DJ Diplo’s Secret Weapon? The Mountains.
After an all-night gig playing music, Grammy Award winner Diplo recharges via long hikes
If you don鈥檛 know 聽from his solo DJ career (he won a Grammy for best dance recording in 2018), you probably know one of his genre-bending supergroups, Major Lazer or LSD, or have listened to tracks he鈥檚 produced for big names like Beyonc茅, Madonna, or Justin Bieber. As you might have guessed, Diplo is on the road a lot鈥攑laying some 300 gigs a year across the globe. And while his career is certainly glamorous, his schedule comes with聽huge聽side effects. There's the intense pressue to always put on a crowd-pleasing show, the extremely late nights, and the fact that he's聽often creating music in dark, indoor spaces. To balance it out,聽Diplo, an avid outdoorsmen who loves to hike and snowboard,聽seeks out wild and rugged places whenever he can. From post-gig peak scrambles to family hikes, here鈥檚 how he does it.
Every time I鈥檓 outdoors, it clears my head. It may not be an epiphany, but it鈥檚 like you鈥檙e not stuck with your thoughts. You鈥檙e just out there going as far as you can.
As a kid, I used to always go outside and just look through the dirt. I found arrowheads and stuff like that.
I love being out in the sun and being farther and farther away, climbing up mountains and getting deeper into the forest.
We live in this hyperloop. The city is full of noise. It鈥檚 full of its fast-paced lifestyle. People are always on the go. It can feel hard to get out of it. But if you can get two hours outside the city, and have a picnic or go see a lake, you鈥檒l be better off.
Being outside is just like being on a stage to me. I find sanity and clarity in both places. You can work hard and spend time and energy as a creative person, but being outside is where I get recharged.
Get up and turn it all off. Turn off the noise. Put on your 聽Free Hikers and go walk as far as you can with your family into the woods. Just go escape.
Even if I鈥檝e only had 15 minutes of sleep, I鈥檒l go somewhere beautiful for a hike if I鈥檓 on the road because I don鈥檛 want to miss any opportunities to see the places I travel.
Combining performance with style, the packs innovation to take you from the city to the outdoors. Breathable and lightweight, the Free Hiker was tested for thousands of miles on the Pacific Crest Trail. It weighs only 13 ounces and features a mid-cut profile for extra protection聽and Continental rubber outsole for grip on any terrain. Learn more.