You may identify him by his trademark mask and hoodie, yet behind the mysterious character is a Norwegian artist, DJ and producer who is a massive hit maker. It is safe to say that 24-year old has already put a lasting imprint on the music scene since he first made his mark a few years ago.

He has already had an impressive run of more than 500 headliner and festival shows, including Coachella, Tomorrowland, Ultra Music Festival, Lollapalooza and more. In the past three years, Alan Olav Walker better known as Alan Walker, has gone from learning music production via YouTube tutorials and posting music online for free, to performing to sold-out crowds with the likes of Rihanna and Justin Bieber. Currently, Alan has been certified Gold and/or Platinum in 32 countries. 

Going on rewind mode we take a look at the stupendous career of this once YouTube sensation.

The Brit born Norwegian DJ and producer was born on 24^th August 1997 to parents Hilde Omdal Walker, a Norwegian, and Philip Alan Walker, an Englishman. By birth, he was granted dual citizenship for both countries due to his parent’s country of origin. He grew up with an older sister, Camilla, born in England, and a younger brother, Andreas, born in Norway. When he was just two years old, the family moved to Bergen in Norway.

Having no idea of cassettes and knowing a fraction of what CDs were, it was a digital era that faced Walker in his early growing up days. He found companionship in computers, something that would rule his life. Dabbling with it day in and day out, he learnt the ropes of programming and graphics without anyone helping him. YouTube was a source of information when it came to learning music and with no musical background, he taught himself music production sitting in his home.

While working on his computer one day in 2012, he was listening to a song by Italian DJ David Whistle (also known as DJ Ness). Walker was so taken up with the sound that he contacted the DJ to find out how he produced his music.

Gaining a few insights, he soon started tuning into EDM producers such as K 391aka Kenneth Nilsen and Ahrix, to film composers like Hans Zimmer and a few others. Backed with sufficient knowledge, he started producing his music on his laptop using FL Studio. Soon he decided to make his music public via YouTube and in July 2012, with the help and feedback from his fans online, he began posting his music to YouTube and SoundCloud on a regular basis. The bedroom producer soon started making waves with his fans that watched his YouTube videos and grew curious to know more about him. They began to check him out more closely. He took a funky name and began calling himself DJ Walkzz. Soon a record deal came to his doorstep and before anyone knew it, he was releasing his debut single in 2014.

Titled Fade, the single was released in August 2014 and soon gained attention after its re-release via the record label NoCopyrightSounds a few months later.  

While it hit off well, the song was picked up with MER Musikk under Sony Music Sweden and released almost a year in December 2015 as a brand new single titled Faded featuring unaccredited singer Iselin Solheim.  The single topped the year-end charts in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Sweden, iTunes charts in 33 countries, as well as entering top 10 in Spotify Global Chart. The music video on YouTube crossed 2.2 billion views and 15 million likes placing it among the top 10 most liked YouTube videos. The single also received official remixes from DJs such as Tiesto, Dash Berlin and Hardwell.  His rating shot up to the 17^th among the best DJs of the international level and he was on DJ Mag’s Top 100 list of 2017, 38 positions higher from the previous year.

Much before he made it big, Walker decided on a logo for himself which consisted of intertwined letters A and W, the initials of his name which was designed by himself way back in 2013. Walker also began using a hoodie and face mask resembling the concept of black bloc on stage to create the rest of the image. If one was to check out his first few promo images which his management handed out, Walker’s face was barely visible to anyone. Also in the music video for his single Alone, he is all dressed as a black shadow figure, a plan drawn up together with his record label Sony.

His background as a gamer also inspired him to hide his face behind a mask. He is quoted to have said that he wears the hood “to keep a low profile, while maintaining the mental image that people have given me. I think it's pretty cool. A little twist that makes people ask themselves questions about who really is the person behind Alan Walker” On an episode of his Unmasked series, he stated that "The mask is more of a sign and a symbol of unity and being alike each other, rather than me being different”. There were also rumors that he borrowed the concept of the mask from the hacker group, ‘Anonymous,’ and the TV series, ‘Mr. Robot.’

After tasting success before he completed high school, the next big thing Walker did was to walk out of school, all this to pursue a career in music. Festivals beckoned him all over, beginning with his hometown Oslo, where he gave his performance debut at the Winter X Games performing 15 tracks and culminating it with his mega hit Faded together with Iselin Solheim live on stage. By March 2016, Walker had produced 30 to 40 songs in total, but Faded marked the big ticket into stardom.

On 7^th April, Walker teamed up with Swedish singer Zara Larsson at the Echo Awards in Germany where they performed each other's songs…. Faded and Never Forget You.

Soon he released his follow-up single Sing me to Sleep, and hoping that lady luck strikes again, he brought in female vocalist Iselin Solheim who also gave him the massive hit Faded. The song topped iTunes charts in 7 countries. Its music video on YouTube has over 400 million views and also reached 170 million plays on Spotify.

