How did ANOTR blow up?
Close to 16 million monthly listeners, a UK number 3 and a label that sells out festivals with no line-up. Eight reasons behind the Amsterdam duo's rise.
As of October 2026 ANOTR have 15.8 million monthly listeners on Spotify and more than a billion streams in total. "Talk To You", with 54 Ultra, reached number 3 on the UK Singles Chart and stayed in the chart for 31 weeks. From the outside it looks like overnight success. It isn't.
1. Eleven years in the making
Jesse van der Heijden and Oguzhan "Oz" Guney grow up in Amsterdam Noord and meet at a birthday party. Around 17 they start producing together in a shipping container turned studio. Their first alias is Piotr & Zhan, which is where the name ANOTR comes from. The first EP, "Strobe", lands on Defected in 2015: from that debut to a UK number 3 takes eleven years.
2. They learned to write songs
During the pandemic they go back to studying music two days a week and learn to record instruments. Then they work with singers such as Abel Balder, 54 Ultra, Leven Kali and Emily Warren. The result is tracks with vocals and hooks that work outside the club too: "Relax My Eyes" passes 365 million streams, "Talk To You" 260 million, "How You Feel" 131 million.
3. The tracks are born on the dancefloor
They play them months before release. At ADE 2022 the crowd sings "Relax My Eyes" before it is out: the single arrives on 4 November, together with the album The Reset. Fans hunt for the IDs on Facebook and r/House, so when a track drops the demand is already there.
4. Everything in-house: No Art
No Art is a label, an event series, a clothing line and a collective. Even their biggest hit, "Talk To You", came out on their own label rather than a major. In 2026 the brand draws crowds from Mumbai to Lisbon, by way of Liverpool, Bolesworth Castle near Manchester and two dates at [UNVRS] Ibiza.
5. A community that trusts them
In July 2022 the first No Art Festival, at NDSM-Werf in Amsterdam, sells out with no line-up announced. In 2024 the festival at Flevopark sells out again. Some fans come to three to five events a year, and the duo calls them "family".
6. No distance from the stage
The booth sits at floor level with the crowd all around: their "living room energy". Plus unusual venues, like an Amsterdam church with a choir and dancers, or a 24-hour hotel event during the pandemic. The starting idea, they say, is that "everybody has to be equal".
7. Credible in the club and in the charts
Defected, Solid Grooves, Circoloco, a back to back with PAWSA at [UNVRS] on 24 May 2026, and in the same year a number 3 on the UK pop chart. Holding both worlds together is rare.
8. They take risks at every step
With The Reset they feared the underground would not follow. Then came On A Trip (2025), toured with a live band. Then Withness (June 2026), back to the dancefloor: number 3 on the UK Dance Albums Chart. And their first festival, they say, nearly bankrupted them.
What about the DJ Mag Top 100?
A curious detail: ANOTR are not in DJ Mag's Top 100 DJs 2026, they appear in the next 50. But the poll is a public vote, with dynamics of its own.
So, when did you become a fan? Tell us on Instagram.
Sources: DJ Mag (January 2023, March 2024, Top 100 DJs 2026), Xceed, Spotify and kworb (figures from October 2026), Official Charts, Electronic Groove, Skiddle, Ibiza Spotlight, Rolling Stone India.