[INTERVIEW] Mike Williams Talks ‘All My Life (In My Heart)’, Mental Health, and Cooking for Fans at ADE

Mike Williams is one of the pioneers behind the infectious future bounce sound that has taken over clubs and festivals worldwide. From his early days tinkering with piano keys as a child to exploding onto the scene with massive collaborations alongside legends like Tiësto, R3HAB, and Calvin Harris, this Dutch powerhouse has delivered chart-topping anthems like ‘Wait Another Day’, ‘Lullaby,’ ‘Feel Good,’ and a recent remix for ‘Ocean‘ by Calvin Harris. During ADE, he returned with his iconic Storylines show which feels like a family reunion for fans each year, and dropped his official ADE anthem ‘All My Life (In My Heart)‘ with Phillip Strand which has been a crowd favorite over the past year. Over his decade long career, he’s played at the biggest festival stages such as EDC, Tomorrowland, Ultra, and World Club Dome just to name a few and will be performing at Tomorrowland Winter in 2026.

We got the chance to catch up with Mike before stepping on stage at Nebula New York and here’s how it went down:

I know we’re a day late but happy birthday Mike! If calories don’t count on your birthday, what absurd amount of food would you eat?

Thai food is still one of my favorite foods. I would probably combine a mixture of Asian cuisines together, like Thai food, sushi, some Italian food and a lot of Moscow mules.

‘All My Life (In My Heart)’ with Philip Strand is your official ADE 2025 anthem and a full-circle return to Future House Music after 10 years. Can you share more about the track and what did premiering it live at Storylines 2025 mean in the context of your journey?

It was a melody that I already had for a long time and I think we live in a time where labels also don’t really know what to release and what works so it comes down to the artists right now to release something that their fans want to hear from them. This was a track that all the fans were waiting for. I got the right vocal from Philip Strand on it and I was playing it for a long time already. I had a cool edit and it worked so well that I knew I had to release this because people expect this from me. And to be honest, one or two labels rejected it because they wanted something more mainstream. But the track is what I wanted and is what people expect from me. After releasing it, we got so much support from it which I was proud about.

That’s the thing about the industry and the labels, it really depends on the year and current trends that they tend to cater to, which can limit the artistic freedom of a lot of artists. For example, we saw progressive house making a big comeback this year. 

With the return of progressive house music, a lot of labels refused to release it in the beginning. Sometimes it just takes one person at a label to decide that they aren’t going to release a track and it can decide so much for an industry. That’s why their opinion shouldn’t matter because what really matters is if the people are enjoying the track. I care about what my fans think about my music and what I want so I will do whatever it takes to get my music out there to satisfy the fans.

One of the most talked-about things from the early Storylines ADE editions was you literally cooking for fans at “Grilliams Restaurant” and even this year. Where did this idea come from?

There’s 130 people in the restaurant so I could never cook for 130 people by myself. I have a whole team with different chefs. We create a menu together and it’s such a cool concept. It started during COVID when I had more time to cook. I had a picture online where I was barbecuing with some friends and there were some fans that were making fun of my name saying “Mike Grilliams” and I said to my manager lets turn this into a concept. How cool would it be if we have our own restaurant or our food stand in a festival, play a show on the main stage and afterwards you flip burgers and interact with the fans. So we did that and I wanted to take it a bit further. So I said lets open our own restaurant during ADE and combine it with the show. It became a concept that was actually fan-driven and we do it every year now.

You’ve turned Storylines into a podcast platform where you speak on topics such as music, day to day life, and mental health where you had a variety of guests. If there was one person that you could do an interview with in the world, who would it be?

It would be Tiesto because I spent so much time with him back in the days when I started touring. He taught me so much and we went through so much and saw so many parties together. I probably have a different view on that than he has, so it would be so cool to have this conversation with him live and talk about all the things we’ve been through and how it was for me and how it was for him and how much impact it made on me. He probably doesn’t realize that, so I think that would be a super cool conversation to have.

Can you share about a time after a show where you had an interaction with a fan where they talked about the impact your music has had on them?

There’s been so many interactions but there were fans I met in Greece where they told me that they grew up listening to my music. They brought up songs that I even forgot. Songs from the early stages like bootlegs that I made when I was still in high school and they still remember that and they told me stories on how it got them through rough times or when they were bullied as well. When I hear that, it’s so amazing. I never realized that my music can have such a big factor in someone’s life and that will always touch me.

You’ve been very open about mental health in the past. How do you protect your energy with the intense touring and pressure that comes with being Mike Williams?

I believe the most important thing is to have the right people around you and stay in touch with your friends and family. I’ve been touring for quite a long time, and also the last two months have been kind of crazy. After traveling so much I love it when I get back home. I need a day to re-adapt, and then I see my friends, and we hang out, we have a drink, we go out, and that really brings me back to myself, as Mike. And I think it’s very important to remember where you come from, and who are the people that you grew up with, instead of only comparing yourself with the industry.

What do you have in store for your fans going into 2026?

We confirmed some really cool shows. We’re doing Tomorrowland Winter which I skipped for one or two years. I’m doing my first show in December in Sao Paulo, Brazil which I’ve never played before so it’s very cool to discover a new market. There’s a couple of songs that I’ve been playing for more than a year that are finally coming out. I’m sure the fans are going to like it because I have so many ideas that I play and never release so I feel obligated to start releasing them. There’s some cool collabs as well.

You mentioned you love cooking, if you had to impress someone with one dish, what would it be?

My dad always used to make sushi so he taught me how to make it. It’s something I like to make for my friends and family.

What’s one thing that a lot of people don’t know about you?

When I do shows, especially in Asia, I do a lot of karaoke, so I sing a lot of songs. I’m terrible at singing, but I love karaoke with friends.

What do you want your story to be remembered as?

I hope I can leave some kind of a footprint in this industry with the music I’ve been releasing, have a positive impact with my music, and make my fans happy. I know there are so many details that go into it but I believe what we’re doing as a team, can really make a difference in this industry. I want to stay in this industry for as long as possible because I’m here for the long run, I don’t want to be here for a couple of years, I want to be here till the end of my career to continue this goal.

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