He’s Half-British, Half-Norwegian

Alan Walker’s mother hails from Norway and his father is British. The producer was born in Northampton, England, but moved to Bergen, Norway, at the age of two. That raises an interesting cultural debate: does he consider himself a British or a Norwegian producer, since the two countries have different history when it comes to electronic music? “I’ve pretty much grown up in Norway. And because of that I would rather consider myself Norwegian but at the same time I’m British. So it’s definitely both for me.”

Alan Walker is His Real Name

Alan Walker is using his real name as his stage name, while his logo consists of creatively intertwined letters A and W. “In the very beginning I was using DJ Walkzz. I’ve been a part of many different producing groups and thought about becoming just Walkzz. But people eventually told me that my real name was fitting enough. In 2013 I actually designed my AW logo, which I’m still using now. Having always been interested in graphic design, I apply it to music as well. So I’m really happy with my decision. ”

His Music Videos Are All Connected

In case you didn’t know, his music videos are basically one linear story. How involved was Walker with the creation of this concept? “I come to my management with the idea and tell them what I should or shouldn’t do. Sometimes I take inspiration from a movie that I find cool or think of something that only Alan Walker could do.”

He Turned “Fade” Into “Faded”

The most fascinating thing about Alan Walker’s success is that his breakthrough single was all instrumental. So he clearly knows how to compose a commercially appealing melody. The track in question was called “Fade” and it eventually evolved into Iselin Solheim-assisted “Faded.” “When I got in touch with my management in 2015, we discussed that it was cool to change “Fade” to “Fade Away” or something like that. Then we got vocals from Iselin and she absolutely nailed it. The whole story of how we got in touch with her is pretty weird. One of the guys in the studio said he knew a perfect singer for the record and told us she sounded 'just like Ellie Goulding.' We invited her to sing the demo version for us and loved it so much that we used it as the official version.”