Rob Stillekens (@robstillekens) arrives on MoodCollective with Two Translators EP, landing June 12, 2026. The Tilburg-based producer has built his catalog across labels such as Kaluki Music, LTF Records, and Mindshake Records, with support from Marco Carola, Joseph Capriati, and Paco Osuna.
This new release places him inside Nicole Moudaber’s wider InTheMood network, with MoodCollective continuing to grow as the first sub-label tied to her long-running MOOD platform.
The EP opens with “Two Translators,” a rolling house cut built around drums, claps, layered percussion, vocal snippets, and a driven low-end. “The Secret Woman” follows with a warmer vocal element, using R&B phrasing, sharp percussion, and a more emotional tone while keeping the record aimed at club systems. Across the release, Stillekens works between groove, pressure, and restraint in a way that fits the label’s current direction.
In the conversation below, Stillekens talks about confidence behind the decks, improvising when a plan stops working, and why reading a room matters as much as technical control. His answers focus on experience, patience, and timing, especially around knowing when to hold back before pushing a room harder later in the set.
For a record built around floor function, that perspective gives useful context for how he thinks about pressure, pacing, and responsibility as a DJ.
Interview With Rob Stillekens
Beyond track selection, how do you see your role in guiding the energy of a room?
I think confidence and some kind of relaxation behind the decks transfer through the audience. They will immediately notice if you are insecure or very nervous during the performance.
When unexpected moments arise, how do you keep a dancefloor grounded without the whole feeling in the room falling apart?
Improvisation is king. I always come prepared, and I am never scared to improvise. Sometimes you have a plan going on in your head and halfway through you realize it does not really work out the way you wanted it to. Then it is about going with the flow and trusting the experience you have gained over the years.
In your experience, how much awareness and intuition does great DJing require compared to technical skills or the quality of what is on your USB?
A lot, because if you cannot sense the room or cannot sense what the audience needs at that specific moment, then you could end up ruining the night for the other DJs or the event.
For example, if you open with headline tracks at a high BPM, you ruin it for the headliner. The audience is still entering the room, getting a drink, and having a chat. The real party starts later, when everyone is loosened up, and it is the DJ’s job to act accordingly.
What have you learned about restraint in a set, especially when the right move is holding back rather than forcing a bigger reaction?
Giving a breather is the perfect recipe to peak harder later in the set. In Dutch, we have a beautiful saying for that: “hardlopers zijn doodlopers.”
Will Vance is a professional music producer who has been involved in the industry for the better part of a decade and has been the managing editor at Magnetic Magazine since mid-2022. In that time period, he has published thousands of articles on music production, industry think pieces and educational articles about the music industry. Over the last decade as a professional music producer, Will Vance has also ran multiple successful and highly respected record labels in the industry, including Where The Heart Is Records as well as having launched a new label with a focus on community through Magnetic Magazine. When not running these labels or producing his own music, Vance is likely writing for other top industry sites like Waves or the Hyperbits Masterclass or working on his upcoming book on mindfulness in music production. On the rare chance he's not thinking about music production, he's probably running a game of Dungeons and Dragons with his friends which he has been the dungeon master for for many years.
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