Alan Walker (music producer)

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Alan Walker

Walker during an interview in Germany

Background information

Birth name Alan Olav Walker

DJ Walkzz
Also known as
Walkzz

Born 24 August 1997 (age 20)[1]

Northampton, England

Origin Bergen, Norway

Genres Electro house

 progressive house

downtempo

deep house

Occupation(s) Record producer

DJ

Instruments Digital audio workstation

piano

keyboard

guitar

Years active 2012present

Labels MER Musikk

DM Music Group

Sony Music Sweden

NoCopyrightSounds

RCA

Website alanwalker.no

Nationality English

Norwegian

Citizenship Norway

United Kingdom

Alan Olav Walker (born 24 August 1997), formerly known as DJ Walkzz, is a Norwegian
record producer and DJ.
He is best known for the 2015 single "Faded", which received platinum certifications in over
10 different countries. He was ranked 55th on DJ Mag's Top 100 DJs list of 2016.[2]

Contents
[hide]

1Early life
2Career
o 2.120122015
2.1.1Debut on NoCopyrightSounds
2.1.2Breakthrough single "Faded"
o 2.22016
2.2.1Live performance at Winter X Games
2.2.2Follow-up singles "Sing Me to Sleep" and "Alone"
o 2.32017present
 3Public image
4Discography
5Tour
6Awards and nominations
7References
8External links

Early life[edit]
Walker is the son of Hilde Omdal Walker, a Norwegian, and Philip Alan Walker,
an Englishman.[3] By birth, he was granted dual citizenship on the basis of his parental
origin. At the age of two, he moved to Bergen, Norway with his parents and sister.[4] Walker
grew up with two siblings, an older sister, Camilla Joy Walker, born in England, and a
younger brother, Andreas Walker, born in Norway after the family moved from the United
Kingdom.[5]
Growing up in the digital era, Walker found an early interest in computers, which later
turned into a fascination for programming and graphic design. He initially had no musical
background; however, he later taught himself by watching tutorials on YouTube based on
music production.[6]

Career[edit]
20122015[edit]
Debut on NoCopyrightSounds[edit]
In 2012, Walker was listening to a song by David Whistle (formerly known as DJ Ness), and
reached out to the Italian DJ to find out how he produced his music. He was inspired by
EDM producers K-391 and Ahrix, and is also influenced by film composers like Hans
Zimmer and Steve Jablonsky.[7] He started all his music on his laptop with FL Studio. In July
2012, with the help and feedback from his fans online, he began pursuing his music
production career and slowly began posting his music to YouTube and SoundCloud.
Walker released the track "Fade" on 17 August 2014.[8] The track gained attention after its
re-release via the well-known record label NoCopyrightSounds on 19 November.[9] Walker
stated that the creation of the track was inspired by K-391 and Ahrix, whose tracks were
also picked up by the record label. The track has over 270 million views on YouTube,[10] 65
million plays on Spotify,[11] and 20 million streams on SoundCloud.[12] It has become the
most popular track on the channel, and is widely used by YouTubers in their videos. The
tracks "Spectre" and "Force" followed in 2015.
Breakthrough single "Faded"[edit]
Main article: Faded (Alan Walker song)
Walker signed with MER Musikk under Sony Music Sweden and his next single, "Faded",
was a remastered vocal version of "Fade". It was released on 3 December and featured
uncredited Naustdal pop singer Iselin Solheim.[13] The single topped the year-end charts in
Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Sweden, iTunes charts in 32 countries, as well as
entering top 10 in Spotify Global Chart. The music video on YouTube has over 1.3 billion
views and 7.9 million likes,[14] placing it among the top 20 most liked YouTube videos. It has
over 700 million plays on Spotify,[15] and is also one of the Top 10 Most Shazamed tracks of
2016.[16] The single also received official remixes from Tisto,[17] Dash Berlin and Hardwell.
He later released an acoustic "restrung" version of the song, with all the EDM elements
taken out.[18]
2016[edit]
Live performance at Winter X Games[edit]
After "Faded" became a massive hit, Walker quit high school in January.[19]
On 27 February, Walker made his live performance debut at the Winter X Games in Oslo,
where he performed 15 tracks including the song "Faded" together with Iselin Solheim.[20][21]
By March, Walker had produced "30 to 40" songs in total, but "Faded" marks his first single
with Sony Music Sweden, and the first to achieve such global success.[16]
On 7 April, Alan teamed up with Swedish singer Zara Larsson at the Echo
Awards in Germany, together they performed each other's songs "Faded" and "Never
Forget You".[22] Four weeks before, he achieved the first place on NRJ Euro Hot 30 for the
first time, that only has been achieved by one other Norwegian artist, Kygo.[23]
Follow-up singles "Sing Me to Sleep" and "Alone"[edit]

