Hi Cliff, thank you for finding time to talk to me. How are you after Trance Energy?
Hi, thanks for having me! I’m feeling really great. The gig at Trance Energy was again amazing! Had an awesome time and I think the people who were there had a good time as well.

You had the honours of opening the High Contrast Stage at Trance Energy 2010. Was it your first time playing at Trance Energy and how would you describe the last event?
It was my second time this year. The first year was really cool, just because I was part of a major event. The area I was playing in was pretty intimate, still big though for a couple thousand people but it was smaller compared to the stage I was playing this year. This year was even better because I had to represent the label I’m working for, High Contrast Recordings. Bigger stage, more people, it was simply amazing to be there!

How long have you been DJing and could you tell us more about your background please? What was your first contact with music and how did you end up being a DJ?
I’ve been DJing for quite a while now, started as a 12 year old at elementary school. I was listening to rave music, hardcore as well, just the typical Dutch rave. I was always busy making cut and paste tapes because at that time I couldn’t afford any turntables. Around that time I just performed at high school party’s playing hardcore music. I’ve always been busy with it practising at my friends who had turntables.

Years passed by, played everything from hip-hop to clubhouse to techno, trance, everything in between. I had my first release in 2005 and in 2006 I was building up my name pretty fast. Then in 2007 I got my first international gig in which was EnTrance in Poland. Now 3 years later I’ve played a lot of events internationally like Trance Energy, Mystery Land, Germany’s Love Parade, UK’s Digital Society and Goodgreef and many more.

Could you describe your musical style to those who have never heard you play live?
I always like to call it “Bootyshakin’ Music”. My music has a lot of drive, big riffs, beats you just can’t stand still to. Sometimes I like to go into deeper underground stuff but I also like to play a bit of uplifting stuff. I also like to play original and fresh music, just like the music I produce. Most important thing to me is that you can dance to the music that I play.

Do you plan your sets ahead or do you choose tracks on the spot?
Usually on the spot, I’m always on the look for new tracks. So I have my CD wallet prepared for any kind of event, warm up, peak time or closing sets. I like to be well prepared. Then I see on the night itself which tracks I’m going to play.

Every DJ has a defining moment in their career. So far, what has been yours and why?
I think it has to be my first international gig, EnTrance in Poland. From that time on it went straight up. Have to say last year’s Trance Energy was important to me as well. I also finally found my home label “High Contrast Recordings”. I started working with them end of 2007 and I’m really glad how it goes right now. Releasing quality music, like my track “Gone South”. It was released right after Trance Energy last year so you can say that period was pretty important to me.

How did you get involved with producing and what do you prefer doing: DJing or producing?
I started producing music when I was 14 years old. A friend of mine had a music program and introduced me to it. I was hooked from that time on!
I like to do both DJing and producing. The best thing for me is to see people going nuts on my own tracks when I’m DJing.

What is your favourite piece of equipment at the studio and what are your studio habits like?
My favourite piece of equipment is definitely my Mac Pro. It’s a beast and just had it for half a year now and it works great! Have to say I’m pretty mad on my Focusrite MixMaster as well. It’s a hardware compressor which has a great sound and nice musical EQ which bring the final touch to my tracks.

Which tracks are you the most proud of and where do you take your inspiration from while producing?
I’m most proud of “Gone South” and probably my remix for “Southside Spinners – Luvstruck”. I get my inspiration from anywhere. I get inspired from all kinds of music, travelling and personal events in my life.

Can you remember the biggest crowd that you played for and where it was?
I think it was EnTrance in Poland, 10.000 people, don’t know if Love Parade counts as well, but that event had over a million visitors!

What does a DJ need to do if he/she wants to be invited to such a world-famous event as Trance Energy? Can you give a piece of advice to those who are aspiring?
Just do your own thing and do what you love and makes you happy!
Release quality music and look for the best label to work with.

Describe an average day in your life.
Get up at 9am, going into the studio at 10, make music till 6pm, dinner at 6.15, working through some emails at 7, after that chill out time with friends or a movie.

What do you listen to on your Ipod?
Timbaland, Justin Timberlake and liveset recordings/podcasts.

Name three tunes of all times.
Hard question! But my favorite picks are Marco V – Tolerance, Tomcraft – Prosac (Tony H Yeah Remix) and Tony Walker – Fields of Joy.

Where in the world do you like playing the most? Do you have a favourite venue where you like coming back?
I always like the UK because of the enthusiastic crowd! Love it there!
I also like big venues like the Jaarbeurs in Holland where Trance Energy is being held.
There are a couple clubgigs planned for this year which I’m certain of that I would like to come back to after that, just keep an eye out on my website which clubs that will be.

