Mike Williams

Biography

Mike Willemsen (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈmɑik ˈʋɪləmsə(n)]; born November 27, 1996), better known by his stage name Mike Williams, is a Dutch DJ, record producer, musician, remixer and chef. He is best known for working with Tiësto and as an artist of Spinnin' Records, who recognized him as an "artist of the future". He is regarded as one of the pioneers of the future bounce genre, an emerging subgenre of future house, alongside fellow Dutch DJs Brooks, Mesto, among others.

Early life

Mike Willemsen was born in Hilversum, North Holland, on November 27, 1996. He has an older sister, Michelle, a reporter for De Telegraaf. He started playing the piano as a child at the age of 6. When he grew a little older, he learned sight-reading during his piano lessons but would rather devise, make and play his own songs. Afterwards, he quit his lessons and started working on a laptop with an amplifier and his father's speakers. At the age of 12, he learned to DJ and produced his first dance track. At 14, he performed as a DJ in a club for 500 people, and after that was regularly booked for gigs.

Music career

At the beginning of his career, Williams released numerous remixes and bootlegs of songs such as "Blame" by Calvin Harris and "I Really Like You" by Carly Rae Jepsen, which received over 3 million plays on SoundCloud. The remix of "Blame" was well received and was regularly played by other DJs such as Oliver Heldens at their sets. Later on, he started releasing his own songs, as well as collaborations with other artists and his first single was "Konnichiwa×Konnichiwa31 January 2015 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Konnichiwa3:51", which was released on January 31, 2015. On June 6, 2015, he released "Candy", a collaboration with Dastic (Damian Bast). Williams' single "Battlefield" under the alias WLLMS with Robby East was released on June 26, 2015. Since then, he was approached by labels and managements before signing with Spinnin' Records. He was signed by Tiësto, who later on also released a single with him, and was managed by MusicAllStars.

2016: Sweet & Sour

On February 29, 2016, he released "Sweet & Sour×Sweet & Sour11 March 2016 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Sweet & Sour2:57", his first single through Tiësto's label Musical Freedom. The single peaked at number 6 on the Beatport Top 100 chart. An official music video for the song was released. On March 8, 2016, he was a guest and performed at Bij Igmar on SLAM!. During the Ultra Music Festival in 2016, Tiësto introduced Williams to the crowd and invited him to perform on his set. On May 16, 2016, Williams released "Groovy George×Groovy George16 May 2016 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Groovy George3:11", a collaboration with Justin Mylo through Musical Freedom. An official music video for the song was released. That same month, the two were guests and had performed at Bij Igmar on SLAM!. On August 5, 2016, together with Tiësto, he released "I Want You" through Musical Freedom as a free download. The single received over 16 million plays as of March 2017. That same month, he performed at the 2016 Mysteryland festival. In September, Williams remixed "Feel the Love", a single by Janieck, officially released on September 26. On October 17, 2016, he released "Take Me Down×Take Me Down7 October 2016 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Take Me Down2:54", his first single through Spinnin' Records. That same month, he performed at the Amsterdam Dance Event for the first time. His remix of "Money Maker" by Throttle featuring LunchMoney Lewis and Aston Merrygold came out on November 7, 2016.

