Collin (17) signed a record deal as a DJ: ‘It gives a kick when people dance to your music’

He was already playing in clubs at the age of fourteen and now he has signed his first record deal. Collin Oosterling (17) from Zoetermeer has a big dream: to become world famous as a DJ. “I can’t say it will work, but I have the full motivation to try.”

Collin started making music when he was eight years old. “My father had put a program on my computer that I could use to put samples together. With that I made my own songs. Since I was thirteen or fourteen, I’ve been DJing at parties and clubs. People were sometimes surprised by such a young boy in the DJ box. But, when they noticed that the music was good, they went dancing anyway. That gives me a huge kick.”

New songs

Just when Collin started to find his way as a DJ, corona came and the clubs closed for almost two years. “That was a bit of a shame. I then held a live stream with friends a few times, to give people a party at home. I also made a lot of new songs. I sometimes work on thirty songs at the same time.”

“Nowadays I use the FL Studio program for this,” Collin continues. “You can write melodies yourself and put them on top of each other. Where I start differs per song. Sometimes I start with a vocal that I like, but often I start with the melody line. I trust my ears completely. If I think something sounds good, I keep doing it. If it doesn’t sound right, I’ll throw it away.”

Artist contract

Recently Collin signed his first artist contract with the label Airborne. “A friend of my uncle’s does the A&R (Artists and Repertoire) there. He said that I should send something once, because they are looking for young talent. When they heard my song, they really liked it and wanted to release it once. That was when I was fourteen, but it was canceled because of corona. In the meantime I have sent in five more tracks. That’s why they thought: wow, we want to offer this boy an artist contract. That’s super cool!”

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Collins’ first issue Heroes will be available for purchase from April 15, and it will be available on all major streaming services from April 29. He has also come up with his stage name: Collin Sterling. “We have removed the two O’s to make it easier to pronounce my name in English. Soon I have an interview with a radio station in London. My uncle had sent them a video of my performance. One of my songs has already been played in Mexico. Then I got a video of people there dancing to my music. That was really bizarre.”

Future

Just like the big Dutch names such as Martin Garrix, Collin dreams of one day traveling the world as a DJ. “That seems so cool to me. I will do everything I can to achieve that. I don’t do this for the money, but it seems nice to earn my income with this. Then you can fully focus on the music and bring your friends and family to have a good time.”

This year Collin is graduating from high school. After that he hopes to be admitted to the producer training of the Herman Brood Academy. “Soon I will hear if I can audition. I spoke to guys who are already there and luckily they are very positive about my music. But, it remains exciting. Because the clubs are open again, I am busy. That’s part of it and I think it’s super fun to do.”