DJ Kato on 15-year-old hit ‘Turn The Lights Off’ going viral thanks to Jon Hamm meme

Fifteen years after the release of his dance banger, Turn The Lights Off, Danish DJ and producer Kato’s life has taken an unexpected turn. And it’s all thanks to Jon Hamm.

Well, a viral TikTok trend built around the one-man meme generator, taken from a nightclub scene from Apple TV+ series Your Friends & Neighbors, to be precise. 

Because Hamm is no stranger to getting the meme treatment. As Mad Men’s Don Draper, he gave us the smoking-in-the-cinema and drunk laughing memes, the finale’s “Om” moment, and the savage putdown, “I don’t think about you at all”. 

What first inspired someone to pair Turn The Lights Off with the now very familiar blue-toned clip of Hamm dancing in a nightclub with his eyes closed, lost in the music, is anyone’s guess, but the rest is internet meme lore.

TikTok users quickly turned the clip into a viral video, often pairing it with captions celebrating life’s mundane victories. The song became the latest older track that TikTok brought back into the spotlight, and as well as dominating TikTok and Instagram feeds at the tail end of 2025 and into 2026, it soared to the top of Spotify’s Viral 50 chart.

“I honestly thought someone had hacked my account or that it was some kind of prank,” Kato tells Headliner from his home studio in Denmark. 

“All this stuff going on with this old song is totally new for me. I’ve never tried to go viral before, so I’m just trying to hold on and see what happens. It’s amazing how the internet works its magic in discovering new music and artists, but also this funny thing where old songs pop up and take on another life. I’m very proud; I’m on cloud nine with everything that’s going on right now.”

Kato clarifies that before the Jon Hamm videos saw the song become meme-fied on socials, the viral nature of the song actually started in Ukraine. Kato (real name Thomas Kato Vittrup) first noticed a deluge of Ukrainian Instagram accounts tagging him in reels using his song.

“I don’t read Ukrainian, so at first I just thought it was strange,” he reflects. “I wasn’t reposting anything because there’s a war going on, and I didn’t want to repost something I didn’t understand. Then the craziest thing happened: within a couple of days, Russian profiles started tagging me as well. At that point, I honestly got pretty scared, because I had no idea what it was about. 

"The videos weren’t like the Jon Hamm meme stuff yet – it was just people doing random things. I was really afraid that one of my songs was being pulled into some kind of war-related thing,” he confesses.

Due to his unease with the song’s use on socials, Kato decided to take a social media break, but then started getting notifications from charts like Shazam, Spotify and Apple Music, which indicated that the track was growing in Ukraine, Russia, Poland and all across Eastern Europe. This was harder to tune out from.

“We tried to figure out what it was all about, and that’s when we realised it wasn’t a bad thing at all,” he says, sounding relieved. 

“It was actually a really positive message when it started there. Then it really took off when the Jon Hamm thing started somewhere, and within a day or two, it was everywhere. Whenever I was on TikTok or Instagram, every time I swiped to the next video, it was just my song again and again. It was completely surreal.”

The internet works in mysterious ways, and before long, the song was climbing the Spotify Viral 50 and hitting number one. “It’s unbelievable,” he says, shaking his head in disbelief. 

“Obviously, when you’re a musician, songwriter, or producer, the ultimate dream is for your music to go number one on the charts. That’s the struggle we all have and the dream we’re working towards. But it’s been a bit bittersweet,” he acknowledges. “The dreams I’ve always had about making a worldwide hit were always about creating new music. I never saw this coming with a song I made 15 years ago, but it’s also hilarious and weird at the same time.”

Does Headliner almost detect a bit of imposter syndrome there, given the organic way the song has taken off? “It’s still weird for me,” he nods, “because I’m used to working really hard on every release, trying to make it in this big industry. And this just happened all by itself. I didn’t do anything; it was something I did 15 years ago. So it almost feels like I’m cheating, you know?”

The memes

If you’re chronically online, you’ll have seen the Jon Hamm memes in question, ranging from the lighthearted, "When you're petting a dog and someone says, ‘Wow he usually doesn't like anyone!'”, to dark humour: “Millennials driving and it finally happens” – showing a person driving behind the notorious Final Destination truck, closing their eyes and welcoming a log souring through the windshield.

Rolling out like the end credits song of 2025, given the political climate in 2026 so far, the clip continues to thrive online into the new year – Euro clubbing to the apocalypse, anyone? – with more and more people using memes as a humorous way to come together in dark times. 

Kato even jumped on the trend himself, posting a video of himself in the studio checking his phone along with the caption: “When you realise that the song you made 15 years ago is the no.1 viral song in the world” – cut to the Jon Hamm video.

“There are so many of these memes, and it’s still evolving; it's so crazy,” he laughs. “Obviously, I’m stoked that someone figured out this whole reel meme thing and used my song, because they could have chosen any song in the world. So the fact that someone started this whole trend and chose my song is just unbelievable. People are putting their own spin on it, and that obviously keeps both the song and the trend alive. 

"The memes are all about everyday life. All of us need a timeout sometimes, a trip to the club or the dance floor at some point, so that positive message is something I’m really proud of. Even though I haven’t done anything myself with all this, I’m just happy that the guy who started it, wherever he is, chose my song,” he smiles.

