“This is a great question because the #1 challenge for me getting the work-life balance right. The internet seems to spend a lot of time trying to agree on the definition of the genre, and I don’t think we’ll ever get there – so I just try and enjoy playing it, making it, and occasionally (like now) talking about it.” On the most basic level, it’s about feeling isn’t it? If you feel it is trance, it probably is. Every trance DJ was playing those early Sander van Doorn tracks which sounded nothing at all like the trance today, but they were fucking amazing. In 2007-2008 it was kind of a new progressive moment again – Inkfish, David West and the rise of deadmau5 were interesting so my sound went a little more progressive again. 2010 was Northern Lights era when I got a lot more focussed on songs (before it was mainly instrumentals) so you had Sanctuary, and then a few years later Concrete Angel, and then in 2012, it was, as everyone knows, EDM. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Er, what was next? In 2005-6 it was all about tech trance, mainly due to Sander van Doorn and the music the Spinnin’ was releasing at the time. This isn’t unique to me by the way – I recall Armin playing BK’s Revolution (an amazing record) back then too.
When I first started DJing in the late 90s, although I played ‘trance’ I was highly influenced by the new progressive movement which was big at the time, guys like Timo Maas, Corvin Dalek etc. Then in 2001 I started enjoying influences from hard trance – Scot Project, old Cosmic Gate, and all those German guys were massive, and whilst that music has more in common with hard style today, you’d hear those tracks in most trance DJs sets. In 2003, everything got very influenced by hard house, and I’d frequently finish off sets with Paul Janes / Hyperlogic, or BK tracks. “Essay alert coming up, because I could write forever on this, but safe to say it would be a very broad definition. I first started listening to this beautiful style 18 years ago and it’s changed so much since then, and I think the change is a positive thing, and part of the reason why the genre is still so big today. This is a little at odds with the “138 or nothing” mentality which is quite prevalent at the moment, but let me give you a little history into my journey in this beautiful genre.
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