OSLO, NORWAY
ALAN WALKER
To me, making music is all about finding the right melody,
'cause it all starts and it all ends with a melody.
It took a while before it dawned on me
that my son was actually making music.
BERGEN, NORWAY
Let's put it this way, when Alan came up to me
and said someone wants to sign him,
that thought was very hard to comprehend.
He was more introvert. Lacking self-confidence.
With the music, he gained confidence.
I had an interest in creating music for quite some time
without really telling anyone.
My intention back in the days when I started making music
was never to make money.
Well, I just wanted people to listen to my music
as much as they wanted to.
He could have been here and hid his talents.
But he didn't.
He posted them and the world told him,
"You're doing good."
Picking the right sounds, getting the right patterns,
making music is a very time-consuming process for me.
But whatever it takes or how long it takes,
you just have to do whatever you need to do to get it right.
♪ I'll be fine ♪
The first genre that I started making was Hands Up and techno.
I was like, "Whoa, I really love this genre."
And it was really like what I wanted to learn how to make.
I got into this small community.
The closest people that I knew were DJ Harmonics, DJ Pygme, DJ Ness,
and a couple of others.
In the very beginning, I did a lot of collaborations
with different producers,
spending many hours just focusing on learning
and being a part of communities to just improve and get better.
I'm thankful for YouTube for giving the opportunity
for young people to progress.
And thankful also for NoCopyrightSounds,
who found him and encouraged him.
It was, kind of like, the dream label for me.
Like I knew a couple of people that had already been on there.
So back in 2014, when I first released Fade,
it took about three months
and Billy Woodford posted a Facebook status
where he asked for Norwegian house.
Yeah, Alan sent me the track shortly after I posted the Facebook status.
I saw really quickly how like a unique sound it was,
and straightaway it just connected well with our audience
and it just-- it exploded,
and I immediately knew it was a really special track.
He made it back to me instantly and said like, "Hey man,
I want to sign this to NoCopyrightSounds."
I remember printing out this contract
and just running up to my dad and really like,
"Hey dad, you gotta sign this."
NoCopyrightSounds has been really important for me in my career
and I'm forever grateful for that they--
they have been a part of it as well, because it's opened up a door
to an amazing and an incredible community for me.
♪ ...don't work like that ♪
♪ You're the drug... ♪
The journey that started with Fade and ended in Faded
introduced me to a whole new way of making music.
Although, I had done a lot of collaborations
with other producers online,
it was a very different way of doing songwriting.
Anders, Jesper, and the guys I wrote Faded with,
taught me a whole new way of writing songs and making music.
I think in the beginning, when we had-- you know,
when Alan and I had those first sessions, felt refreshing,
because we weren't constrained within those boundaries
you often can be when you're with very experienced musicians.
But he was thinking outside the box,
and he was basing his melodies and his arrangements
on instinct and passion versus this is how a song should be.
Getting a chance to make music with so many great people
is very inspiring, but also very challenging.
But more than anything, it's a lot of fun.
And at the end of the day, I guess we're all chasing the same thing,
that perfect song and that perfect melody.
To me at least, the melody is the king.
That's the number 1 thing in any song.
With Alan, for instance, he is amazing with melodies.
His melodies can have rhythms and patterns you don't necessarily see,
and I think that's almost his trademark, too.
Not just the sounds he likes, but also the way he writes his melodies.
So I think that's amazing, I think that helps a lot.
You need that melody and Alan has a tendency
to write those really great melodies.
This next song has never probably been played ever before.
This is my new single "All Falls Down."
Thank you!
♪ I'll be fine ♪
♪ You're the drug that I'm addicted to ♪
♪ And I want you so bad, but I'll be fine ♪
Please welcome Alan Walker.
♪ And that's that ♪