And Kato’s personal favourite meme video so far? “One of the videos I saw was actually in Danish, so I’ll try to translate it – although the humour might get a bit lost in translation,” he warns. 

“It was a guy filming himself with his three kids piled on top of him, and the caption was: ‘When the missus has a headache-free Wednesday,’” he laughs, adding that he hasn’t watched all of Your Friends & Neighbors quite yet.

“I’m definitely going to finish it in the next couple of days when I get a bit of time,” he insists, “because in some weird way, this series has kind of changed my life. So obviously I want to see what it’s all about!”

The history of Turn The Lights Off

Originally co-written and released in 2007 by Dutch DJ and producer DJ Jose, Turn the Lights Off was already a dancefloor favourite, but it wasn’t until Kato put his own spin on it in 2010 that the track truly exploded. 

Kato’s cover, featuring the vocals of Popstars contestant Jon Nørgaard, hit the scene and quickly became a platinum-selling sensation, moving 30,000 copies in a few months.

Kato explains why he decided to cover the track just three years after its initial release. “The original song was only ever released in the Netherlands in 2007,” he explains. 

“Then, in 2009, I was working at a local radio station in Denmark, and DJ José’s original version was added to the playlist, even though it had never been released in Denmark. We absolutely loved the song and thought it was a shame that hardly anyone had heard it outside the Netherlands.”

At first, Kato says he tried to help with getting the original song released in Denmark. “But there was a lot of stuff around it – terms, legal things – I don’t know exactly,” he states. “In the end, DJ José said he was fine with us doing a cover version instead. So we did a cover as a tribute, and also because we just thought the song was something special. It’s a really simple song, obviously, but it’s so catchy, and it has this special vibe. 

"Fortunately, we managed to capture that in our version too, which was exactly what we were trying to do. We weren’t trying to copy the original, but we did want to keep it in the same family, sound-wise, not turn it into a completely different genre or anything like that.”

Kato says that since the song’s unexpected revival, he hasn’t been in touch with DJ José to get his opinion on his song’s newfound popularity. “I haven’t been in touch with him for the last couple of years, but when we released it in 2010, and it got signed worldwide – and became a hit in Russia, Sweden and some other countries – we actually released it with him credited on the song as well,” he points out.

“Even though it was our version, that was our way of paying tribute to him, because he was a great sport when we did it in the first place, and we wanted to give something back. I really hope he’s seen everything that’s going on right now. I mean, he definitely will at some point when he gets his songwriter check, because that’s obviously going to be a good one for him,” he laughs. 

“And that’s so well deserved. That’s one of the really cool things about music – you can do a cover version and actually help the original songwriters earn even more from their song. That feels really good.”

Making the 2010 version

Kato says that the song’s vocalist, Nørgaard – winner of Popstars in 2002 – was also a fan of the original, and recalls that they both started working on a version of the track, unaware that the other was doing so.

“We worked together at the radio station and loved the song, but we hadn’t actually talked about doing it; we just started on our own,” he says.

“Jon was the first winner of Popstars in Denmark, so he was the biggest pop star we had in Denmark at that time. He told me he’d tried recording the vocals, and in the meantime, I had been working on a production. So we’d actually started it separately. Then he sent me the vocals he’d recorded, and that was one of the most surreal experiences of my life, because they fit perfectly. I’d tried working with the original vocals, but the quality wasn’t great; it was a bad recording. 

"Jon’s vocals matched my production exactly. He could have recorded it in a different key, which would’ve been a nightmare to adjust, but he did it in the original key, and it all just melted together. That was pretty wild.”

The production

The song's sound was inspired by German electropop, which was having a moment at the time. Specifically, Kato singles out Infinity (Guru Josh song), a breakthrough track from British acid house pioneer Guru Josh. Originally released in December 1989, the track’s enduring appeal has led to multiple comebacks: a remixed version, Infinity 2008, which was later followed by Infinity 2012.

“That 2008 remake with the German electro sound, especially in the bass, influenced a lot of people, including me,” Kato says. 

“That shaped how I designed the sound for the song – it needed to feel like 2010. When I did the first demo, I wanted to incorporate some piano-house vibes alongside the German electro-house elements – trying to bridge different subgenres of dance music. At the same time, Avicii was breaking through and doing a lot of piano-based tracks too, so that influenced my production choices as well.”

Kato produced the track on Logic, which he’s used since he first started making tracks – “the updates over the last three or four years have been amazing; I’m almost a lifelong Logic user!” – using a pair of Genelec 8040As – the first set of studio monitors he ever bought.

“I still have them in the studio to this day. Even though I’ve spent a lot of money on monitors since then, I’m kind of a monitor geek,” he enthuses. “They were the first pair of professional monitors I ever had. I bought them right after my father died – I got a little money from that – and I used it to buy my first Mac and these Genelec monitors, and started building my studio from there. So they have a deeper meaning for me. Also, I know how things are supposed to sound on these monitors, because I’ve been using them since around 2004 or 2005. 

