“ I think with dance music, its more about the Music than the lyrics in a lot of cases, and melodies and grooves you know, they go cross boundaries, cross religion, cross race, cross any other thing out there.Doesn’t matter where you come from, how you feel, what you do, whatever!
A powerhouse in electronic dance music, know to many as System F, Corsten begun producing edm in his mid-teens. By 1999, at the age of 27, the Rotterdam native had scored a top 20 hit on the UK charts with ‘Out of the Blue’. Since then, Corsten has easily evolved and matured into one of the most successful producer/DJs of his genre: He’s steadily ranked on the top 10 spots of DJ Mag’s Top 100 poll, nabbed over ten gold singles on charts around the globe; and played at many of the most prestigious dance clubs and festivals worldwide.
Corsten’s discography and collaborations include artists such as U2, Tiësto, Armand van Helden, The Killers, Moby, Faithless, BT, Nelly Furtado, Shiny Toy Guns, Armin van Buuren and Public Enemy. If you ask me which artists truly hold my loyalty, Ferry Corsten is one of the few. Which is why I was so excited to interview him for EDM magazine.
EDM: Hello, Ferry! We thank you for taking the time to chat with EDM and your fans. With such a busy tour, how do you keep that energy going?
FERRY CORSTEN: I don’t know…for me it’s not something like, “oh God! I have to keep it going!” It’s a natural thing. What I’m doing right now, I don’t see as work. It started as a hobby, and it’s still sort of like a glorified hobby right now. That’s the way I look at it. No matter how long I’m touring or how hard my schedule is, every day I get up and “Ahhh!” I want to do it again.
EDM: That’s what’s important, you’ve got to do what you love.
FERRY CORSTEN: Yeah! It’s sort of a natural adrenaline, you know? Whether I’m traveling to another city because I’m going to be playing there, or its another day in the studio…it’s just a happy day, every day for me!
EDM: Awesome! And we can definitely tell from your music that you put a lot of heart and energy into it!
FERRY CORSTEN: Yeah! For sure.
EDM: With your tracks, almost every artist played Made of Love! What was the inspiration behind that track?
FERRY CORSTEN: That track was originally an instrumental and I really wanted to come up with one of those good old massive teary-eyed trance melodies. Then I meet Betsie Larkin in New York, and we were talking about music and stuff, so we decided to sit down and write on it together.
I said: “Hey, I have this track, it’s a very intense melody, it’s very emotional. This is what I’m going through right now in my life, with my wife being pregnant and me becoming a father.” Basically she came up with the most amazing lyrics, sort of polished the melody here and there to really make it fit the melody right off the track, and it just blended like that!
I think it’s definitely one of those tracks, it’s a trance track with an old school sort of vibe to it. But you know, produced nowadays. Secretly, a lot of people still want to hear that kind of sound, and this is definitely a track that cages through that need
EDM: Definitely, I think it’s a unanimous vote, it’s an excellent track!
FERRY CORSTEN: Thank you!
EDM: So far this year, we know you’ve been all over the place. What has been your favorite place to play?
FERRY CORSTEN: How do you define favorite!? Favorite for the crowd…I’ll say it’s unbeatable: Argentina for me. Buenos Aires. When I played there, I don’t know, those people they really love the music.
EDM: There is a lot of energy behind them.
FERRY CORSTEN: Yeah! They are so much passionate. Like I said, the energy, they sit on each other’s shoulders, they hold these big banners, they are wearing their soccer jerseys… it’s just an incredible atmosphere. One of the most amazing places where I’ve played, city-wise, was in Jordan in the middle of the desert. The sand was all red, and the rocks around me were forming a natural amphitheater. At night they put lights on the boulders and cages. It looked like playing on Mars.
EDM: Cool! Sounds like they played off the natural scenery. It’s cool to have that balance.
FERRY CORSTEN: Yeah! It was amazing.
EDM: You’ve played everywhere. Is there any place in the world you want to play that you still that you haven’t played!?
FERRY CORSTEN: Yeah! I’ve played in most places in Latin America, but for some reason I’ve never played in Uruguay. So that’s really a place I’d love to go to. I’m always on the other side of world, you know, Argentina and Brazil.
EDM: What draws you to Uruguay?
FERRY CORSTEN: ‘Cause the stories I hear of that place. Apparently it is a really good party place.
EDM: Out of all the music genres it seems dance music has the most universal vibe. Why do you think that is?