2017: Mike Williams on Track

On January 5, 2017, he started his own radio show titled "Mike Williams on Track", which is a part of the weekend schedule of Dutch radio station SLAM!. Four days later, he returned to Musical Freedom and released "Bambini×Bambini9 January 2017 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Bambini (extended mix)4:11", his first single of the year. On March 3, 2017, he released the single "Another Night×Another Night3 March 2017 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Another Night3:32" featuring Matluck on Spinnin' Records. An official music video for the song was also released. An acoustic version was released four weeks and five days later. On March 13, 2017, Williams announced on social media that his laptop had been stolen on a Sunday night. While he was sleeping, a thief broke into his home in Amsterdam. He then woke up, but it was too late and he saw the thief running away with his laptop. The laptop had valuable data for him as a producer, prompting Williams to offer a $2000 reward to whoever helps him to get it back. He then performed at the Spinnin' Hotel in Miami. On April 27, 2017, he performed at AFAS Stadion in Alkmaar during SLAM! Koningsdag 2017. On May 8, 2017, he released the single "Don't Hurt" on Spinnin' Records, which featured Brēzy. An official music video for the song was also released. That same month, he was a guest again and performed at Bij Igmar on SLAM!. Shortly afterwards, Williams released an official remix for "Hunter", a single by Galantis. Together with Curbi, Mesto and Sophie Francis, he also organized benefit concerts for a school in Limburg. In July, Williams and Curbi collaborated with Lucas & Steve for the single "Let's Go". The four had then hosted an episode on the Spinnin' Records radio show Spinnin' Sessions. On August 4, 2017, he and Felix Jaehn released the collaborative single "Feel Good", which reached the top 50 on the Apple Music dance charts and spent a couple of weeks on the A-list dance playlist on Apple Music. A week later, he released "Step Up×Step Up11 August 2017 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Step Up2:46", a collaboration with Tom & Jame on the sub-label Spinnin' Copyright Free Music as a free download. On September 4, 2017, he released a single with Brooks, titled "Jetlag". A month later, he returned to Music Freedom and released the single "Melody (Tip of My Tongue)×Melody (Tip of My Tongue)20 October 2017 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Melody (Tip of My Tongue)3:11". He also attended the Amsterdam Dance Event for the second time in Amsterdam. In the 2017 DJ Mag Top 100, Williams was voted in at number 60.

2018: Lullaby

Williams' collaborative track with R3hab, "Lullaby", was released on January 26, 2018. The song has 200 million streams on Spotify as of December 16, 2022, and has achieved eight gold and four platinum certifications worldwide. It also reached the top 10 in Norway and charted in Sweden, as well as appeared on the US Billboard Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart. In March, he released the single "Feels Like Yesterday×Feels Like Yesterday19 March 2018 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Feels Like Yesterday3:39", featuring vocals by Robin Valo. The single was followed by "Give It Up×Give It Up11 May 2018 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Give It Up2:52" in May. An official music video for "Give It Up" was also released. In July, he performed at the 2018 edition of the Tomorrowland festival in Belgium. That same month, he released a single titled "The Beat×The Beat23 July 2018 · Single · SoundtrackSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1The Beat3:43". He then debuted on Kshmr's label Dharma Worldwide with the single "Rocket×Rocket21 September 2018 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Rocket2:52". In October, he attended the Amsterdam Dance Event in Amsterdam. In the 2018 DJ Mag Top 100, he was voted in at number 66. His final single of 2018, "Wait Another Day×Wait Another Day7 December 2018 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Wait Another Day2:59", was a collaboration with Mesto and released in December through Spinnin' Records. The single gained significant radio play on Radio 538 in the Netherlands, among other stations.

2021: Hiatus

On November 5, 2021, Williams announced that he would be going on hiatus and stated that he felt "pressure & stress" in his career.

2022: Storylines

After his hiatus in 2021, Williams returned with his new album Storylines. He started 2022 with his new songs, "Pretty Little Words×Pretty Little Words25 March 2022 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Pretty Little Words3:55" with Zack Hall, "I Said Too Much×I Said Too Much8 July 2022 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1I Said Too Much2:42" with Moa Lisa, "Here for You" with Magnificence, "Ambush×Ambush14 October 2022 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Ambush2:48" with Robbie Mendez, "Supernova×Supernova7 October 2022 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Supernova2:18" with Retrovision, "Best Part Missing×Best Part Missing30 September 2022 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Best Part Missing3:14", and "When the Sun Is Gone×When The Sun Is Gone21 October 2022 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1When The Sun Is Gone2:582When The Sun Is Gone (extended mix)4:11" with RYVM.

2025: Mike Williams on Track

Starting at episode 415, the first episode of 2025, the radio show "Mike Williams on Track" was changed to a monthly basis.