W&W (stylized as Ш&Ш) is a Dutch DJ and record production duo composed of Willem van Hanegem Jr. () and Wardt van der Harst (). They began their careers by producing trance music, before venturing into big room house and other forms of EDM.
After producing trance for five years, W&W founded their own record label called Mainstage Music, and became active in the big room house scene. This was followed by the release of their commercial breakthrough "Bigfoot" in 2014. In 2017, they returned to their original trance style with the NWYR (pronounced "new year") project. Their record label Mainstage changed its name to Rave Culture at the end of 2018, focusing on a wider variety of genres.
History 2007–2012: Trance releases and Mainstage Music label Willem van Hanegem and Wardt van der Harst began to build an interest in trance music while in their youths. The duo first met through Windows Live Messenger, which they used to share their song productions with one another. After their first successes as solo producers, the two DJs began to build a friendship and met at the Trance Energy 2007 Festival in the Netherlands. The track "Mustang", which appeared at the same year, became a success and was played by Armin van Buuren and Tiësto in their sets. On the basis of van der Harst's recording contract, Armada Music released the song as a single on 7 July 2008. Within a short time, the track achieved popularity on several forums and music platforms. In 2011, they made their first appearance on DJ Mag's Top 100 DJs list when they reached the 36th place.
During the next few years, W&W had numerous single releases and appearances at trance festivals. W&W released their debut album, Impact, on 23 September 2011. They founded their record label named Mainstage Music, as a sub-label of Armada Music in April 2012, based on the name of one of their most successful tracks as of that date. Alongside W&W's own works, the label publishes singles produced by other artists such as Armin van Buuren, Andrew Rayel and Sick Individuals. The duo hosts a bi-weekly radio show under the Mainstage Music moniker.
In 2012 they published the single "Invasion", which was chosen as the A State of Trance 550 Anthem. That same year they remixed "Waiting" by Dash Berlin featuring Emma Hewitt, and the Delerium classic "Silence" together with Jonas Stenberg.Silence feat. Sarah McLachlan (W&W vs Jonas Stenberg Remix) by Delerium at Beatport
2013: From trance to big room house
On 3 December 2012, the duo released the single "Lift Off!" which showcased elements corresponding more to the popular big room genre, by mixing trance and electro house elements together. Shortly thereafter, they officially announced their move to the big room house scene. "Lift Off!" reached #82 on the Dutch Top 100 Singles charts. This song attracted the attention of Dutch DJ Hardwell, who took them to his record label Revealed Recordings to release "Trigger" and "The Code", the former produced with Marcel Woods and the latter of which was produced with Ummet Ozcan. "The Code" was initially heard on Hardwell's BBC 1 Essential Mix, and it became ranked first on multiple Beatport charts. Both for W&W and Ozcan, "The Code" became their first song to reach #1 in Beatport.
"D# Fat", released on 25 February 2013, was a collaboration with Dutch DJ Armin van Buuren and a crossover between W&W's old trance style and their new big room style. The track reached #2 on the Beatport Top 100 charts. As a celebration for reaching 100,000 likes on Mainstage Music's Facebook page, W&W gave away "Ghost Town" as a free download on 4 March 2014. At the same time, they worked together with van Buuren to remix his single "This Is What It Feels Like" as a single release. The duo's next production, "Thunder", appeared on 20 May 2013. The track embodied much of the same sound as the van Buuren remix, and reached #2 on the Beatport Top 100 charts. On 27 July 2013, they performed for the first time at the mainstage of the Tomorrowland Festival in Belgium and advanced into the top 20 of the DJ Mag's Top 100 DJ's list.
On 5 August 2013, W&W's collaboration with Hardwell was unveiled under the title "Jumper". The track was debuted at the 2013 Ultra Music Festival in Miami by both Hardwell and W&W, and it peaked Beatport charts.Jumper (Original Mix) at Beatport Top Tracker
W&W also worked along with Armin van Buuren in his remix of "Love Never Came" featuring Richard Bedford, a track that belongs to the album Intense by the Dutch artist. The remix was included in the remixes album Intense: The More Intense Edition. That year W&W also remixed "Live for the Night" by Krewella.
2014: Commercial breakthrough with "Bigfoot"
In the spring of 2014, initial previews of their track "Bigfoot" started to appear. The song featured a prominent big room sound. "Bigfoot" was well received, and soon developed into one of their most successful singles, charting in Germany, Switzerland and France. Later in 2014 an EP was released with "Bigfoot" remixes by Dillon Francis, LNY TNZ and GirlsLoveDJs & Praia Del Sol, which enjoyed some popularity.
On 24 February 2014, they released their remix of "U" by Gareth Emery, reaching the 6th position of the Beatport top 100.U feat. Bo Bruce (W&W Remix) at Beatport Top Tracker A mashup named "Alesso vs. Gareth Emery & W&W - U Heroes (W&W & Hardwell Bootleg)" was featured in the Hardwell On Air 2014 Yearmix Part 2 episode of the radio show.Hardwell On Air 2014 Yearmix Part 2 at BeatReq
Hardwell's single "Everybody Is in the Place", which was released on 7 April 2014, was co-produced by the duo. The track marked their first chart appearance in the United Kingdom at #59 and reached the N°1 position in the Beatport top 100.Everybody Is In The Place (Original Mix) at Beatport Top Tracker
On 27 February 2014, they performed at the Hakkasan Nightclub in Las Vegas together with DJs Tiësto and Dzeko & Torres. Performances at big festivals followed, including the mainstages of the Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas, Ultra Music Festival in Miami, and Tomorrowland in Belgium.
