The Dutch Demigod: Returning To Put Melbourne Under His Trance
It seems the more things change, the more they stay the same. I don’t know for how long, but Ferry Corsten remains one of the finest proponents of trance the world has known. And in 2011, very little has changed. He is still the affable and polite Dutchman; he is still adored by fans the world over; his productions continue to push boundaries and create new direction – and his DJ sets are often the stuff of legend.
"I guess I have changed things up a little on the music front" says Ferry in opening – just as I catch my breath. "At the moment I can start my sets at 128BPM and really build the set. I am doing longer sets now too; three hour sets are what I’ve been doing a lot last year – I have the time to take the crowd on a musical journey. I play whatever fits in my sets. This was not the case five years ago. So the music is changing but as long as I can fit it in my sets, I’ll play it if I like it. The same goes for the Once Upon A Night Volume 1 and 2 compilations. They were setup in exactly the same way."
Indeed, the trance underpinning is what has made Ferry famous – and I would guess that if something isn’t broke, then why fix it? And he agrees, "My main influence will always be trance; but nowadays DJ’s like Swedish House Mafia use trance chords for their melodies so it ‘s a fusion of different styles of EDM. I can also produce any kinds of music really, which is nice to do. I’ve always been experimental with my sound and the same goes for the forthcoming artist album, which I’m pretty busy with right now. I’m hoping my new album will be released later this year. I’ve been working really hard on it and it’s been exciting! We’ve sent some demo’s around to see if we can get some interesting collaborations for this album. Keep your ears open in Australia. Maybe I’ll test some of my new tracks that I am working on now!"
"Of course for me, releasing an artist album is always exciting. With Twice In A Blue Moon I went back to my trance roots foremost. When I was promoting the album, it was great to hear my fans sing along to the tunes at my shows. It would always give me goose bumps!
Musically, I see a lot of changes and genres blurring. A lot of house DJs and pop artists are using trance riffs in their releases so that’s a good thing. It gives us a bigger market for the music too. The downside of it is that you don’t need a whole studio with hardware anymore to produce music."
"I also have the idea that some labels are buying their own releases to get the tracks in the charts. This is a bad thing for my label and for other labels too. With regards to technology the illegal downloading of music really causes damage to the scene. I don’t think that people realize that labels have people working that need to be paid too to keep everything running."
But this is all in a day’s work for Ferry. "I am essentially a producer and I can have just as much fun when I am in the studio making new tunes or at a large festival playing for thousands of fans or playing to a smaller public at a club. All these experiences motivate me to keep doing my job! I guess it was like a ying yang. It helped me promote my shows and at the same time, inspired me to make my compilations series that I released that year."
Then there is also his Flashover imprint too – which continues to do exciting things. "The label is doing pretty well. 2010 was a good year for us and I’ll be releasing new tracks on Flashover pretty soon. And we’ve got a lot of other exciting projects coming on. Our Aleph Recordings label has exploded last year with signing of Arty, Yuri Kane and other talents. For us, the philosophy is the same as it always was: we need to release quality music. This will never change and we won’t be releasing music which we don’t believe in!"
"I also released the two compilations; the first of the series was launched in March and the reactions were so good so we did another one in October. I’ve also been touring the globe the whole year supporting it, so it was hectic but very good! Lowlights? I know I’m lucky to have a ‘job’ that I truly enjoy, but many people don’t realize how difficult and tiring this job really is. For example, there had been a lot of problems last summer in a lot of airports in Europe due to strikes, which caused a lot of problems and sometimes cancellations on my summer schedule. One of the longest and most horrible flight reroutings I had was when I started my U.S tour this summer. The French were on strike for the 3rd time this summer and because of that, I missed all my connections. I ended up travelling for 32 hours and than having to play a four hour set right after I arrived. After the show, I only had three hours sleep because I had to start travelling to the next show – that experience was really tough!"
You can bet he gave it his all though – and the punters went home happy. Yet that doesn’t mean trance is his only love – perhaps his greatest, but not the only. "I’ve just became a member of the World team for the Dutch WWF (World Wildlife Fund)" says Ferry. "I’ll be working on some campaigns for them to help them promote the campaign ‘Pass on the Earth.’" Kind of self-explanatory – and it reinforces just why Ferry has a reputation for being one of the most pleasant and good-natured DJs on the planet.
Finally, Ferry gives us a bit of a snapshot of his forthcoming tour: "This time I am doing a club show. This means I play three hours sets so as I mentioned, I have a lot more time to really take the crowd on a musical journey with me leading the way. I can play new stuff and also have time for the Corsten classics like Out Of The Blue, Made of Love and tracks from Once Upon A Night Volume 1 and 2! I feel really at home in Australia so I can’t wait to see all of you!"
Ferry Corsten [NED] plays the Palace Theatre on Friday February 11. Hit latest compilation Once Upon A Night Volume 2 is available now.
