DJ Hardwell spinning from the heart

It was daytime at Marquee nightclub, and Hardwell and I sat in a booth. Sunlight poured in through windows. I thought: This must be what it's like to see sunshine cleanse a vampire's lair.

A documentary crew wired Hardwell with a microphone. They have been following him for two years, and this is a good season to follow him. His hit "Spaceman" has been unstoppable.

Hardwell had been awake for the past 30 hours. He explained:

"I had a gig in Poland. We had to go straight on to Germany and a connection flight to Vegas. I closed my eyes on the plane for maybe an hour, but I couldn't sleep because I was too excited."

Hardwell (Robbert van de Corput) was excited because he was scheduled to perform at club Lavo that night, and then at Vegas' Electric Daisy Carnival on another night that weekend.

He and I talked about his homeland, the Netherlands, which has produced more of the world's top DJs than any country, at present.

I told him I would be vacationing there this very July. He advised me to check out a club named Escape.

I asked if I should tone down my Americanism (Foghorn Leghorn-loud) in Amsterdam, since I was too loud for Londoners years ago (but not too loud for Romans a few years back).

"No! People in Holland love tourists, especially from America. So no way," said Hardwell, 24, who performs Saturday at Tao and Sunday at Marquee Dayclub.

Hardwell started DJing in clubs when he was 14. His parents took him to gigs. Now, enveloped by fans, managers, publicists, documentarians and journalists, I asked: What's the best part of being successful?

"It's a nice lifestyle. You're always surrounded with happy people who like to party and go out."

He really enjoys playing music. It's not about the money or the fame, he said.

"If there's a DJ out there that's doing it for the money, and it doesn't come from the heart, you can see if it's fake," he said.

"You can always see DJs enjoying themselves. For example, Tiesto has been doing this for more than 22 years. When he's playing you can see in his eyes and his expression he loves it. It comes from the heart."

Hardwell loves Vegas.

"It's crazy! Every time I play here, people are so into the music," he said. "If you're a DJ, everybody's happy, everybody's having a good time (and) enjoying themselves. So it's like the perfect atmosphere for a DJ."

I told him what other DJ-producers have told me, that in Europe, fans have been dancing to superstar DJs for decades, so they aren't as animated as we Americans are.

"Yeah, yeah," he said. "Everything is new. It's more refreshing to them. And sometimes it feels like they are more hungry for new music and to see all the DJs. If you play in Ibiza, probably 90 percent of the crowd have seen you before. Here in Vegas, it's totally different."

And then we said our goodbyes. Hardwell went on to perform his gigs. You can hear his Electric Daisy Carnival set, uploaded for free, at Soundcloud and Zippyshare sites.

Doug Elfman's column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. E-mail him at delfman@reviewjournal.com. He blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman.