Ricky Win, known by many as WIN WIN, has been DJing in the Seattle community for six years. Originally from Norway, where his older brother was a raver back in the ’90s, WIN WIN got his start during COVID throwing house parties, boat parties, and his own events before breaking into the club and festival circuit.
He has collab’ed with big names like Bijou, landing a track on Fisher’s record label, and opened for other standouts like Martin Horger. He counts Fisher, Chris Lake, John Summit, and Matroda among his biggest influences.
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While he’s not new to the EDM scene, Win is cultivating his tech-house sound with sets in Canada, Vietnam, and Portland already under his belt. He spoke with Dance Music Northwest about his unique background, his favorite parts about DJing in Seattle, and what the future holds.
DMNW: What has your DJing experience in Seattle been like?
WIN WIN: I feel like it’s been good. I mean, I’ve been DJing in Seattle for over five years now. And it started during COVID, just for fun – house parties, my own parties, boat parties, and then I got into the clubs and some festivals. And I feel like the house scene has definitely been growing. I like it. I enjoy it.
DMNW: You said the house scene has been growing. What kind of genres of house have you seen taking off lately?
WIN WIN: I think tech house, for sure.
DMNW: Who do you look up to the most in the EDM scene?
WIN WIN: The people that I look up to are Fisher, Chris Lake, John Summit, and Matroda. I think those are the guys that I’m mostly looking up to. But I mean, there are a lot of other great artists, but those guys are killing the game.
DMNW: You’ve done a lot of collabs with various artists. One that stands out is Bijou. What has been one of your favorite collabs that you’ve done?
WIN WIN: I think my favorite collab is the one with Bijou, because it’s like a very energetic tech house, bass house. And it was signed on Fisher’s record label, which is huge. So that’s definitely my favorite collab. I’m still working on more collabs with more great artists.
DMNW: What do you have coming up?
WIN WIN: I can’t really say too much right now. Work in progress. But I am working on playing more shows and sharing my music with the world. I’ve never really played outside of Seattle, except for Canada, Vietnam, and Portland, but we’re definitely working on sharing new music.
DMNW: What do you see in your future of DJing?
WIN WIN: Definitely going to release more music, and definitely want to get my name out there to the world. So definitely release more music and have a more online presence, and obviously to collab with other artists. Just really working toward getting my name out there, more listeners, more social media presence, more TikTok.
DMNW: What is your favorite part of DJing?
WIN WIN: My favorite part of DJing is playing to a crowd, and everyone is just in sync with the music. Everyone is just vibing into the music that you’re playing, and it gives me energy, and it’s just overall a journey that we all go on together with music. But definitely playing to a crowd where we’re all really focused and not just on our phones, but really vibing and really listening to the music.
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DMNW: What made you want to stay in Seattle to play music?
WIN WIN: I’m originally from Norway, so living in Norway, growing up, my older brother was a raver back in the 90s. So I listened to a lot of techno and trance. My brother used to blast music in his room, and when he would leave, I would invite my friends over. We would blast music. I didn’t really understand raving at the time, but we would just go in my brother’s room and look for whatever he had. That’s kind of my introduction to electronic music. And then I moved to Seattle for family, and I’ve just been here, so the goal is obviously to be touring. I’m not going to be staying in Seattle, but it’s a good, good place, similar to Norway, weather-wise.
DMNW: What keeps you working on music when you have a real-estate job as well?
WIN WIN: I feel like music is a stress release, and doesn’t matter what you have going on in your life. If you have good music, it kind of gives you a little peace and freedom, relaxation. But I’ve always been like a fan of music, and especially electronic music, now that it’s way more popular. Because when I grew up, it was all about R&B and rap. It’s really cool to see that it’s changed. People are more into electronic music now. The scene is just growing and getting bigger.
Catch WIN WIN playing around Seattle.
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