Walker at Stavernfestivalen in Norway 2016

The single "Sing Me to Sleep" was released on 3 June, featuring female vocalist Iselin
Solheim, the same vocalist in "Faded". The song topped iTunes charts in 7 countries. Its
music video on YouTube has over 300 million views,[24] and it also reached 110 million
plays on Spotify.[25]
The single "Alone" was released on 2 December, featuring uncredited Swedish
singer Noonie Bao.[26] The music video on YouTube has over 400 million views,[27] the track
also gained over 100 million plays on Spotify.[28] The song was described as "the final piece
of a trilogy consisting of 'Faded', 'Sing Me To Sleep' and 'Alone'" by Gunnar Greeve,
Walker's manager and co-writer for the single.[29]
On 21 and 22 December, Walker held the concert "Alan Walker is Heading Home" in his
hometown Bergen for the first time at USF Verftet, where he performed 16 songs and
tracks together with Angelina Jordan, Marius Samuelsen, Alexandra Rotan, Yosef Wolde-
Mariam and Tove Styrke as singers.[30][31] The concert was officially live-streamed on
YouTube.[32] Some unreleased tracks including the restrung version of "Sing Me to Sleep",
"Sky" and "Heading Home", which was first performed during his debut at Winter X Games
and the song "The Spectre", a remastered version of his earlier track "Spectre", were also
performed during the concert.
On 23 December, Walker released the video for the single "Routine", which premiered on
his concert in Bergen, two days before and some concerts on the "Walker Tour". The track
was made in collaboration with David Whistle. Its music video on YouTube has over 21
million views,[33] and 7 million plays on Spotify.[34]
2017present[edit]
At the beginning of the new year, Walker's YouTube channel became the most subscribed
channel registered in Norway, after passing about 4.5 million subscribers, and currently has
the most views among Norwegian YouTubers at around 2.3 billion views by 21 August.[35][36]
On 7 April, Walker released the song "Ignite", which featured Norwegian music producer
and songwriter K-391. It was released as a promotion of the launch of the Sony Xperia
XZs smartphone. On 19 May, Walker released his first song with a male vocalist, Irish
singer-songwriter Gavin James, titled "Tired". Walker said that the song "adds another
dimension" to his productions. Its music video on YouTube has over 72 million views.[37] On
9 June, his collaboration with Dane Alex Skrindo, "Sky", was released on the
compilation, Insomniac Records Presents: EDC Las Vegas 2017. Its music video on
YouTube has over 24 million views.[38]
On 15 September, he released "The Spectre", a revamped version with vocals of his 2015
single "Spectre". The video depicts footage of his concerts, along with a team of dancers
dressed in white jumpsuits and black helmets. The video currently has over 50 million
views.

Public image[edit]

Alan Walker's signature logo

Walker was originally known as "DJ Walkzz". Since he has been a part of many different
producing groups, he later became just "Walkzz". He ended up using his real name, Alan
Walker, as his artist name. The recognisable logo consists of intertwined letters "A" and
"W", the initials of his name, was designed by Walker himself in 2013.[39] He also uses a
hoodie and face mask resembling the concept of black bloc on stage to create the rest of
the image.[40]
"At the very beginning, we were thinking about ideas like how can we promote Alan Walker
as an artist, and then we created a symbol that's kind of almost attach anyone. Therefore,
you can just have the hoodie and the mask and you immediately become a 'Walker'. That's
also a sign of no matter who you are, you can be a 'Walker', we're all equal." Walker
explained the concept of his look, in an interview by KKBox.[41] When asked in an interview
by NRK, why he used the mask, he said: "It is to keep a low profile while maintaining
the public image they have given me. I think it's pretty cool. A little twist that makes people
ask themselves questions about who really is the person behind Alan Walker.", and
applied: "Basically, all of the data-world, focus on anonymity. Anyone can join Alan Walker,
and the masks show that they can be anyone."[40]
In the first promo pictures his management handed out, Walker's face was barely visible at
all. Also in the music video for his single "Alone", he is all dressed as a black shadow
figure. This is, according to the artist himself, a carefully planned image drawn up together
with the record company Sony. "In a meeting with them we talked about how we could build
the profile of Alan Walker", said Walker to the newspaper VG. "They asked about my
interests. I replied PC, computer gaming and stuff like Anonymous and computer
hacking where hoodies play a role."[42]
Walker at WMA, with an outfit resembling a black bloc protester or a computer hacker

Walker acknowledges that it's a difficult time keeping a low profile. Both he and his
management prefer that the hoodie with a logo on the back is what he is characterised by.
"When I first created an Instagram account I never had pictures of myself, nor of nature and
such. But it is difficult to remain anonymous."[42]
On stage, he is accompanied by two other men who are also masked. "It's rare to see a trio
in electronic music. I think it is a cool concept. We are in a way a small band."[42]
At a press conference 9 November 2016, Alan said: "The concept with the mask is very
cool, that is inspired by the hacker group "Anonymous" and the television series Mr. Robot.
I have a background as a gamer and kept on with it before I started with music. By taking
on a mask I can be immediately seen as a gamer."[43]
"I chose to quietly without a mask today. The concept ends in the trilogy. It will be
interesting to open new doors and explore a bit. The mask is not lost permanently, but
temporarily", which means he will take a break from his image - for a time. "With Alan
Walker, the music is the focus, not necessarily everything around. It is a recurrent theme in
the music of "Faded", "Sing Me To Sleep" and "Alone", which is a kind of conclusion to
what one might call a trilogy", explains spokesperson Yonas Aregai for the record label
MER."[43]
"A lot of people ask me why I am wearing a mask. The mask is more of a sign and a
symbol of unity and being alike each other, rather than me being different." said Walker,
behind the scenes of the single "Alone".[44]

Discography[edit]
Main article: Alan Walker discography

Tour[edit]
Headlining

Walker Tour (20162017)[45]

Supporting

Rihanna Anti World Tour (2016)[46]

Justin Bieber Purpose World Tour (2017)[47]
Martin Garrix Thursdays At Ushuaa[48]

Awards and nominations[edit]

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Alan Walker