"For over 20 years, they’ve proven to be really reliable. Of course, monitors are a matter of taste for everyone, and they are for me too. The Genelecs are just familiar to me. If something sounds good on those, I know my mix will translate well on almost any other speakers: in the car, on a phone, whatever. They’ve been a huge help over the years.”

Kato still uses his Genelecs today, in combination with a pair of more recently acquired Barefoot Sound monitors – “I always switch between them in the studio, especially when I’m referencing tracks or trying to get that club feeling while mixing,” he says, admitting that mixing isn’t his area of expertise.

“I do it myself sometimes, but I got help on this song from an amazing producer and mixer called David, who co-produced it with me. He’s someone I learned a lot from.”

When Kato first started producing music, he didn’t have a mentor. “I was self-taught. My first releases that got signed in Denmark weren’t even mixed or mastered properly, because I didn’t know anything about it. I just made music, sent it to labels, and some of them released it! I’d always been writing and producing with my ears, without really knowing anything about theory, techniques, frequencies; I just did what sounded right to me. 

"It’s the same with this song. Listening back today, I can tell it was made 15 years ago; we could probably make it sound a bit clearer or better with today’s tools. But in a way, the sound from back then is part of its charm; it gives that nostalgic feeling. So I wouldn’t change a thing.”

To shape the sound of Turn The Lights Off, Kato used reFX’s NEXUS synthesiser plugin, and one of his go-tos to this day, LennarDigital’s Sylenth1 virtual analogue VSTi synthesiser plugin.

“At that time, the REFX Nexus plugin was really popular,” he recalls. “It’s basically a sample-based synthesiser, so there wasn’t much you could do with sound design in it. It did have really good sound banks and samples to work with, though,” he reasons. 

“Sylenth1 allows you to do more in-depth work on sounds and sound design. I still use Sylenth1 sometimes today because it has that nostalgic, old-school dance sound. Even now, when I produce music, I use lots of other plugins and love experimenting with new ones, but if I want a bit of that nostalgic, classic dance flavour, I always go back to Sylenth1 – it just sounds like that. It’s been with me for many years.”

With the track going viral and winning over a new generation of fans, Kato is excited to hit the decks later this year during festival season. "You can definitely feel that this song is getting a new life,” he says. 

“It’s always been one of my biggest hits, so when I play it back home in Denmark, people have always sung along, but now it feels like having a brand-new number one hit. I’ve been thinking about what I want to do in the summer in festival season – obviously, the whole Jon Hamm thing is something we want to incorporate. 

"The most obvious thing to do would be to just reuse the video and the visuals around it, but we’re trying to come up with something a bit more clever, something extra…” he teases. “Just having a screen with a video of Jon Hamm would be almost too obvious.”

Headliner insists that he must bring out the Jon Hamm on stage. “Maybe he doesn't even know what's going on,” laughs Kato. “It would be so amazing if I could bring him out on stage somewhere. That’s really my number one dream – to meet him and somehow bring him on stage. I have a feeling he’s done a lot in his life, but I don’t think he’s ever been on a stage like the ones for electronic music, with that whole vibe and atmosphere. That could be a really cool thing to give him as a sort of thank-you for everything that’s happened with this song.”

The viral success of the track has opened up new opportunities for Kato, but he’s not tempted to simply regurgitate a bunch of copycat tracks. “I really love that this whole viral thing with the song has opened up new opportunities,” he says. “It would be so easy to try to make 50 new songs inspired by Turn the Lights Off, because it became a worldwide hit, but for me, it would feel wrong to chase something. 

"My brain’s a bit fried at the moment, but basically I’m trying not to do too much to milk Turn the Lights Off, because it’s still a song I made 15 years ago. The reason it went viral now is purely that someone was a genius and put it on a video, and I was lucky they chose my song. It could have been thousands of other songs that would have worked just as well.

“I’m an old-school guy, I just can’t not work,” he adds, moving on to new music he’s working on. “I’m always producing, always writing. I really hope that some of the things we’re working on and planning now actually happen, because then there’s a small chance I could do a song or two to follow this up. I’m trying not to put too much pressure on myself, because this is a special case – it’s not a new song, so the usual pressure of making a follow-up single to a hit doesn’t really apply. 

"Hopefully, this gives me a little head start in reaching people, and I hope I can build on that in some way, but it’s not going to change the way I sound. Every time I make a song, I’m trying to make a worldwide number one – that’s what I’ve been doing for 25 years.”

The track may be lighting up social feeds worldwide, but Kato hasn’t let the hype change his everyday life. “Everybody around me is like, ‘This is insane! It’s worldwide! You’re going to be a millionaire, move to Los Angeles!’ And I’m just still the same guy. I still have to vacuum my house,” he laughs. 

“Nothing’s really changed for me. I think it’s my way of coping, just reminding myself that it’s amazing, but it doesn’t define me or my career,” he considers.

“All the credit, in my opinion, should go to the guy who made the first video. I’ll be forever grateful to the person who chose my song and started this whole trend, because it’s life-changing, but I’m trying to keep in mind that it probably won’t change my life that drastically,” he shrugs good-naturedly.

Photos by Lasse Lagoni