We Speak with Ferry Corsten: Rotterdam’s Dance Floor Maestro

PUBLISHED September 24th, 2015 04:27 am | UPDATED June 8th, 2020 05:48 pm

Blessed with an ability to hypnotise ravers with soul-thumping beats and pulsating numbers, it comes as no surprise then, that Ferry Corsten has cemented his status as one of the world’s most influential DJs.

Consistently featured in DJ Magazine’s annual Top 100 DJ Poll, the Rotterdam native has rubbed shoulders with the best of the business in partnering with contemporaries like Tiesto and Markus Schulz, as well as producing and remixing hits for Moby, U2, and The Killers.

Before returning with his show at this year’s edition of It’s The Ship, we get personal with the dance-floor demigod, as he shares his insights of the dance music industry and more!

Hey Ferry, it’s good to hear that you’re coming back to Singapore. The last time you were here, you were floating in front of a packed stadium at the SEA Games closing ceremony. How did that feel?

That was probably one of the craziest things I’ve ever done. Don’t get me wrong, it was amazing in every way. Hanging around on four tables, floating in a big sports stadium on live TV, was just crazy and amazing at the same time.

Have you ever performed on board a cruise-liner before like how you’re gonna be doing so at It’s The Ship?

Yeah, we have a similar thing here in Europe. It’s called Monday Bar Spring Cruise, and it makes a round trip from Sweden to Finland. I’ve done a full-on event there, and earlier this year I played on the Groove Cruise, which sails out from Miami to the Bahamas and back again, so it’s also around four days.

The atmosphere on board a cruise ship is amazing, but to be with 2000 party people all there for the same goal in mind; having an amazing time is just something else. ‘Cause when you’re on a cruise ship, you see lots of groups of friends hanging out at first, but at the end of it all, you see one big group hanging out together.

You’ve been in the music industry for a long time now, how do you keep things fresh?

I always keep my eyes open and I try to feel and see what’s going on. After such a long time you’ve seen things come and go, it’s looking around and trying to come up with something fresh again. Blending stuff is always a really good way to do that. People know me as a trend DJ but I look around a lot, seeing what is happening in other styles of music, those little things that makes the sound interesting, and I try to incorporate that into my own style of music.

Was that what made you decide to collaborate with Markus Schulz for New World Punx?

I’m always flying solo in a way; but when you’re in the studio with someone else who’s also producing and you can share ideas about music, that’s really inspiring. Plus, we both come from the same background, we both have a similar taste in music, and we both have a similar mindset as well.

The whole collaboration with Markus was great. I guess we were both at that point in our career where we just wanted have fun. With the dance industry being so big and so professional now (and also very formulated), fun was the thing we were both missing. With him, it feels like a jam session every time.

In your opinion, is there a particular country in the world that currently has the most potential in the DJ-ing scene?

Well, you’ve seen the U.S explode! Five years ago it was still like: “Oh yeah, Hip Hop is big and dance music is just a phase, it will blow over.” But for the past few years, it’s been THE music that everyone is playing. Five years ago, I went to a normal bar and there was some RnB and Hip Hop playing; now I go to a clothing shop and there’s dance music. That being said, I feel there’s a lot happening in Asia as well. China is really opening up and there’s been some great new festivals in the Philippines. India has tons of stuff going on there too like the Festival of Light. So yeah, the next region in the world for dance music is Asia.

One of your earliest tracks was Interspace in 1997. If you were a spaceman, where would you travel to and would you go searching for extraterrestrial lifeforms?

I would definitely search for extraterrestrial lifeforms. It’s very arrogant to think that we’re the only ones in the universe and why not make friends with the neighbours? First place I would go to would be the moon, I mean, it’s still close enough to home if anything goes wrong. Then, probably Mars.

What would you say to any alien lifeforms if you met them?

I really don’t know, I think I’ll just freak out first (laughs). I’ll take some time to recover from that shock, but eventually I’ll say: “First of all, where’re you from? How long have you been around? And what do you think of planet Earth? And when you see all these people dancing to music, what do you think?”

I’ve been wondering about that at times, you look at the crowd at a festival and everyone’s jumping to the music. In space, however, it’s completely silent and you look at all those people jumping from afar, and you’re like, are they all idiots? What is it with music and humans, that we just feel this urge to move with it?

What made you decide to join the Dutch World Wildlife Fund?

It’s actually been awhile ago, I haven’t been so active lately. But there’s a few things you can do in my position; I’m being heard by people, not just music-wise. I can either spend all my money and fly a private jet here and there or you can actually be like: “Hey guys, this is a bigger cause that we should all think about from time to time, our planet’s environment is something that we all share.” Things also change when you have two kids of your own, it just felt right at the time.

If you could be an animal, which animal would you be and why?

I don’t know, maybe a seagull? ‘Cause I can walk, I can swim, and I can fly. There’s all the freedom you can have in the world. Plus, I would be resistant in the face of whatever nature throws at me.

And what if you were marooned on an island, with all the challenges and obstacles that nature would surely throw at you? Which DJ would you bring along with you for your best survival chance?

I would bring along Carl Cox. First of all. he keeps my mood up, and I love him as a DJ. Second of all, he’s a big enough guy to feel safe with. (Laughs)

If your kids decide to become DJs in the future, what would you do?

I’d definitely support them. I would make them aware of all the challenges that they’ll face on the road. It’s not all glory and the traveling can be a killer at times. I’ll tell them: “brace yourselves, don’t go too crazy.” My parents did that with me too, they said “follow your heart, and of course, we want the best possible job for you, but the most important thing is that we want you to wake up with a smile on your face.”

Catch Ferry Corsten work his magic on the DJ deck of It’s The Ship from Friday, 20th November to Monday, 23rd November 2015! See his Facebook Page here. 

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