Before the year could pull out, Walker released Alone, a heavy beat and melodious song with atmospheric vocalsfeaturing unaccredited Swedish singer Noonie Bao. The music video on YouTube has over 740 million views. Walker had a triple lucky strike consisting of three massive chart toppers namely Faded, Sing Me to Sleep and Alone.

2017 opened new avenues for him with his Walker's YouTube channel becoming the most subscribed channel registered in Norway, after passing about 4.5 million subscribers which clocked the most views among Norwegian YouTubers. The year saw him release a single almost every other month paving the way for something that fans were anticipating very much, an album.

On 7^th April, Walker released the song Ignite an instrumental version which featured Norwegian music producer and songwriter K-391. It was released as a promotion of the launch of the Sony Xperia XZsmartphone.

A month later he released his first song with a male vocalist Irish singer-songwriter Gavin James, titled Tired  followed by Sky, both tracks released on the compilation ‘Insomniac Records Presents: EDC Las Vegas 2017’

In September, he released The Spectre a revamped version with vocals of his 2015 single Spectre. The single’s music video contains footage of his concerts along with a team of dancers dressed in white jumpsuits and black helmets.

In late October, Walker released the song All Falls Down which featured American singer Noah Cyrus and British DJ and record producer Digital Farm Animals. The video storyline follows the visual for his previous song Tired.

Though the year went by, sadly despite a collection of songs, Walker did not release of an album. The reason being was primarily due to his collaboration n with artists, tours and making new music.

In 2018, Walker also worked with Dutch DJ Armin van Buuren where they recorded the song Slow Lane. In July, healsoreleased a single Darkside, featuring Au/Ra from Ibiza and Norwegian singer Tomine Harket, daughter of 80s pop band A-ha vocalist Morten Harket.

In August that year he released a re-boot of his 'Unmasked' vlog series, in which he films behind the scenes of his concerts and personal life. This was followed rapidly by a remix single of Sheep by Exo member Lay and a new single Diamond Heart featuring Sophia Somajo.

Things were falling into place, and Walker had enough material for an album. The feelers were sent out. A few weeks before the much awaited album release, Walker released the headline single Different World followed by his debut album of the same name. The album released in mid December and contained the songs Lost Control (featuring Sorana), I Don't Wanna Go (featuring Julie Bergan), Lily (featuring K-391 and Emelie Hollow), Lonely (featuring Steve Aoki, ISAK, and Omar Noir), and Do It All for You (featuring Trevor Guthrie). He of course added all his earlier hits like Faded, Alone and Sing me to Sleep. Later he also embarked on a tour the immensely successful “Different World Tour” in North America.

This year has been a bit slow, with just the singleAre You Lonely featuring American DJ Steve Aoki and ISAK. It is a remix of the original song Lonely. In March, he collaborated with 19 years old American Disney actress turned pop star Sabrina Carpenter and Latin American superstar Farruko on the song On My Way. Despite her young age, Carpenter’s beautiful yet sassy vocals perfectly convey the message of On My Way.

Making headlines all across the world for his energetic dance routines, I was fortunate to watch Walker when he visited India to perform for the very first time as the headlining act at the Enchanted Valley Carnival 2016, playing on the Cosmos stage his hits Faded and Alone. He also called over Indie act Lost Stories as guests in his set and called them out on stage as he played their remix of his double platinum record Faded which at that time was one the year’s biggest dance music releases. Lost Stories also worked on a remix of his single Alone.

As the skyline came alive with incredible pyro techniques at the 12^th edition of Sunburn at Oxford Valley, Day 2 of Asia's biggest electronic music festival Sunburn 2018 saw Walker who once again got the crowd grooving to his hit tracks. The introduction to his set was The Spectre, followed by a remix of Sia's Move Your Body and Sheep by Chinese musician Lay. He closed his versatile set with Faded, where he left the crowd thirsty for more. He put on a high-energy vivacious set that was comprised of a neat balance of upbeat tracks and slower ballads with a focus on melodies which was a harbinger of bigger and better things to come.

Walker proved that he is a true force to be reckoned with within the contemporary electronic music scene. Despite many critics labelling that he does not reveal his face and it could be just about anyone playing on the decks, the man was in the flesh playing to thousands who danced to his tunes.

Walker has kept his personal life a closely-guarded secret. He is not married, and is not known to be in any relation with anyone. Though Walker is active on social media, he avoids disclosing his personal affairs. But social media has caught on with a link to his personal life. Her name is Viivi Niemi, and a regular on Alan’s Instagram page, as does he on hers. She has accompanied him on a few tours and award ceremonies.

Walker has won a host of awards, the top of them being the MTV Europe Music Awards of 2016, 2017 and 2018 for the Best Norwegian Act.

By Verus Ferreira