Their single "Rocket", produced with Blasterjaxx and released on 21 April 2014, received positive reactions. This track reached the N°2 position in the Beatport top 100.Rocket (Original Mix) at Beatport Top Tracker Hardwell produced a mashup of the track with his song "Spaceman", which he used as a closing track for his festival sets.
In May 2014 they published their remix of "I Got U" by Duke Dumont featuring Jax Jones.
In the framework of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, on 9 June 2014, his "Eparrei" remix was published, which was a collaboration between Fatboy Slim, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Diplo and Brazilian artists Pin and Bonde Do Role.
W&W also collaborated with Belgian DJ duo Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike to produce the official anthem for Tomorrowland 2014 titled "Waves". The song reached #7 on the Belgian singles chart and the 2nd position in the Beatport top 100.Waves (Tomorrowland 2014 Anthem) (Original Mix) at Beatport Top Tracker
On 21 July 2014, they released through their Mainstage imprint their edit of "Shadow" by Mark Sixma, which enjoyed some success in Beatport.Shadow (W&W Edit) at Beatport Top Tracker
On 2 September 2014, W&W's second collaboration with Hardwell titled "The Dancefloor Is Yours" was released as a free download. The song was initially produced during a late-night studio session in the group's homeland and was premiered by Hardwell at the Electric Daisy Carnival 2013.
The pair collaborated with hardstyle DJ Headhunterz to produce "Shocker" which appeared on 8 September 2014, and "We Control The Sound", which was released a month later on 11 November 2014. "Shocker" was debuted at EDC 2014 in Las Vegas. The combination of W&W's big room with Headhunterz' hardstyle in both tracks was received positively.
On 22 December 2014, the duo released "Don't Stop The Madness", their third collaboration with Hardwell, which featured vocals from American rapper Fatman Scoop. This track would eventually appear on Hardwell's album United We Are during the next year.
2015: "Rave After Rave", "The One", "Spack Jarrow" and "If It Ain't Dutch"
In January 2015, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike played W&W's instrumental production "Rave After Rave", which was labelled as an "ID" at the time of their world tour "Bringing the World Madness", so neither artists nor titles were announced. Hardwell also played the song at the Ziggo Dome for his "United We Are" tour in January 2015 while Tiësto played it at Ultra Buenos Aires. In the end, "Rave After Rave" was released as a solo track on 16 March 2015.
In early 2015 they released their long-awaited remix of Zombie Nation's "Kernkraft 400" as a free download. Also, their big room edit for Timmy Trumpet's "Freaks" featuring rapper Savage was officially released in a remix pack.
During their set at the Ultra Music Festival, the duo debuted new songs, including collaborations with MOTi and Hardwell, as well as a remix of the 2000 hit "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" by Italian trio Eiffel 65. A second collaboration with Blasterjaxx, titled "Bowser", was also debuted at the festival and was played for the first time in May in Tiësto’s "Club Life" podcast, as well as in Hardwell's "Hardwell on Air 218" radio show. "Bowser" was released through Revealed Recordings on 1 June 2015 and reached the #2 position in the Beatport top 100.Bowser (Original Mix) at Beatport Top Tracker
On 12 June 2015, W&W posted a teaser of their next single titled "The One" on Facebook. The teaser included a pitched sample of the song "How Will I Know" by Whitney Houston. In contrast to their previous big room house singles, which were characterised by loud synths and phat kicks, they took a more melodic approach to "The One". On 29 June 2015, the song was released on Armada Music. At the same time, they uploaded the official music video of the song which featured an animated love story between two young travellers.
In July 2015, a one-minute teaser of a collaboration with MOTi appeared on Facebook. However, the song title and release date were not announced with the teaser. The song eventually took the title of "Spack Jarrow" and was released on 24 August 2015 through Musical Freedom. The name is based on the character Jack Sparrow from the film series Pirates of the Caribbean. The song has a melodious similarity to the official Pirates of the Caribbean orchestral score, "He's a Pirate".
On 28 August 2015, W&W released a big room remix of the song "Sun Is Shining" by Swedish DJ duo Axwell Λ Ingrosso.
Their Facebook profile teased a remix to Nico & Vinz's "Am I Wrong", which currently remains unreleased.
Their remix of "Birds Fly" by Hardwell and Mr. Probz was published in the remix album of Hardwell's United We Are record.
On 21 December 2015, W&W released single "If It Ain't Dutch" in collaboration with Armin van Buuren on Mainstage Music. The track is a fusion of big room and trance, recalling the style of its predecessing single "D# Fat", also produced with van Buuren. The song was premiered at the 2015 Ultra Music Festival in Miami, which was then ripped from the live recording and uploaded onto various streaming sites under the title "Your House Is Mine", courtesy of a sample from Nelson Cruz's "My House" heard during the buildup. The song reached #1 on the Beatport Top 100 charts a few days after its release.
2016: "Arcade", "Live the Night", "Caribbean Rave" and "Get Down"