What goals would you still like to achieve?
Take over the world with my bootyshakin’ music!
Playing every weekend on a different continent. And make that number 1 hit single!

If you could play back to back with any one DJ who would it be?
Dj A-track! His skills are just…. wooaaah!

What is your biggest addiction in life?
Beats!

Finally, what are your plans for the rest of 2010? Will we be seeing lots more of you?
Releasing a lot of music. Got about four releases planned for this year.
My new single is planned for May and a big anthem is coming up as well.
For the rest, DJing around the world. Going to visit Scotland, Ukraine, Poland, Australia and loads more.

Thank you for your time, Cliff.
Thanks for having me! =)

Touching down in new cities is almost as much a part of being a DJ as working the turntables themselves – a fact that’s never been lost on one of the world’s biggest DJs, Markus Schulz. In the last five years alone his always-rolling World Tour has taken him to more of them than many will see in a lifetime. It’s this ever-transforming melting pot of sound, sight and musical taste that fed his desire to capture them musically. And in 2005 that’s what he started to do…

Since then they have shuttled us between some of the most iconic and best known clubbing metropolises in the world; Miami & Ibiza and Amsterdam & Toronto have all had their clubbing credos encapsulated in mix form.

Markus, himself explains further: “Many people say that you see great differences moving between countries – that’s natural. I actually think though that you experience some fairly major ones just going from one country’s city to the next. That’s long been a source of fascination to me. The City compilations are a great way for me to document a place through music, by picking out and turning the spotlight on exactly which tracks & sub-styles are working particularly well in specific cities that I’ve played & loved. ”

Now at the start of the new decade, for the next installment of his audio-travelogue, Markus is dedicating the ‘10 edition to a place not only increasingly close to his heart, but one that resonates with hundreds of thousands of clubbers worldwide… Las Vegas.

“Vegas has undergone nothing short of a revolution over the last 4 years; one that’s been driven, as much as anything by the casinos”, say Markus. “I don’t think it’s overstating it to say that it’s becoming – or maybe has already become – a new world clubbing Mecca. From the outside looking in, people previously perceived that Las Vegas has been all bright lights, ‘bling, bling’ & lane upon lane of slots. Through leading nights like Rain at Fabulous and Moon at the Palms (to name just two), that’s changing very fast. For people who are seriously minded about music and clubbing, it’s going to become a place they have to say they’ve been. Hedonism has never been in short supply there – it’s why they call it Sin City! Come this new decade it might very well start to put the squeeze on Ibiza.”

From the first electrostatic sizzle of the opening seconds of Clinch’s elegy to Rain, ‘Las Vegas’10’, clips the city under the microscope and begins its DNA decode. Interwoven in its genes is the deep, house-ish overture of Dakota’s ‘Sin City’ (its title self-explanatory); the skittering electro squall of Arnej’s ‘They Need Us’, the super-fluid melodica of Rex Mundi’s ‘Opera of Northern Ocean’ and the attacking, rapacious bass of Phynn’s remix of Mike Foyle & Statica’s ‘Deadly Nightshade’. Each track that comes to ‘Las Vegas’10’ discs has either been successfully test-fired by Markus in L.V. or comes with the awareness of a man who knows exactly what will find the centre of the dancefloor there.

Las Vegas ‘10’ is out on the 22nd of February 2010 and will be available from the Armada website and all good retailers.

This summer, Gatecrasher released Gatecrasher’s Trance Anthems 1993-2009 a trance anthology celebrating 16 years of dance floor domination…… The result? A euphoric opus of the laser-imprinted anthems that propelled Gatecrasher’s trance brand Crasher to supremacy. The album topped the compilation charts and achieved instantaneous Gold-selling status (currently selling over 115,000 copies).

With Gatecrasher still emblazoned in club-goers hearts and souls they’ve decided to do it again with the release of Gatecrasher’s Club Anthems 1993-2009. This time the music will be more reflective of the sounds that have thrust Gatecrasher’s impressive nightclub and events portfolio to dance-floor dominance. Dance fans will be able to drench their senses in the most uncompromising sounds around, classics that have set dance floors ablaze, classics that Gatecrasher has helped champion and chart. The album is a true celebration of two decades of electronic music past, present and future.

