Get to know William Djoko, the Ibiza favourite making seductive house music

William Djoko was born to be an entertainer. Before becoming an Ibiza favourite who regularly plays Elrow and Circoloco parties, the Amsterdam-based artist once had a completely different career in mind: to be a ballet dancer. Trained in classical, modern, hip hop and, most memorably, having learnt to salsa with his mum at the age of 15, Djoko’s passion has always been to perform and bring people together.

But after a car accident resulted in a busted knee, his career in dance was brought to an abrupt and unexpected end. Djoko was left with no choicebut to change paths. “I never thought about music, really,” he says, “until my friends took me to a really intimate house and techno party. They gave me a mic and all of a sudden I became an MC and got really interested in mixing…”

Experiencing Rotterdam’s iconic Now & Wow club was a real eye-opener for Djoko. “They had dancers and acrobats in the old interior of a warehouse and the way it was decorated would change every week,” he recalls. “It was complete sensory overload. That was a really cool way for me to get into music and understand the performance aspect.” Soon after, Djoko moved to Amsterdam and quickly immersed himself in the capital’s electronic scene, going to Club 11, Studio 80 and Paradiso, while starting to make his own music.

Influenced by his Cameroonian dad’s African music collection and his Ukrainian mum’s love of disco, the 33-year-old has since released freaky yet seductively intelligent house groovers on Tuskegee, Mobilee, Watergate and Knee Deep in Sound. His latest release comes on legendary US house label Strictly Rhythm, and boasts a pumping remix by Todd Terry – “a dream come true” for William.

For Djoko it’s the crowd’s reaction that is the most important thing when he’s on stage. “I want to connect people, to exude a lot of energy that they can experience and share together, and for them not to shy away from their emotions,” he says, adding that a fan contacted him to say he cried on the dancefloor while watching his performance. “If it leaves people touched, if I can make people feel those emotions, that’s the biggest compliment there is.”

The ‘OMG’ EP, with a remix by Todd Terry, is out now on Strictly Rhythm

This feature is taken from the December issue of Mixmag