Garrixers.com : Hi Stephan, traveling the world all year long isn’t easy, and after 9 years, you’ve decided to step down. How are you feeling right now?

Stephan Themps : I feel ok for now. I have struggled the last 2 years or so with migraines every day. I hoped this would cure on its own but it didn’t. I am trying to figure out what it could be caused by and what would make it better.

Did you study music in school, or did you pursue it later in life? What was your journey to becoming part of an international artist’s crew?

I started doing technical production work in high school when I was 15. We would do all the school musicals and once a year the prom where we would also DJ. After that I went to TU university in Delft where I did a study as a Civil Engineer. 

After a year a dropped out because I knew music was my passion and I wanted to pursue that. The following years, I learned most of the job working with older colleagues and doing a lot of courses.

I started working as a freelance engineer and did a lot of dance music related shows in the beginning as the scene here in Holland is very big. One of the first big shows I worked on was Tiesto in 2004 which was one of the first solo DJ shows in a stadium. I was lucky enough to tour with him 6 years later.

How did your collaboration with Martin Garrix start?

My first show with Martin was 9 years ago at Sziget Festival 2015. It was going to be one of his first big crossover festival headline shows and they asked me to fly out to do the sound for him.

Could you share a memorable moment with us?

My most memorable moments are obviously the first but also the Winter Olympics of 2018 and the India tour we did last year. Also the first show we did after Covid was very special.

As fans, we saw you every night, checking everything before Martin took the stage, making you a key part of the show. That must be a stressful position. How did you manage that stress?

With Martin I was responsible for the sound during the shows but also all the DJ gear and the whole booth setup. Our job is to make sure that the moment Martin walks on stage everything is a 100%. This means checking everything in the afternoon with sound check but also right before the show to make sure nothing got disconnected or any DJ gear has broken in the mean time. I never really feel stress before a show. I get hyper focused. The whole team is very professional and we know what to do we just need to make sure we check everything before we start.

What are your plans for the future? Will you stay in the music industry?

My plans are definitely to stay in the music industry as this has always been my passion. I am working a couple of projects that involve designing a new generation of pro DJ mixers and a new generation of DJ booth.

Thank you so much for everything, Stephan. We will miss you a lot.

Last I want to thank all the fans from around the world that have supported not only Martin but also us at all the shows. It doesn’t matter how tired you are or how though the day has been to get everything working for the show the moment the intro starts and the crowd goes wild gives you so much energy its very special.

This interview was first published in Garrixers Mag 02 – Summer 2024. All rights reserved.