Gatecrasher’s Club Anthems 1993-2009 is an inspiring sonic soundscape featuring tracks that have touched the heart of the masses, an adrenalin-fuelled epic signalling the mighty Gatecrasher lion’s focus on the smash hit dance genre. Set across 3 CDs, the album takes the energy, passion and irresistible momentum of the Gatecrasher brand and throws it headlong into the iconic brands biggest dance-floor moments…

The Gatecrasher story is far from over as the Lion continues to go from strength to strength. Gatecrasher’s Club Anthems 1993-2009 reflects the sounds that have rocked the dance floor of Gatecrasher’s burgeoning club empire throughout the years.

As a special celebration Gatecrasher welcomes one of the most famous DJs in the world, Moby to headline the official album launch party at their flag-ship club in Birmingham on Sat 14th November.

Gatecrasher’s Club Anthems 1993-2009 provides the perfect opportunity to look back to the club’s heritage, as the brand further evolves and broadens its musical spectrum. A celebration of the past, present and future. These moments will last forever……

Gatecrasher

The past two years have been phenomenal for Gatecrasher. 2008 witnessed with the opening of its £5million flagship venue in Birmingham. Since the club opened over a million clubbers have flocked to the venue with DJs including Eric Morillo, Roger Sanchez, Fedde Le Grand and Laid Back Luke rating the club amongst the top venues in the world. Gatecrasher’s Watford club Area had a decadent makeover in 2009 to critical acclaim. This October also saw the opening of Ultra Gatecrasher in Nottingham which has been restructured taking inspiration from the darker more underground live music scene. Gatecrasher also continues its dominance in the north with its Leeds club Gatecrasher 7 going from strength to strength and a new Sheffield club to be launched soon.

With no further ado, below you’ll find the full list of this year’s big winners and often close-call runners-up!

Best DJ
1. Paul Van Dyk
2. Armin Van Buuren
3. Tiësto
4. Markus Schulz
5. ATB

Best Producer
1. Paul Van Dyk
2. Armin Van Buuren
3. Tiësto
4. ATB
5. Markus Schulz

Best Label
1. Armada
2. Vandit
3. Anjunabeats
4. Black Hole / Magik Musik
5. Coldharbour

Best Remixer
1. Tiësto
2. Gareth Emery
3. Paul Van Dyk
4. Cosmic Gate
5. Armin Van Buuren

Best New Face
1. Claudia Cazacu
2. Mat Zo
3. Ashley Wallbridge

Best Club
1. Judgement Sundays @ Eden
2. Cream @ Amnesia
3. Armada @ Amnesia

Best Event
1. Global Gathering
2. Trance Energy
3. Nature One
4. Creamfields
5. ASOT 400

Best Website
1. Trance.nu
2. Afterhours.fm
3. Trackitdown.net
4. PaulVanDyk.com
5. FTB.pl

Best Resident
1. Armin Van Buuren @ Armada Ibiza
2. Tiësto @ Privilege Ibiza
3. Paul Van Dyk @ Cream Ibiza

Best Album
1. Armin Van Buuren – Imagine
2. Paul Van Dyk – Volume
3. A State Of Trance 2009

Best Radio Show
1. A State Of Trance – Armin Van Buuren
2. Trance Around The World – Above & Beyond
3. Club Life – Tiësto
4. Vonyc Sessions – Paul Van Dyk
5. Global DJ Broadcast – Markus Schulz

Best Track
1. Paul Van Dyk Feat Johnny McDaid – Home
2. Paul Van Dyk – For An Angel 2009
3. Dash Berlin – Man On the Run
4. Gaia – Tuvan
5. John O’Callaghan – Find Yourself

Last night (the 9th of October) at The Gallery @ Ministry of Sound nightclub at the Trance Awards ceremony and party went off like a particularly well-primed firework. Markus Schulz, Menno De Jong, Simon Patterson, Sean Tyas, Claudia Cazacu & Jerome Isma-me all stepped behind the turntables and gave a laid down the trance law! Over in the annex room Al Excess, Laura May, Hidden Agenda, Ryan Wilkinson and Intertek – the winners of the Trance Awards DJ Competition – did similarly fine work making their Ministry debuts!

Further elevating the global impact of the T.A.’s, the Euphoria Trance Awards album mixed by Sean Tyas, Simon Patterson & Claudia Cazacu was released through Ministry of Sound Recordings on Monday the 5th of October. The triple CD contains the biggest anthems from heroes like: Armin Van Buuren, Sander Van Doorn, Aly & Fila, Gareth Emery, John O’Callaghan and the mixers themselves. It’s available to buy now through all good CD retailers and to download (of course) from Trackitdown.net

Last and by no means least, many thanks to all of you who came to the website, had your say and made this the best Trance Awards poll and party yet! You’ve all done your ’09 bit in supporting the scene! Same time again next year?

