Nine-year-old DJ Archie has become the youngest DJ ever to perform at Tomorrowland.
The Essex, UK-based drum & bass DJ warmed up Tomorrowland Belgium’s Atmosphere stage for artists like Andromedik, Dimension, and VTSS on Saturday with a set of genre classics.
Though he wasn’t old enough to roam the festival grounds at the 18+ event, Archie now holds the new record for youngest performer at the festival. Previously, Dubai’s DJ Michelle had been Tomorrowland’s youngest DJ, playing last year at age 11.
The performance wasn’t Archie’s first historic accomplishment. In 2019, the grade-schooler was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the youngest DJ on the planet at just four years old. Last year, he became the youngest-ever performer at Glastonbury and even got to meet his hero, Andy C, at the festival.
“I was shocked when I heard that I’d finally went to Tomorrowland,” Archie told DJ Mag in a video interview. “And when I DJed there, when I controlled the crowd, they were all dancing. And I played some classics, like “Incredible.” They all liked that one as well.”
Archie learned his skills from his father, John Norbury, a DJ himself known as DJ Essex, who explained the young selector’s path to the big time in an interview with VTS News.
“He kind of watched me from when he was about two and a half years old. He was very small, and I was saying don’t touch my equipment because I thought he’d break it,” Norbury said. “And then one day, he turned it all on, and he started mixing. And I walked in, caught him, and then I realized everything he was doing was perfectly in time. I realized he knew what he was doing.”
Archie was one of seven young DJs invited to play Tomorrowland as part of the festival’s “young talents” bill. The partnership with the Tomorrowland Academy, the festival’s DJ and music production school, also saw 14-year-old DJ Daan, 16-year-old Dolores, and 15-year-old Rumix perform last weekend. Sixteen-year-old FLOw, 15-year-old Lucca van Damme, and 17-year-old W4STD will perform during during weekend two.
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Featured image from DJ Archie.
