Interview with Ferry Corsten

First question to the big man with big music and even bigger performances: How did Ferry Corsten become the Ferry Corsten?

Well I was born 37 years ago in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. I was always interested in EDM. Even when I was younger I was listening to a show in The Netherlands called The Soulshow. They played Soul and Disco but I was most fascinated by the electronic elements. When I grew up I started to produce music myself and had my first release when I was 16. Ever since that moment I’ve explored the world of electronic music in all genres and always tried to have an open mind. I had my big breakthrough moment when I started focusing on trance music. I always had a weak spot for the more melodic side of dance music. I think the rest speaks for itself as I am still around and 2010 was a great year for me.

Back to the deep roots of trance, you formed two groups with Tiësto, ‘Gouryella’ and ‘Vimana’. How were the two groups different from each other despite having the same members?

Tiësto and I had both a deal with a record label at that time. We decided to do Gouryella with mine and Vimana with his label. That’s it basically. No real difference to be honest ;-)

A true trance cult in all senses, "Beautiful" represents global harmony and the lyrics are forever etched in our minds too. How have audiences reacted to it, every time you dropped it on the floor?

It still is one of my personal favorites too. As you already said it’s the perfect combination between melody, harmony and those lyrics really do the job. Another less obvious thing in that track is the blend of emotional harmonies played with dirty and distorted sounds. Basically sweet and rough at the same time. Still gives me goose bumps to see the crowd sing along to this one.

Being a respectable figure in the industry and an experience for more than a decade, which artist do you think you’ve explored or discovered. What can you tell us about that artist?

I discovered Breakfast and Rafael Frost. US based Breakfast gave me a demo while I was playing in New York. His unique sound really grabbed me instantly. Dutchman Rafael Frost was discovered while we were setting up our label Flashover Recordings. We were looking for new talents and we’ve heard some of his demos. The most recent discovery is Russian talent Yuri Kane. He sent us his demo "Right Back" and I was totally blown away and knew that this had to be the opener of my ‘Once Upon A Night’ compilation.

Do you analyze the trance music scene critically? What is your take on the commercialization of trance, and DJs coming under such limelight?

I hear things from time to time, but I am more keen on doing my own thing. Trance and EDM are becoming more accepted and are not as underground anymore as they were. It’s a good thing because a lot of people don’t even know that they are listening to trance. For example the new Rihanna track "Only Girl In The World" has a big trance break. It basically is a full on electronic dance track. I’m not judging anybody for going commercial. Here’s the thing… you can choose to stay as cool and underground as you want or you can go as commercial as you want. It’s your choice. The one thing you can’t deny is that the ‘serious’ music media is finally (after 20 years) starting to realize that this music is here to stay and that it is to be taken seriously. Whether underground or commercial, you have to admit that that is a great thing for this genre…

You must be listening to 1000s of promos for your radio show, ‘Corsten’s Countdown’. What kind of tracks do you come across while searching for the great ones? Do producers also send you some non-trance genre tracks? Would be interesting to know!

I get sent a couple of gigabytes per week in promos. I can only play 10 tracks in the show so the selection process is heavy. I get a lot of different genres like tech house or house. I pick whatever I think is the best music at the moment. So it can vary from house to trance.

You’ve been spinning non-stop across the world. One question: where does all that energy to play mammoth sets come from?

Mostly from the crowd! Sometimes when I have delays at the airport I get annoyed but when I am behind the decks and feel the energy from the crowd, it’s all forgotten and I really enjoy performing.

Have you ever been proposed by a female fan while performing on stage?

I’ve had marriage proposals during in-store signings, meet and greets and on Facebook, but never during my set on stage. I’ve received a lot of other proposals as well, but I think now would be a good time to go to the next question. :)

It’s generally seen that a lot of highly successful DJs have delivered at least one classic, which people still respect in true terms. Why don’t we see such classics being produced anymore? How has the quality of music progressed over the years?

I think there’s a lot more music being produced than back in the days. Now all you need is a good PC or laptop and find some software and you can start producing. I had to buy all sorts of hardware. Because there’s so many tracks out there, the lifespan of a track is much shorter and music has almost become disposable. Everybody wants to hear new music and forget about the classics. Luckily I made some classics and these are still a sure thing in my sets.

You’ve played in India before, and this year end, you will be hitting the unique part of Asia once again to play in Sunburn 2010. What do you expect from the people here, and what can people expect in return?

I am really looking forward to play in Goa at Sunburn since I heard a lot of great things about it. Last time when I played in Bangalore, everyone was telling me about it. So, now it’s finally happening. I’ll be playing a lot of tracks from my compilation series ‘Once Upon A Night’ and of course the Corsten’s Classics and since I am busy working on my new album I might test some new tracks so keep your ears open. :)

Message for your fans.

I hope to see you all at Sunburn and if not there maybe somewhere else around the world. In the meantime keep following me at twitter.com/ferrycorsten or facebook.com/ferrycorsten. Don’t forget to check out my website too for all kinds of news and tour dates.
Thanks!
Ferry

For more info related to Ferry Corsten check out the following links:
www.ferrycorsten.com
www.twitter.com/FerryCorsten www.facebook.com/FerryCorsten
www.youtube.com/user/ferrycorstenofficial

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