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He’s been in Japan with fans who danced like crazy though they couldn’t manage to hit the beat; He’s been to LA where girls were flashing it all out in front of the DJ’s booth. After all these amazing experiences, does Ferry Corsten miss us HKClubbers? Well, if he doesn’t, he wouldn’t have came back!
F: Ferry Corsten A: Alyson for HKClubbing.com A: Welcome back to Hong Kong! F: Thank you. A: So how are you doing? F: Very good! A: Great! When did you arrive? F: Yesterday, yesterday morning. A: So you’re feeling ok? F: Yeah, it’s great! Yeah! It’s gonna be a very short visit though. It’s just two days, but it’s worth it, definitely. A: You’ve been to Hong Kong before, yeah? F: Yeah, about 3 years ago. Which is just way too long. A: Did you see anything different? F: Not really… I haven’t been out too much to see differences really, I’ll have to go out a bit more tonight. So far it’s been fun. A: More questions about the event. What has been like spinning for such series of Heineken events? F: It’s great! It’s just the whole set up of things, the whole idea behind it, especially the Found@Thirst event, it’s basically to inspire multi-face, local talent around the world, and it’s basically a contest where DJs can participate in. But not only DJs also people who have a bit ambition than that, maybe do live performances and stuff. To see that all around the world, and see the impact that it has, it’s really really good. A: So tonight’s gonna be the big event, what kind of a crowd are you expecting? F: I don’t know, I’ve heard a couple of really good things about Hong Kong, it’s quite an enthusiastic crowd. My music is usually a bit more uplifting, a bit more up-tempo, so I hope to see that tonight! A: Being the best and the freshest in the world of Heineken music, as a part of it, any hint for us for exactly what you will be playing? Let’s say any classics of your own? F: I wasn’t really sure what to play yet, but after the Found@Thirst event last night, I spoke to a couple of people on this, and they said, “Oh, you have to play some of your classics!” So I will play a very energetic uplifting set, and here and there, I may drop in one of the classics. I’ll see.
A: Excellent! Congratulations for being in, once again, the list of DJ Mag’s World’s Top 100 DJs, and you’re in the Top 10, also being nominated for this year’s DJ Awards. F: Thank you! That’s very good. All those award things, it’s always really nice to be recognized. And it’s just great that people see what you’re actually trying to put into it. The effort that you put into it, it comes out in a way that people appreciate it, so it’s always good, it’s a good feeling. A: A lot of people that got so used to awards, they kinda get numb. F: Yeah, but it’s not something that you should get numb about, in the end, that’s something you work for. It’s not only the recognition where you go into a club, and people say, “Hey, you’re the guy!” or whatever, it’s just the whole thing, that’s your goal, really. A: We’ve got a question from one of your keen fans, he asked what would your new mix CD be like, since it’s called ‘Euphoria’. Would it be more toward the trancey side or more of the electro-techy new Ferry style? F: It’s basically none of them. It’s the infinite ‘Euphoria’ that I’ve done is a mix between a DJ album, and a produced mixed album. So basically, I’m mixing the more atmospheric, trancey tunes, into proper classical tunes, classical music, or film scores, so it’s not just like a trendy record, just boom boom boom, you have a couple of records that’s really a DJ mix, and all of a sudden you go into, for example, William Orbit, Barber's Adagio For Strings, which is a classical piece of music, but then the original version, or theme from ‘Blade Runner’ from the famous science fiction movie, from the 80’s. It’s a concept that never been done before, and in general, it leads more towards the sweet trancey stuff. So see what I’m gonna bring you! A: More questions about your productions. You’ve done so many remixes for so many different artists, even Asian artists like Ayumi Hamasaki. How did the Asian music affect you? F: I don’t know, I don’t think that much really. I know, especially in Japan, they’re very big on the very uplifting melody, high energy and stuff. So maybe in that aspect, my music has become more high energy, especially for stuff that I did for Ayumi Hamasaki. Has that hands-in-the-air, uplifting feel to it. But other than that, my music has always been very melodic. A: You also collaborate with the best, like you actually worked with Tiesto to create Gouryella, many many more. Do you find it harder to work with another brain? F: No, not really. It’s refreshing, because I’m always in the studio alone, so whatever I do, it comes from this head only. Sometimes it’s really good to just kinda let it be some other input from someone else, who sees things totally different. When and Tijs I started working, he was more of a DJ really, but then he started producing his stuff now. And I was really the producer, but I’m also Djing now… but back in those days, he saw things from a DJ’s point of view, and I saw things from a producer’s point of view. That’s great to, a good voice really. A: More on your own music achievement now. I have to ask this, ‘Rock Your Body Rock’, just blew up in a world-wide basis, and for the whole music scene. Did you see this huge success coming? F: I was actually scared of it. I’ve always been pointed down as a trance DJ producer, and I made this step to the side already, with ‘Punk’. And people went like, “Hm, ok, didn’t expect that”. And then ‘Rock Your Body Rock’ was like the next two steps along that path, which is more electro-pop really. When I release it, I was sitting in the corner, with my fingers in my ears, waiting for the bomb to explode, see if I would survive… but the response was great! In the real trance scene, at the beginning, everyone was like, “Hm, what’s he doing?” But then other times, when people got used to the record, the response was amazing, everyone in the world just grew love really. It’s great! Opened a lot of doors for me, because it’s a different style, and people accepted that I’m also producing that kind of music now. So for me, I can now produce trance, I can producer the more electro stuff, I can produce techno, whatever I want! So it’s a lot better for me. A: It looks better on your CV, but does it give you more pressure when now you’re creating something new? F: A little bit, because a lot of people said that ‘Rock Your Body Rock’ was kind of a refreshing record again, with the whole rock scene coming on, and the dance scene, not going down, but getting less attention. A lot of people see that ‘Rock Your Body Rock’ was like a combination of the new rock sound and dance. So basically they’re saying it’s kind of a new thing. So my pressure for the next one is like, “Ok, do I have to make something which is refreshing again? Or do I constantly have to re-invent myself now?” I don’t know, it’s hard, I just produce whatever I feel like, and I’ll see. A: Tell us about the plans for the rest of 2004. F: That’s very easy, that’s just really really touring and playing, I’m gonna be doing South American tour, American tour, Canada tour, Australian tour, and then I have dates in-between in Europe, so it’s gonna be tough. Very busy. A: Before we let you go, final words for the clubbers in Hong Kong? F: I hope to see everyone tonight, that’s gonna be a blast. And I really hope to be back here sooner than three years. |