FERRY CORSTEN: I think with dance music, its more about the music than the lyrics in a lot of cases, and melodies and grooves, you know. They go cross boundaries, cross religion, cross race, cross any other thing out there. Doesn’t matter where you come from, how you feel, what you do, whatever! That doesn’t matter. As soon as there are lyrics to the music, it narrows it down already. People don’t speak English, they won’t understand. Or if the song is in Spanish, and you don’t speak Spanish. You narrow it down already. Melody is a universal language. And you can fill in your own words. That is why I think it’s such a big thing. Yeah!
EDM: Definitely, so out of everything you are playing right now – which we are sure is a vast array, since you have like 15 million aliases – what is your favorite thing to play right now?
FERRY CORSTEN: It’s hard, there are so many. But, if I had to pick one out right now, apart from Made of Love, it’s definitely Radio Crash. Because that track just announces itself when I mix it in, in such a ferocious sort of way that there is no escape. And the whole crowd goes (swings arm). I love that sort of power that comes with the track. It’s a fun track for me to play, always.
EDM: I’ve got to say, I was on your website and I read that Radio Crash played just before the announcement of your daughter being born. Is that right? It was on the bulletin board, I’m not sure if it was accurate.
FERRY CORSTEN: It was played where?
EDM: It was played on a radio station. Somebody said, “oh my God,
I just heard Radio Crash and I heard that Ferry had a baby!”
FERRY CORSTEN: I don’t know, maybe. Would’ve been cool though!
EDM: We thought maybe might have been intentional – that everybody is listening to such an awesome track and then all of the sudden such amazing news comes through.
FERRY CORSTEN: Not that I’m aware of.
EDM: So with all the traveling you do, what do you listen to?
FERRY CORSTEN: I listen to everything that is away from a 4 / 4 beat or from Hip Hop, away from that. Usually I like to listen to anything that you can classify chill out. Even some jazz sometimes, even some classical music.
EDM: Something to kind of unwind from the…
FERRY CORSTEN: Yeah! From my day to day “boom, boom, boom!” you know. I just want to get away from it and listen to completely different stuff. It also opens your mind again for new ideas. If you only listen to one type of music you just sort of get settled in, and its not very inspiring anymore. So I try to listen to other stuff. For example, if I listen to a rock record and I hear some drum fill that the drummer is using, it’s like, “hey that’s great! I’m going to use that on my next record.”
EDM: It definitely shows in your music and there is a lot of diversity. People generally try to smash it down into trance DJ.
FERRY CORSTEN: Right!
EDM: There are definitely a lot of different musical inspirations we can hear in your music, and it definitely sets you apart from a lot of other DJ’s or producers.
FERRY CORSTEN: Yeah. I like to look around. It goes for everything in life, I guess.
EDM: 100%. So… talking to other artists, a lot of other artists – and we can see it in just talking with you – a lot of other artist say you are very down to earth. You are very humble, and despite all of your success you are not one of those artists that’s like, you know, you are done and “I’m out of here!” You are a very cool person to hang around!
FERRY CORSTEN: Right, Right!
EDM: What’s helped you over the years, to keep your feet on the ground? Just stay so humble and not let the glitz and glam get to you?
FERRY CORSTEN: I don’t know. Maybe the fact that I hate people who are like that! So, if I ever become like that, please pull me down! Give me a slap in the face, because I really don’t like it if people are acting like that to me. I’m like: “Ok! I’m done already with you now!” No time for that stuff. My parents always thought me to treat people the same way as you would like to be treated yourself. And that’s it. Sometimes there is no escape from having to be a little bit firmer, you know after like, signing autographs and it’s really time to go, then you just have to walk off stage!
EDM: Exactly! You only have time to give so much!
FERRY CORSTEN: Yeah! But, you know, in general, I appreciate everybody that comes out to my show. I know that some people even drive for hours. So, I like to be approachable and as nice as I can.
EDM: We appreciate the music you play, and I know your fans are very appreciative. It shows. I mean, if anybody has seen a live video of Ferry playing, it’s an outstanding performance. You have the whole front row trying to jump over the fence, like they just want to be on your lap while you’re playing. The energy is there and I think that people can kind of sense that! With your attitude and the way you are.
EDM: Here is the million dollar question. If Ferry Corsten was not a musical artist, what would you be doing right now?
FERRY CORSTEN: I actually studied to become an Electrical Engineer; designer of electrical systems.
EDM: Really?
FERRY CORSTEN: Yeah! That’s what I did. Studying but, during my days of school, music was already taking over. It was sort of like a hobby out of control, and luckily it stayed that way. But, that would have been it!
EDM: What would the world be like without FC!?
FERRY CORSTEN: Ha ha ha!