Professional music producers, labels, DJs, radio presenters and event promoters from across the genre and around the globe have all been busily delivering their sounds over the last year. Now they’re waiting with bated breath to find out exactly how you think they’ve performed!

Launched by TrackItDown.net, The Trance Awards gives each and every one of you the chance to have your say. Whether you’re an avid clubber or at-home music listener, a budding bedroom DJ or 24/7 studio-hound, this is your chance to let your thoughts be known.

Last year tens of thousands of you spoke… At the 2008 awards Paul van Dyk walked away with the Best DJ trophy, while other winners included Tiësto (who took home Best Remixer), Armin who scooped Best Resident and Sied van Riel who arrived in pole position for Best New Face.

The 2009 poll will conclude four weeks later on the 29th of September and after a methodical check of the results, the winners will be announced at the Trance Awards Party. Taking place at the Ministry of Sound on October the 9th, it’s unquestionably going to be another ‘must-not-be-missed’ entry in your 2009 clubbing calendar! Last year saw the Ministry rocked down to its foundations by Judge Jules, Lange, Claudia Cazacu & The Thrillseekers. This year though it could be you stepping behind the most famous turntables in the world! In conjunction with The Gallery, TrackItDown.net will be giving 4 young DJ guns their chance to shine. If you think that’s sounding like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, don’t waste another minute! All you need to do to enter the running is put your latest (and greatest!) DJ Mix in the post to:

Trance Awards DJ Mix Competition
Trackitdown Ltd
Tower Bridge Business Complex K304
100 Clements Road
London
SE16 4DG

Don’t forget your full contact details (including your name, e-mail address and day & night time telephone numbers) along with your entry. Winners will be judged on mixing and presentation and will be contacted shortly after the close of the poll. Please note: you must be able to get yourself to and from the event itself.

In another new ‘first’ this year the event will be commemorated with a special Trance Awards edition of the ‘Euphoria’ compilation series. Featuring the best music from past winners, the double CD album will be out (just prior to the ceremony) on the 5th of October thru Ministry of Sound.

So trance nation at large… your time is now! Head over to www.tranceawards.com, hit up the voting page and tell the world who and what have been tickling your eardrums over the last 12 months!

The Categories:
Best DJ
Best Producer
Best Label
Best Remixer
Best Resident
Best New Face
Best Club Night
Best One-Off Event
Best Album
Best Radio Show
Best Website

Schössow’s left-of-the-trance-centre studio work has long enjoyed the deck support of Armin, Ferry & PVD. Latterly though his atypical broad-remit sound has opened the floodgates to a raft of play from the likes of Tong, Digweed, Mark Knight, Ingrosso and Benny Benassi.

By its nature and auditory ethic, there could be no more appropriate title for Schössow’s first long-player. As a producer he searches the farthest corners of the studio boxes, seeking out, and then shaping the futuristic sounds that other producers dare not use.

‘Outside the Box’ overtures with the seaside atmospherics of ‘When Life Turns Grey’ and the slo-mo beats and profoundly cinematic strains of his Thomas Sagstad collab ‘Yellow Cabs’. Constantly shifting its gears, it continues through more lushly melodic numbers like, ‘The Opener’ & ‘A New Beginning. While vocals aren’t a major feature on the album, when they do crop up, they crop up big! No more finely demonstrated than on the transcendental Andy Duguid collaboration (and Emma Hewitt sung) ‘Light’.

Whatever your dance taste all styles are catered for on the album. Dirtier, edgier rough-house sounds like the (very appropriately titled) ‘Kaboom’ and ‘Beast’ run fast down the speaker cables and are sure to be acting as floor-propellant for DJs of a tougher persuasion. Regular doses of the harder, techier stuff are in plentiful supply too – ‘Snare’ and ‘Evil Machines Forever’ among them. Last and by no means least if your ideal trance artist album needs, no make that requires a euphoria injection, look no further than the massive skyscrapers ‘From The Heart’ and ‘Kofola’.

Outside the Box is out on Marcus’ Tone Diary label on the 14th of September.

Marcus @ Sunrise Festival

Incomplete/incorrect entries will not count. Winners will be notified by email and prizes will be shipped within 28 days. Competition closes 10/09/2009.

Sied van Riel’s first compilation rocket is on the launch pad and set, at the end of August, to break into dance music’s upper atmosphere.

