It’s the day after Christmas, and Dutch DJ R3HAB (Fadil El Ghoul) has just received an unexpected present: His collaboration with enigmatic producer KSHMR, “Karate,” has just hit No. 1 on the Beatport Top 100. He’ll celebrate later in the evening with a high-energy dance mix for the glowstick-wielding crowd at SLS Las Vegas nightlife venue LiFE, but he took time earlier in the evening to talk with Las Vegas Magazine’s Matt Kelemen inside the elegant club, where he was about to spin for the third time since beginning his residency in October. He returns to LiFE on Jan.17.

This has been a really good Christmas for you with “Karate” going to No. 1 on Beatport.

Yeah, very good Christmas!

Were you expecting that?

There was a big buzz on the record, and I knew when we did the video – have you seen the video?

Yes.

I knew the video was a little …

Provocative?

Yeah, but in a cool way. It’s still sexy, and it had 3 million views in one and a half weeks.

Were you responsible for bringing (UFC ring girl) Arianny Celeste in to star in the video?

Yeah, actually me and my manager hit up all the girls, so it was more of a personal touch. We just wanted it to be a fun day, and Arianny was cool for it.

Do you know MMA? Did you know her from the ring?

Yeah, yeah. I just knew her from around, and a lot of people know her from the UFC ring. We were looking for people that were sort of still sporty, that could throw a punch.

I’m kind of interested that you’re not afraid to be provocative. Somebody referred to it as softcore porn on one of the MMA websites.

I still think it’s art. It’s still sort of cool.

It’s different nowadays for someone to not be afraid to say, “This is what I like and this is how I’m going to do it.”

Yeah, I just thought the track was really dirty and high energy. We wanted to do something different and cool, and the last video we did, like with a kid in the woods, not sexy at all, for example. Now we wanted to do something sexy and cool.

I saw Calvin Harris’ video for “Sweet Nothing,” and he gets beat up.

Yeah, exactly. And then “Blame” is all with sexy girls, but that’s on the record, you know? “Sweet Nothing” is not about sexy girls.” It’s about, like, fights.

But “Karate” is about sexy girls?

I think so. It’s a high-energy record, you know?

What does it mean to give a track “A full ‘R3HAB.’ Do you use that phrase a lot?

A full R3HAB treatment … a lot of energy. Keep the dance floor moving. Just like, high energy. I want to create stuff that works on the dance floor, but still works in the gym also. I like it when I see people tweet me: “Oh, I listen to your podcast every Monday. I go to the gym, it makes me excited.” That’s cool, you know? Music is … it has to do with experience and emotion.

Do you consider yourself high energy? “Hardwell Presents Rehab ‘Mrkrstft’” put you on the map in 2008, and that almost … there’s almost a minimalist feel to that.

Yeah very true, very true. That was the sound back then, but for them it was high energy, so it just evolved with the time. “Mrkrstft” was just a joke when we made it, so. …

What’s the joke?

“Let’s just make a fun record. “Mrkrstft” is just “a pen” in Dutch.

What was the first dance music that resonated with you?

Prodigy back in the day, when I was a teenager.

It’s pretty well documented that you came up in the business in 2008.

But before then you listen to music. Dance music has always been big in Europe, and especially in Holland. So …

You’re surrounded by it all the time.

Exactly, but Prodigy was like “Firestarter,” “No Good,” “Spaceman.” And the high voice, the high-pitched voice, always made me feel like, “This is really cool and experimental.”

I think I also read that you started out exploring the recording software installed on a MacBook Pro. What was the impetus for making your first track?

I just tried to do mash-ups. You start making mixes to put the instrumental and the vocal together really cool … and you suck at it. You practice some more, then you sort of get a nice beat going, then it keeps evolving.

Yeah, you went through a process of as you’re learning to do stuff, that becomes a track.

Exactly. And I got lucky, because very early on, I made some decent tracks. I had a good ear, I think, and the ear is something you can’t learn or buy.

I make ambient recordings, and I remember the first time I heard something where I was like, “I can’t believe I did that. This is working.” Did you have a moment like that?

Yeah, yeah! Because you get lost in the creative process, and at the end you’re like, “This is pretty dope.” It’s always the next day. It’s like, when you wake up the next day, do you still love it or like it? And that’s the hard part, because many times it’s like, “Uh-uh. Let’s get back to it.”

You can’t really be in the zone and get a full feel for how it sounds.

No, that’s why working together is a lot of fun, because you don’t get caught up in overthinking things, because somebody could say, “Hey, this is really cool,” and then you get excited. It can be very lonely, production.

That’s interesting. I’ve never heard someone make that comment about collaboration, how it keeps you from getting too subjective about your own work.

Yeah, I like it. I mean, many good records have been co-produced, co-written. Just getting a bunch of creative people in the room and make something really good. The standard is really high, I feel, in the pop world. It’s been a really good year, a lot of good records. Even Imagine Dragons, I think they’re from Vegas. Amazing.

Did you spend most of your life in the Netherlands?