EDM: The trance world would be a much lonelier place without your music and melodies, sir. How does the scene in Southern California compare to the rest of the world?
FERRY CORSTEN: If I really can compare it to the rest of the U.S., I think California is a country in its own when it comes to that music, seriously. There is an amazing scene, but also there is so much room for big events here, which is not really the case in other parts of this country. Compared to the world, I think it’s almost like up there where you would put Ibiza. The vibe! People are really going mental here. There are other places like Ireland, Scotland, England, Germany, that are similar, but I always feel when I come over here the people are really, really, charged! They are ready to unleash, whatever! It’s always happy days up here.
EDM: That’s good. With all the quality productions you put out, the people hear the music. The anticipation built up, and finally you are here. It’s just a smack in the face for them. They like to see you play. With all these good productions, has your inspiration ever run dry?
FERRY CORSTEN: I had a moment there for a while, yeah! I think every artist has that at some point. Maybe not really that I lack inspiration. It’s more like a lack of direction! Like, “where am I going to go?” After a couple of years of making pure trance, I went with the more electro sound, just to experiment and mix it with trance to see what comes out! And after a while it was like, “OK I’ve done this and just want to move again to something else.” But, in between periods, it’s like “ah! I don’t know, I want to make a trance record but I also want to make an electro record, and maybe I want to make a techno record!” Sort of like stuck in the middle.
EDM: So, what helps you get that direction back?
FERRY CORSTEN: I think it’s just really a switch. I think a really good example is when I made ‘Rock Your Body Rock.’ That record was definitely one of those lows. I didn’t know where to go. I came out of trance stuff and I was done with it. I was so set in my ways in the studio: start with a melody, then do this, how I did it before! I was like: “OK, No! Switch! Everything! I’m going to go completely against my nature!” And then, a track like that comes out. Sometimes that’s the way to do it.
EDM: In Southern California, being part of this culture, we noticed ‘Rock Your Body Rock,’ was like, played by every DJ. You’d hear it four times a night. And people wouldn’t be like – the fourth time they heard it, they weren’t like, “Dude! Will somebody tell this guy that, this has been played.” They are just as energetic about it as the first time. That shows the true musical diversity and the ability to switch it up.
FERRY CORSTEN: You know, it’s all about getting that momentum! That’s the nice thing when you are in the studio, and you get that idea and go for it! You tell yourself, this stuff needs to be done in a couple of hours; by the end of the day I want this to be done at least 85 percent. And then you really capture the moment, you capture all the energy that you feel in the right moment, and then boom! It’s sort of translated to what you hear in the record.
EDM: Well, that is definitely a phenomenal track. And every switch in genre is a phenomenal outcome for you, congratulations on that.
FERRY CORSTEN: Thank you!
EDM: What’s the toughest part of touring?
FERRY CORSTEN: I have a beautiful daughter who is two years old. Now, she understands that I am on the plane when I am not at home, but I do miss her, especially when I am away for a couple of weeks.
EDM: What is your favorite aspect of the road?
FERRY CORSTEN: Meeting new people and seeing a lot of this world. I was in Abu Dhabi a couple of weeks ago. We got invited to the paddock of the Lotus Formula One team! That’s one of the nice things.
EDM: Recall, if you can, your very first tour. What can you tell me about it? Was it tough making it on the road as a new artist?
FERRY CORSTEN: My first gig was in Norway in 1999, I believe. It was during the days of my hit as System F with “Out Of The Blue.” That’s when it all started! From there on, it has been a rollercoaster ride. I’ve been touring since then.
EDM: What’s your typical setup when performing? What gear do you use on-stage?
FERRY CORSTEN: I use three Pioneer CDJ-1000s or 2000s and a Pioneer DJM-800 mixer, and of course, my headphones and CDs.
EDM: What’s the one piece of gear you couldn’t live without?
FERRY CORSTEN: It would be my Blackberry and my Mac Book Pro. I can synchronize my laptop with my studio at the office. So I can produce music on the road now. It’s also good to know what’s going on at the office!
EDM: What’s your process for performing? Do you approach it with an air of improvisation, or do you have a set list prepared?
FERRY CORSTEN: It all depends on the crowd. I actually spend a lot of time preparing for each gig. I always think of what fans from each city and country would like, and what would work with the music I have. I do have the “Corsten’s Classics” I play, but all other music is not in a typical set list. I want to give the audience a great night and tell a story with my music.
EDM: Thank you very much on behalf of EDM Magazine, Thank you very much Ferry.
FERRY CORSTEN: Definitely! Thank you having me! Take care!
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