Polish DJ/producer Blinders, born Mateusz Owsiak, made a name for himself after he released remixes like “Born To Rage” by Dada Life, R3hab’s “Unstoppable” and Axwell’s “Centre Of The Universe.” Blinders — who is on Nicky Romero’s label Protocol Records — recently dropped a totally pop dancefloor jam in “Hero” that's laden with hooky vocals and hooky vibes.

Blinders, who produced the song in planes and trains while traveling through Asia and Europe, said it took him almost one year and five different vocalists before he found the vocal version he was happy with. And still, after all that, he almost lost the song after he misplaced his laptop at an airport! Lucky for lovers of dance floor jams, he found his laptop the next day.

What is your hometown?

I come from neighborhood of small city in Poland — Konin.

Where do you live now?

I'm based in Poznan but thinking about moving to Warsaw in the near future.

Why are you called Blinders?

There is no big meaning under the name. Let's call it a spontaneous idea!

How would you describe your music to someone who'd never heard you before?

I think I can call it as a combination of house, electro and hip-hop influences. Sometimes with funky and classical grooves.

What was your first EDM experience like? Did it change your life?

It was a long time ago. Actually I was a little kid. When I visited my uncle, who was in love with dance/disco music, I started to feel the same. One of the first tracks I heard from electronic dance music was "Around The World" by Daft Punk. I was crazy about it.

What's your favorite city in the world to play in?

There are no bad places. It just depends of time and lots of circumstances. Mainly it depends of the people. The place is secondary. If I can see the people enjoying my show a lot — this is the best that I can expect. One of those great examples where the place is really small and minimal but the crowd is amazing is Halo, a club in Germany. Of course there are a lot of places like this, but the list is too long to mention all of them!

When did you realize you wanted to DJ?

It came slowly. First I had a friend who showed me some some mixing programs. I started to get really into it with my brother. After some time we bought our first mixing console. I think that was the moment I started to be a little DJ.

Who would you love to collaborate with?

Only one thing I can’t achieve alone is a beautiful voice. I'm a horrible singer! So I really like to work with nice voices. I would love to see what I can do together with The Weeknd, Zayn Malik or AlunaGeorge.

Which artists do you enjoy listening to and inspire you?

The biggest inspirations come to me when I'm listening to music not in the EDM scene. I love to listen to funk, soul, hip-hop, jazz, sometimes also a bit of classical music and more underground-ish electronic sounds.

I read that "HERO" was produced in planes and trains while you were traveling in Asia and Europe. What inspired it?

Everything. I never know what [my inspiration] is gonna be. It's usually things that make me happy. I love to travel — so that can be the main inspiration!

What do you do for fun?

A lot! I'm enjoying my life as much as I can with my family, girlfriend and friends. I love to travel, even if I'm not on tour. This is my addiction!