Yeah.

Did you spend any time or remember anything about Morocco?

No, I was born in Holland. Only in the summer for the first 10 years I used to go for six weeks in order to see the family. So it was fun. Marrakesh is a very nice city.

I saw on your video channel that you have spun there.

Yeah, yeah. I had spun there. It was good, fun. Sold out; it was a very cool crowd. But Holland’s the place to be at the moment, especially for dance music. It feels like the dance world capitol somehow, together with Sweden.

In one of your interviews with DJ Mag, 2012 I think, you mentioned how Vegas could be one of the next dance capitols. How do you feel now two years after making that statement?

Still very strong. … It’s big, you know. All DJs come to Vegas.

How long did it take for Vegas to come on the map in your …

I think very quick, man. They caught on very quick. 2011 was like the year, Boom, it happens.

And you went to XS first (as a resident), right? And then Hakkasan?

Yeah.

How is LiFE distinguished from those clubs?

You know what I like? I think the staff is really young and they’re very enthusiastic. It’s not the standard in-the-box. It’s like a fresh company that comes to Vegas for the first time, not run by a hundred other … It’s fresh. It feels fresh, and I know the guys with SBE from LA and Miami. And SLS Beverly Hills, amazing. So I thought, “Let’s just try this.” They gave me the sketch of the club that we’re sitting in right now, and I thought, “This is freaking amazing.”

I think Pete Tong’s “Essential Mix” (radio show) was one of your first breakthroughs, and he’s a resident here, too.

Yeah, I ran into him actually two days ago in LA, and another time in a restaurant here. It’s an honor to be at the table with him and Steve Angello.

Because normally it would only be at a place like Miami during Winter Music Conference that you would run into all of these guys.

Yeah, exactly. But that’s why I say Vegas feels like the capitol.

Does it feel like the capitol right now?

Like one of the capitols, with Ibiza. Vegas is a long-spread season, like all year long, while Ibiza is very concentrated. In like two-and-a-half months everything is very squeezed in together.

And Miami is only like two weeks, kind of.

Exactly. And now you have EDC (Electric Daisy Carnival) week, which became very big, I think.

How was it playing EDC this year after being recognized for your 2013 EDC mix? You actually won an award in Miami (at the Annual International Dance Music Awards during the 2013 Winter Music Conference).

Yeah, for “Best Full-Length DJ Mix.” I also helped with the trailer, with the music. I think EDC is one of the best and biggest events in the world… It’s a 30-minute drive from the Strip, but that’s what makes it really special. Once you get there it’s the experience that matters, and the NASCAR track is just huge. It allows great production, everything.

Do you feel like you were representing it (with the mix)?

Of course. I’m very proud because for me, I was there from the first year, in 2011. I played two days and three gigs. And 2012 was amazing, 2013 was amazing. This year was amazing, and hopefully, I pray that they put me on again this year.

Does the EDC crowd come here to LiFE?

Yes, some locals always come to the show, and big shout out to them. Those are the people that are on the dance floor setting off the party. Setting off the dance floor is really important.

What distinguishes your approach from anybody else?

I think everybody’s different. I have my own interaction, records, visuals that we make.

Are you getting more actively involved with aspects other than sound?

I am this year. We want to make it a real cool show. I try to be very involved in the visuals, things I like. Even when I watch a movie … now we have a VJ always touring with us, and I’m like, “I really like this movie. I don’t know why, but I like the coloring, I like the layout.”

What kind of clips do you use?

We just make customs, you know, that they sync on the beats.

I thought you meant movie clips.

Oh, no. More like symbols, but they all move on the beats.

For the 2013 DJ Mag rankings you were in the 50s, then in 2014 you shot up to No. 23.

I’m growing slowly, like a nice stalk that slowly goes up. If we keep going up, it’s amazing, and that’s all that matters.

How important are rankings for a contemporary DJ?

I don’t think it’s that important for me, but I do like the fact that it’s going up. If we get to 19, I’m very happy, as long as it’s going up. I mean, if we drop to 90 I’ll be like, “What’s going on?”

Words like “chainsaw” and “rollercoaster ride” are used to describe your style. What do you currently go for when composing a track?

A rollercoaster takes you up, takes you down, gives you goose bumps. I love rollercoasters. I mess around until I get something. I can’t explain it. It’s like this (snaps fingers). It’s that snap. “This is a good experience. This feels right.” And you can’t explain why. That’s what music is. Many times you overthink it.

How do you describe your style now?

Energy, I want people to have fun with the music. My message is not political. It’s more like having fun, dancing, having a good time. Maybe it will change or go in a different direction, but that’s what I’m feeling at the moment.

I interviewed Josh Wink once and he told me when he’s creating tracks he imagines himself on the dance floor.

Yes, I do that too. What can I play at EDC as an opening record? That’s what I think. That’s how “Karate” was actually made, because I played it for the first time at EDC, this year in 2014. I was like “I need something big that feels powerful and keeps a message of a lot of energy.” That’s how it gets done.