Ferry Corsten
Ferry Corsten is talking, in a boat during the Amsterdam Dance Event, about his radio show and his productions.
Producer. DJ. Pioneer. Innovator. Visionary. Hea€™s the man that singlehandedly initiated a revolution in a dance musicgenre -one thata€™s long since touched everycorner of the globe. Having designed the Dutch trance sound, he propelled it into the clubbing consciousness and on further still into popular culture. From there he continues to innovate at every turn, working with vocalists as diverse as SimonLe Bon and Guru and has remixed music from some of the planeta€™s most enduring artists – U2, The Killers, Faithless, Moby and William Orbit among them. For 20 years hea€™s foreseen what club citizens want to dance to and as an artisan DJ/producer, delivered it. Hea€™s released three artist albums under his own name (with a fourth a€˜WKNDa€™ scheduled for February 2012)and in doing so has captured the hearts and minds of legions of fans and scooped some of the worlda€™s most prestigious music prizes along the way. Hea€™s regularly ranked as one of the top 10DJs in the world, and of late has turned to charitable activities, working with the World Wildlife Fund.Yet through all this hea€™s still one of the most down-to-earth, two-feet-on-the-floor DJs youa€™ll find. Hea€™s Ferry Corsten.
How It All Began: Corsten started his career performing self-composed music live in his native country Holland. His first studio music arrived in 1991 when he produced the embryonic rave track a€˜Spirit of Adventurea€™. In 1995, under the name Hole In One and aged just 21 years old, he won the prestigious De Grote Prijs van Nederland award, which recognized his outstanding contribution to Hollanda€™s electronic dance music scene.
Reinventing Trance: In the early 90s Ferrya€™s head was turned by the music streaming in from Germany. By 1996, with original trancesound beginning to contract, he set about creating a new, more accessible and ebullient principle for it. With a strong reception to his early tracks(Moonmana€™s a€˜Dona€™t Be Afraida€™ and Discodroids a€˜Interspacea€™ among them), he launched Tsunami Records in a€˜97 and a year later, under the alias System F, split the genrea€™s atom. A veritable EDM milestone, a€˜Out Of The Bluea€™ formed spear tip of Corstena€™s trance sound – one that was quickly galvanized by co-productions like Gouryellaa€™s a€˜Gouryellaa€™(with Tiësto) and Veracochaa€™s a€˜Carte Blanchea€™. Within 6 short months The Dutch Trance Sound(as it had become known) had seized control of Europea€™s dancefloors and national charts. Ferrya€™sremix of William Orbita€™s a€˜Barber’s Adagio For Stringsa€™ became a top 5 in the UK, where his achievements were reflected by Muzik Magazine who named him as Producer of the Year at their 1999 Ericsson Muzik awards.
Superstar Producer Becomes SuperstarDJ: Demand to see the man behind the music had quickly placed Corsten behind turntables. He fast established a reputation for impassioned floor-igniting sets, which engaged and delighted an ever-expanding group of fans. From smashing the earliest trance scene events (inc. Innercity,Trance Energy and Dance Valley), therea€™s now not a metropolis on Earth that Corstena€™s not rocked and re-rocked. He entered DJ Magazinea€™s Top 100 poll in the first year of voting and, as of 2011 has enjoyed an incredible unbroken 12-year run in the chart.He won Best Trance DJ at both the 2005 and 2007 Ibiza Awards and in the same year was named DJ of the Year by Dutch national radio station Slam!FM.
Right Of Way to L.E.F. In 2002, with the euphoric sound hea€™d engineered continuing to hold sway over dance airwaves, Corsten refused to play safe. Having changed the face of trance once,he ripped up his own rulebook and set out to do it again. Evolving it at speed, 2002 saw the release of a€˜Punka€™ and the following year a€˜Rock Your Body, Rocka€™ (tracks which for the first time spliced an electro gene intotrance). Both exploded, with the latter hitting #11 in the UK national chart and were featured on his 2004 debutalbum, a€˜Right Of Waya€™. That was followed by a€˜L.E.F.a€™ in 2006 and (delivering on its a€˜Loud Electronic Ferociousa€™ mandate) it saw Ferry begin to integrate some of his own earliest musical influences back into his music. Released on his new Flashover label, Corsten drafted 80s legends like Simon Le Bon, Howard Jones and Gangstarr founder, Guru into collaborate on the album, balancing them with trancier material like a€˜Galaxiaa€™ and floor-smash a€˜Beautifula€™.
Corstena€™s Countdown: Midway through 2007 Ferry launched Corstena€™s Countdown, his radio show platform. Each week, for the last five years, listeners have ranked the 10 tracks Ferry plays via the showa€™s website and his Facebook Fan Page. This in turn has created the most interactive radio show in the world, with its listeners determining a chart of the showa€™s music. To celebrate its 150th episode Ferry introduced the world to the Cue Play App, a mobile digital DJ application, which was pre-loaded with tracks from his Flashover label. Corstena€™s Countdown is now aired in over 50 countries.
Flashover Recordings and Premier Recordings: In 2005, after 8 years at the helm, Ferry left Tsunami Recordings to launch a new label enterprise, Flashover Recordings. In addition to becoming his new musical base, ita€™s fostered new talent, signing the likes of Rafaël Frost, Arty, Tritonal, Yuri Kane and many more to its roster. Its releases proved such a hit with fans that it quickly spun off the imprints Flashover Progressive, Flashover Tech, Levare Recordings, Flashover Chill Out and Flashback (which houses Ferry’s complete backcatalogue and also includes previously unreleased material). Expanding his label portfolio further, he launched Premier, a joint-venture label with Black Hole Recordings in 2010. Established as a platform for crossover dance music, Premier has subsequently released music from artists including Betsie Larkin, Chris Lake, Robbie Rivera, Radio Killer and Kris Menace.
Full On Ferry: Embarking ona new show concept In October of 2007, Full On Ferry saw him lynchpin the arena-sized events, handpicking other DJs for unique back-to-back sets. Notably, at the first two events, Ferry wowed the audience in his home city of Rotterdam by DJing whilst suspended above the crowd in a a€˜floatinga€™ booth. Full On Ferry: Ibiza saw him embark on a season-long White Isle takeover at the newly opened Sankeys club in 2011. The end of that year saw him bring the show to Brixtona€™s O2 Academy in London on New Years Eve for the first UK edition of the event. Various Full on Ferry events have already been scheduled for 2012.
Once Upon A Night / Twice In A Blue Moon: Ferrya€™s 3rd album under his own name was heralded by the single a€˜Radio Crasha€™ and was unveiled to fans at 2008a€™s Full On Ferry event at the Ahoy in Rotterdam. a€˜Twice In A Blue Moona€™ carried the club hits a€˜We Belonga€™, the Betsie Larkin