, for the opportunity to catch up with you and get the rundown on Purple Haze. Your shows are always amazing and we can't wait to catch another.

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