We Were There Again! Video interviews at Tomorrowland 2011. The absolute festival of the summer that attracts thousands of visitors from all over the world had great success and gave the opportunity to 180.000 festival goers to sense its unique and outstanding atmosphere that words with difficulty can describe and sometimes even videos from the festival cannot fully represents it’s amazing natural scenery, the decoration, the lighting and laser effects and most importantly the passion and the endless amount of energy that Tomorrowland crowd has and become for many djs the best audience ever to perform. From Tiesto,David Guetta, Swedish House Mafia, Martin Solveig, Sven Vath, Fedde Le Grand,Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike to Paul van Dyk and the trance master Ferry Corsten all the djs had the best to say in their interviews about how enthusiastic the Tomorrowland audience was and most importantly how prepared this crowd is to Have Good Time.
On Friday 22nd of July after his explosive extended performance at the Trance Addict stage at Tomorrowland we met at the backstage with the super star of the worldwide trance scene Ferry Corsten to record the interview that you can enjoy right here. If there’s one thing a superstar DJ will learn after years racking up frequent flyer miles and playing for thousands of fans, it’s that they are only as prominent as their last album tour. Award‐winning Ferry Corsten, someone who can easily be referred to as the DJ’s DJ, has taken this advice to heart and emerged as one of the most prominent Dutch jocks in the world. Through constant touring , fan outreach, a weekly radioshow and podcast and an abundance of self‐produced dance hits, he has managed to captivate the imagination of dance music fans around the world.
Ferry Corsten — who was named Best Producer of the Year by the Ericsson Music Awards and Best Trance DJ by the Ibiza DJ Awards, and consistently ranked as one of the top 10 DJs in the world— is best known for his creativity as a music producer and his unique up‐tempo, big‐room trance and house sound. His performances as a DJ never fails fans to keep coming back and wanting more. It is a chest‐pounding sum of the electronic music influences he turned to, going as far back as the age of nine when he started collecting records.
In 2010 Ferry introduced the unforgettable “Once Upon a Night” compilation series, which became his vehicle for touring, sharing upfront music, and shining the spotlight on bright new talent. It was the first time in several years that Ferry had taken on a compilation project. But the timing was perfect, since world touring gave him an insider glimpse to the music emerging from different parts of the world.
While Ferry’s “Once Upon a Night” concept has taken the world by storm, it also served as an impetus to starting Premier Recordings. His latest project is a joint venture between his own label, Flashover Recordings and Black Hole Recordings. “We’re still both our own platform and label, but we came up with Premier together,” he explains. Whenever they find a big record, the two companies join forces for an extra large release.
Ferry Corsten fans can also look forward to his upcoming artist album, which will present his always‐cutting edge take on electronic music. For now, the details are strictly confidential, but Ferry assures us that he’s fully committed to conjuring the right hook lines and melodies while bringing about some exciting collaborations. “It’s definitely going to be an album that you can classify as trance, but it’s way more groovy and way more danceable,” he sums.
With a massive following on Facebook and Twitter and almost 10 million you tube views, Ferry has also become an ambassador for dance music as social media resource. “It’s the only way you can directly connect with your fans without them having to wait for anything,” he states. Just as he is into his equipment in the studio, Ferry fans can have all the coolest apps and gadgets to keep in touch with him wherever he is! At www.FerryCorsten.com they can download official Blackberry, Android, iPhone and iPad apps. He is also a co‐promoter of the entertainment applications Pulse Game (tap game) and the Cue. Play.DJ , (an iphone/ipad DJ Mixer).
Corsten’s Countdown is Ferry’s interactive radio show, which he launched in 2007 and is currently available in over 35 countries nationwide such as Digitally Imported (DI.fm), Sirius XM Radio and 27 leading radio stations in The Netherlands, Brazil, UK, Australia, Argentina and the Philippines, to name a few. You can vote for your favourite track of the month on his Facebook fanpage. The show is also downloadable as a podcast on itunes.
By constantly traveling around the world, Ferry has been exposed to some of the wasteful practices going on, at the expense of animals and the environment. “When I go to the more tropical countries in the world such as the Philippines,” he elaborates, “where I see all the dynamite fishing and how coral reefs are deteriorating before my eyes.” As an ambassador for the Dutch World Wildlife Fund team, he is leveraging the exposure his events afford him to raise awareness about the WWF. “I pass on the earth because every generation has the right to enjoy its beauty — just as I am doing, and the previous generations have done." As music makes the world go round, so does sending out a powerful message to help save our planet.
When you meet such an interesting personality it’s always great pleasure to have an interview with him. What I really like about Ferry Corsten is that he is down to earth and he loves to interacts with professionals like journalists but also with this Power that is of course his worldwide fan base. We manage to record this interview at the backstage of the TranceAddict stage were he manage to put a real fire on the dancefloor and make them all go PUNK. We asked him about his set at Tomorrowland and juicy details about his forthcoming album and the first singles Feel It and Check It Out. Unfortunately not much allows to give away but you can take a taste. We enquire about his Full on Ferry Ibiza events and the mixed compilation with the same title. We talk of course about his collaboration with Betsie Larkin and his encouragement to her to record a full artist album that is out now on Premier that is joint venture of Black Hole/Flashover recordings. Its definitely worth to Check It Out and Feel IT!
Interview was conducted and edited by Dimitri Kechagias
Camera & Sound Engineering: Paul Aldridge - 1mix radio www.1mix.co.uk
Many thanks to Debby Wilmsen, ID&T Belgium and Getinpr for giving us press accreditation to attend this fantastic once in a lifetime experience.
Many thanks to Jordy at Flashover offices for this amazing support to organize this interview .
Look out for Ferry at a nightclub, festival arena or large‐scale venue near you. For more information please visit www.ferrycorsten.com. Physical copies of his CDs and all sorts of merchandise can be purchased at the Ferry Corsten Shop. The album is also available as download at iTunes.
