EXCLUSIVE interview with Ferry Corsten at EDC UK

TopReviews4U editor Paul Christian talks to Dutch trance legend Ferry Corsten.

It was another fantastic day at EDC UK on Saturday as the cream of dance music descended on Milton Keynes.

In among the EDM were a few solid gold trance nuggets, encouraging signs that the genre is still surviving and thriving.

And trance superstar Ferry Corsten’s decision to reboot his epic Gouryella concept from the late Nineties/early Noughties is a sign that a renaissance could be on the cards.

Asked what made him bring back Gouryella Ferry said: “It was something that I wanted to do for a long time, that whole sound, I wanted it back.

 “In the last few years I was so fed up with everything that was happening in the scene.

I want to return to that 99-2000 sound.” 

So it is a case of back to the future for the amiable DJ and producer, who has been responsible for a gigantic back catalogue of bangers.

Speaking about the future of trance he said: “I can see almost two prongs to it - there's the EDM type of trance and there's these guys, a lot of them from Ireland and Scotland, which is more like the Gouryella style, that people are really loving.”

Gouryella was a project that Corsten started with then close friend Tiesto, who has departed trance and headed for the more commercial EDM akin to the style of young fellow Dutchman Martin Garrix (pictured below). 

Asked how Tiesto felt about the reawakening of one of trance’s most iconic acts Corsten said: “I haven't really spoken to him ever since [the return of Gouryella], I haven't really seen him since, even though we play the same festivals sometimes.

“I've just released number six - Neba - for Gouryella and he was there for the first three.”

And on his former production collaborator’s change of style, Corsten thought for a moment, then said that he likes to make music for the "art" of it.

He added: "I know where his [Tiesto's] heart used to be, I may agree or not (with his new EDM style).

“I went down that route for a little while and I've got to be honest it was very inspiring at first, going to the beginning of EDM.

“Punk and Rock Your Body, Rock were very electro.” 

But he said he was irresistibly drawn back to his roots.

“After doing that for a while the real trance lover in me really did start to resurface again,” he said.

On the strength of his tear-inducingly uplifting performance at EDC UK I don’t think Ferry Corsten will be moving away from trance again.