Dutch DJ and producer Rob Stillekens, born in 1998 and based in Tilburg, has been developing his career since 2020 through groove-driven productions and DJ sets. His performances have taken him to events including FLOW, Mysteryland, JOY, Thuishaven, and Free Your Mind, alongside international appearances across Europe and Latin America.
Photo credit: Rob Stillekens – Official
His music has appeared on labels including Deeperfect, Mindshake, Kaluki, and LTF Records, with support from artists such as Marco Carola, Jamie Jones, Joseph Capriati, Ilario Alicante, and Franky Rizardo.
His latest single, ‘Get Yo Hands,’ marks his debut on Massi Rocket’s Milan-based Motel Calypso Records. The six-minute production is built around percussion, a rolling bassline, and a breakdown leading into its main drop.
To mark the release, Rob Stillekens shares five studio tips focused on listening environments, sound selection, creative instincts, workflow, and arrangement.
1. Listen through a lot of systems that you use on a daily basis
When you get very used to your systems, by which I mean laptop speakers, earbuds, your studio monitors, maybe the monitors that you DJ on. Listen to these a lot on a daily basis to know exactly what the balance is on your favourite tracks. This will get you a much more accurate representation of how to get your mixes nice and balanced to translate and be nice and balanced.
2. Cliché, but trust your ears
It’s very cliché to say, but trust your ears. Don’t always be too surgical with most plugins and choose the right sounds. Most of the time, a good creative sketch with a less-perfected mix might sound better if it has its own character instead of having a static-sounding track which has the most perfect mix in the world.
3. Do what resonates with how you feel
A creation process works way more efficiently when you do what your feeling tells you to. Don’t get sucked into making a certain sound just because you saw this big producer or DJ do it and lose the fun of making it during that. Stay true to your own sound and try to be creative; there’s not going to be someone else who can do you better than you can do yourself!
4. Use a tight palette of plugins and learn them well
A lot of producers can be stuck in the loop of wanting to have the next piece of gear or the next version of some software. Of course, some updates are very worth catching, but it’s very important that you know the tools you use well. Create a palette of your own selected categories such as compressors, EQ’s, saturators, synths, and samples. This way you’ll get a nice workflow going, and most of the time, you’ll have created ”your own sound” with the plugins you use frequently.
5. The big break theory
Create a big loop of 2 minutes which incorporates one minute of drop and verse and the other minute being the break. When you can finish that loop being super interesting and having enough change throughout, you’ll find that you’ve managed to get all the ingredients needed to arrange the full extended track. Some do ask, ”When is a track done” and this is a nice work method I’ve used a lot with my previous and future tracks.
Rob Stillekens’s ‘Get Yo Hands’ is out now via Motel Calypso Records. Stream and download your copy here.
Follow Rob Stillekens: Spotify | SoundCloud | Instagram
