In the strobe-soaked underground world of the trance mafioso, FERRY CORSTEN would surely be acknowledged as the Don Vito Corleone of rave. He discusses his journey with me, from teenage prodigy to ‘made man’ from his secret headquarters somewhere in the Netherlands.
“I remember how easy it was back then,” he reminisces, slowly stroking a purring Birman in his lap. “Nowadays it’s all about perfection. When I was younger I would just lay down a melody, a couple of samples and the possibilities were endless, you know? Now I am driven by perfection, so it takes a lot longer to be happy with my music.”
Perfection is not far from gospel in Ferry’s clubbing cosmos, with genre-defining releases like Carte Blanche by Veracocha, Out of the Blue by System F and Gouryella by Gouryella all uncovered as Corsten pseudonyms.
“I get a lot of the emotion for my music from things like film scores and classical music,” he reveals. “They have lots of drama, things that give you that deep feeling. It is very important to find the right balance, the right sound and the right groove so that you get the full effect from the music. It’s also great to be a DJ who is also a producer because I can test my stuff a lot quicker from the studio to the club. It’s so good to see a reaction from people for the first time.”
Every scene has a big three, and in relation to trance they are surely Tiesto, Armin Van Buuren and Ferry Corsten. Amazingly, like superhero triplets, they all grew up in the same area of Holland, where their jovial horseplay evolved from ‘who can eat the most pancakes’ to ‘who can dominate the international dance scene.’
“I have been in the top ten [in the coveted DJ Mag top 100 poll] for the last eight years and it’s great recognition for sure! I just try and do my best and always maintain the quality in what I do. With those other guys, we are all from the same part of the country and I guess we always try and outdo one another but I think they have done a lot better to market themselves than me!” he laughs.
Some say that the affirmation of superstardom is marginally easier to accomplish than its continuance, a point that Ferry attributes to diversity. “Because I have a really wide taste in music,” he answers, “I love everything from hardstyle to deep underground techno. Even when [System F release] Soul on Soul came out, we reintroduced the old electro sound into our music – it’s about infusion, different styles coming together to create something new and exciting. I guess I always like to add things from all kinds of places to the soup and then just see how it tastes. I’m sure it will be enough to satisfy the appetite of Australian audiences.”
Ferry Corsten will play at the Warehouse Festival, held at AIS Arena on Saturday May 1. Tickets through Ticketek, Landspeed Records and Parliament Clothing.
