Armand Van Helden Artistfacts

February 16, 1970
Armand Van Helden joined the ranks of elite house music producers in 1997 with his remix of the Tori Amos song "Professional Widow (Its Got To Be Big)," which went to #1 in the UK and pioneered the "speed garage" genre, a mix of New York house music and hip-hop.
Van Helden's father was in the US Air Force and got moved around a lot, so Armand lived all over Europe when he was young. His family finally settled in Boston in 1988 when Armand was 18. About five years later he moved to New York City, where he made his name as a DJ and producer.
When he was 15 and living in Europe he formed a hip-hop trio called "Define" (as in "de finest around") that lasted about two years. Armand was the DJ in the group and used the name DJ AVH.
He's varied his sound over the years but the common thread is a killer hook; he has a talent for finding just the right sample. These are often just a few seconds of a song that he's able to loop into a full-length club-banger.
When asked his criteria for a remix, he replied, "ass-shaking," telling Muzik magazine in 1997, "People don't want a remix that's 'Oh, it's so beautiful' but it doesn't move nobody."
His father is Dutch-Indonesian and his mother is French-Lebanese, which makes Van Helden a mix of many cultures, or as he calls it, "a mutt." The way he sees it, this helps him fit in just about anywhere, and it's influenced his music.

"I can flip-flop because I don't belong," he said. "I feel almost like an alien. A lot of my general musical production is based on that."
He's had three different UK #1 hits, all in different configurations:

1997: His remix of "Professional Widow"

1999: His own track "You Don't Know Me"

2009: His Dizzee Rascal collaboration "Bonkers"
His first DJ gig was at his school's Valentine's Day dance when he was 13. "I got booked because the soul and funk people wanted me; that was more my sound," he told Insomniac. "I ended up becoming the school DJ."
In the early '90s he was a club promoter at a place in Boston called The Loft. They didn't serve alcohol, so they were allowed to stay open until 6 a.m. Van Helden would have house music playing on one floor and a rave on another.
In 2009 he teamed with the Canadian DJ A-Trak to form Duck Sauce, which had a global hit in 2010 with "Barbra Streisand."
On April 11, 1999, he took on Fatboy Slim in a DJ battle held inside a boxing ring at Brixton Academy. Both entered the ring in boxing robes and traded off sets; the event was called A Date With Destiny.
In 2024 he married a DJ named Brittany Landstrom, who goes by Brittles.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

More Songfacts:

Candle In The WindElton John

Marilyn Monroe is the subject of Elton John's "Candle In The Wind," but the song is really a look at how we react to celebrities who die young.

Twilight ZoneGolden Earring

"Twilight Zone" by Golden Earring was inspired by the Robert Ludlum novel The Bourne Identity, not by the TV show.

Livin' La Vida LocaRicky Martin

"Livin' La Vida Loca" is a Latin pop landmark, but "la vida loca" are the only Spanish words in the lyric - "mocha" is English.

SummertimeDJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince

"Summertime" by DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince is built on a sample of a Kool & The Gang instrumental from 1974 called "Summer Madness," which gets a shout in the line, "This is the Fresh Prince's new definition of summer madness."