uberlife Real Champions series: Hanging out with Ferry Corsten
uberlife’s Real World Champions series continues this week with a chat with Ferry Corsten, the world famous Dutch DJ, producer, remixer and trance music hero.
Matt:
WKND is your fourth full-length studio album. What was your goal for the album when you went into the studio to work on it?
Ferry:
Well I wanted to make an album that you can listen to everywhere, at home, as your pre-party before going out, in the car, at the office. But I also wanted to be able to play each individual track as a DJ so it needed to be suitable for the dance floors as well. So that’s why the album has ended up with a nice range of tracks, from more laid back listening tracks, all the way to full on dance floor fillers. The album also ranges from house tracks to that really trancey sound that people know me for. Having said that even the house tracks have a very, hands in the air, melodic feel to them.
Matt:
Cool, and did you record these tracks with the intention of them being on one cohesive album, or were these individual tracks you’d written and “kept on the shelf” over many years?
Ferry:
This album was made over the time span of about 1-1.5 years and I really aimed to create an album that does sound cohesive. If you listen to the album and the transitions between the beginning, middle and end of the album there are definitely some consistent and cohesive musical aspects all the way through so that It’s almost like listening to one big family of tracks.
Matt:
What has been your highest moment professionally in the last 12 months?
Ferry:
My highest moment in that last 12 month must be launching “Full on Ferry” in Ibiza, and because of all the hype surrounding that I was able to launch “Full on Ferry” worldwide, at Brixton Academy, for NYE in London, in Asia, America and all over Europe. That whole process is definitely one of my biggest highs.
Matt:
Great, who is the most inspirational person you’ve met along the way during your career, and what about them inspired you?
Ferry:
I don’t really think that there is one person who most inspired me. Along the way you meet so many people who tell you something that sticks with you, for example I have a friend who once told me that you can work as hard as is humanly possible but if you don’t reward yourself with something nice, like a nice boys toy or something, then what’s it all for? Advice like this taught me how to manage my work life balance and enjoy my life. There are also so many different things, like people in the studio who have a unique way of working and sometimes something from that process sticks and influences my songwriting and me. Overall al a LOT of different people influence me.
Matt:
If you could hang out anywhere in the world, where would you be and what would you be doing? Why?
Ferry:
Well it’s pretty hard to answer that because I just came back from a two week snowboarding trip so I’m definitely still on a high from the mountains (laughing), so asking me right now all I’m going to say is take me back to the snow! I would love to be snowboarding all year round but I also love Asia so it would have to be either somewhere with the sun or the snow. And what would I be doing? Definitely still making music because that is my life passion.
Matt:
Fantastic, and finally, we spend so much of our time on social networks. Where do you see the value in taking time to engage and hangout offline with friends, followers and your peers?
Ferry:
Well one thing that you will never be able to do online is read someone’s facial expression, that’s key to a relationship in my opinion. Hanging out offline with friends is very important for me because I don’t have as much time as I’d like to do it and social media, for me, is more like a fun thing with which I can share funny things I see or do on the road with my fans. I’m never going to fall in love with the social media or have it as my best friend, thank god!
Matt:
Thanks so much for your time, Ferry, that was great.
Ferry:
Thank-you too!