Sied’s had, by any measure, a stratospherically large last 12 months. He’s released one floor-igniting anthem after another (amongst them ‘Rush’, ‘Closer to You’, ‘MME’ and ‘Contrasts’) and fanned the flames with a legion of equally-smashed remixes. He’s also become a DJ necessity at the biggest dance festivals, events and club nights around the globe. In April he played an extraordinary 7 major international gigs in just 9 days, in both the northern and southern hemispheres… He rocked all four Trance Energy Australia nights before flying back to do the same at Armin’s triple-whammy of ASOT400 events. It’s these and other events like Gatecrasher’s 15th Birthday, the Stocznia Festival in Poland (alongside Tiësto) and his residency at Cream @ Amnesia and that have seen him qualify his ‘Best Newcomer’ win at the Nov 08 Trance Awards, and turned him into 2009’s biggest trance news story.

‘In Riel Time’ is not just a cool title; it’s the album’s specification: 160 real-time minutes of the afterburning audio that Sied puts through the speaker cables every weekend captured on disc.

Fixing one sub-genre to this multi-denominational music is a near-impossibility (and if you take our counsel shouldn’t be attempted!!). Never one to be tied to just one post, his music explores deep, melodic and tech trance and all the minutiae hinterlands in between. It does though wear some devoutly Dutch colours on its sleeve. Tracks from newcomers like Claes Rosen’s ‘Genuine’ & Jan Oostdyk’s ‘Eivissa’ mix fluidly with established acts & tracks like Purple Haze (aka Sander van Doorn)’s ‘Bliksem’ and Ferry Corsten’s ‘We Belong’. Numerous summer ’09 anthems are also firmly in place with regular nitrous injections like Marcus ‘Dakota’ Schulz’s ‘Chinook’, Dash Berlin’s ‘Man on the Run’ and Breakfast ‘Air Guitar’ speeding the discs to their ballistic conclusions. Sied the producer is naturally well-represented on the compilation too, with both the ‘Dedication EP’ track ‘MME’ and his just-promoed, and fast-exploding ‘Mongoosed’ burning the speakers up in super-fast time.

‘In Riel Time’ is the essential SVR compilation equation, one that’ll live long in collections and even longer in the memory of generation trance.

Label: Spinnin’ Recordings
Worldwide Release: 31/08/09

‘The Choice Is Yours’ features remixes by PoisonPro and Evol Waves. Fresh from his recent release on Lange Recordings, PoisonPro has delivered a superb rework of the track. He uses the main elements of the original and some interesting effects to create a haunting, melodious vibe which will leave you reaching for the repeat button. Completing the package is a remix by Evol Waves, a young producer from Georgia who is beginning to make a serious impact in the scene. He takes the track in a tech direction which is sure to suit those later sets.

Officially Britain’s most popular DJs, Above & Beyond were recently voted Best Group at the International Dance Music Awards, ahead of the likes of Daft Punk, Soulwax, Justice, and Pendulum. Now ranked No.4 in DJ Mag’s Top 100 DJs Poll, their largest gig to date was in front of 1 million people in Rio, Brazil.

Through the mix albums on their label Anjunabeats, Above & Beyond have been awarded numerous compilation of the month reviews in the dance press, while their latest release is currently sitting at No.1 in the US iTunes Dance Album chart.

The trio are so renowned for their own compilations, that they’ve politely steered clear of mixing them for anyone else. That is, until now. When they were asked to relaunch the classic Trance Nation album series for Ministry Of Sound, the opportunity to stamp their mark was too good to miss.

“Ministry of Sound was keen to take the Trance Nation series back to its roots and approached us with the idea,” said Tony of Above & Beyond. “The early editions of the series were amongst the most complete records of their time, so we were keen to get involved.”

“We’ve picked the latest tracks from our favourite producers, remixers and artists to create a 160 minute mix that captures the trance scene as we see it in the summer of 2009,” he added. “As ever, our focus is on quality tunes, so we hope this CD will stand the test of time: that’s the Trance Nation legacy as we see it.”

Widely regarded as the world’s premier trance .and progressive house label, Above & Beyond’s Anjunabeats imprint receives consistent acclaim from critics and dance music . fans alike. Under their Ocean Lab guise, which also features vocalist Justine Suissa, the trio of Tony, Jono, and Paavo, have established themselves as a leading force when it comes to intelligently written vocal dance music.

Label: Ministry of Sound
Catalog: MOSCD197
Released: 3rd August 2009