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Tiesto @ Nation Interview in Music Monthly
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| Busy Child |
Done by a buzz board member.
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MUSIC MONTHLY
JULY 2004
by Mary Ishimoto Morris
Photo by Kathy Vitkus
TIESTO @ CUBIK
As the rich emotional string intro to “Forever Today,” the first track of Tiesto’s new artist album “Just Be,” swelled dramatically over the dance floor at 1:20 am the night of June 25, a roar rose from the excited packed main room of Cubik at Nation. Then as Tiesto, #1 DJ in the World for the second year in a row in DJ Magazine’s annual readers poll, appeared behind the decks waving with a big smile, in a bright green short-sleeved “Motor Oil: Funky Driver 2004” jersey, the sold out throng exploded, throwing their arms up joyfully, shouting “Ti-Es-To! Ti-Es-To!” Love bounced off the walls.
Fans raised an elegant blue and gold cloth banner proclaiming “TIESTO IS THE KING” and held Tiesto posters above their heads. Girls on the shoulders of boy friends beamed, arms swaying rhythmically, like cheerful kayakers bobbing on a sea of ecstatic Tiesto enthusiasts. The mood on the dance floor, kicked off by a rollicking set by Empath, was happy and festive, some fans costumed in togas (including camouflage and CareBear motifs) in keeping with the Roman Bath Foam Party theme for the night (foam postponed due to rain). As a chorus, fans sang their hearts out to BT’s vocals in “Love Comes Again” and Kirsty Hawkshaw’s in “Just Be,” from the new album.
Throughout the energetic, soulful, mesmerizing three-hour set, Tiesto (born Tijs Verwest, and billed as “Holland’s #1 Export”), 35, shook his head and body in time to the beats, waved or waggled his fingers good-naturedly in response to spontaneous bursts of cheering or clapping in time – as when he dropped a remix of the Beastie Boys’ “Intergalactic” - and smiled throughout. The participants, who ranged in age from 18 to middle-age and represented a diverse international community, shared a look of expectation of bliss early in the night and by 4:30 am, when Tiesto played for his encore his powerful, uplifting remix of Samuel Barber’s “Adagio for Strings,” appeared to have had their faith renewed brilliantly.
Curious to explore Tiesto’s charisma and the intensity of his bond with his fans, Music Monthly was fortunate enough to engage the tri-lingual (Dutch, English, German) superstar DJ, producer/remixer, promoter, record store owner, and label head (Black Hole), decorated by the Queen of Holland, in a pre-Cubik conversation in his DC hotel room.
Music Monthly: Can you explain the pictures in your CD art for “In My Life” (2001)?
T: This is in Israel, on the beach, 7000 people. The sun has already come up. I played all night. Crazy. (“Magik Journey”) This is the singer (Sarah Bettens) on the track. (“Close to You”) This is in Dallas – the grassy knoll, where JFK got shot. As a kid I read a lot about John F. Kennedy - my father had a book. Twenty years later I have the chance to be in Dallas to see where history happened. I knew the whole area from the book. I had this groove in my head when I was there which is in the track, so I called it “Dallas 4 pm” – that’s the time I was there. This is the vocalist (Nicola Hitchcock). This is a picture in my record store, Magik, in Holland. It’s small, underground. (“In My Memory”) This is in Tokyo. (“Obsession”) This is the skyline of Dallas. (“Battleship Grey”) This is in a private plane from Glasgow to Liverpool. I played in the morning on a big lake with rock bands like Marilyn Manson, and Eminem. I’m laughing because [the pilot] is wearing headphones and I’m wearing DJ headphones. (“Flight 643”) In the afternoon I flew to Liverpool to play a big party, Gatecrasher. I’m standing on stage playing air guitar. (laughs) I was so excited. I played my last track, jumped on stage and started rocking out. (“Lethal Industry”)
This is Love Parade. This is my own truck, which moves around. The DJ booth moves around as well. (“Suburban Train”) This is just a picture when I came out of a limo at an airport, I think in Denver. These are good friends of mine. This was my booker back in the day. This is my best friend. This is a good friend. This is Paul Oakenfold. This is Judge Jules. This is an MTV interview in Denmark. This is Junkie XL. This is a friend of mine at a Christmas party.
MM: How about the art for “Just Be”?
T: I really had nothing to do with it. This (“In My Life”) is more my personal artwork, and this (“Just Be”) is more Arny’s, my partner in the record company. I finished my album the end of December and went on the road for four months to Australia, South America, Asia and Europe, so I didn’t have time to take control of the artwork, so I said, You make something nice.
MM: How did you and BT work together on “Love Comes Again”?
T: He has a brilliant studio in Hollywood, but we are both so experienced so I sent him the instrumental music and he sang the lyrics on top of it and sent it back to me, I did more work on the music and that’s how it came together. It’s one of my favorites because it’s very different from the normal trancey sounds.
I’m from Holland, so I can write lyrics a little, but I could never do them in the right poet’s English as an American or English guy, so that’s why I work like that. The only lyrics I really wrote myself were “Walking on Clouds.”
MM: “A Tear In the Open” – what language is that?
T: It’s Gaelic, from the 15th century. It’s a complaint. There was a big war in Ireland and a lot of men got killed. Every night the women came together and sang sad songs because they’d lost their husbands. It’s pretty sad but the vocals were so beautiful, I wanted to do something with it. Actually she’s singing something very romantic, that she goes to sleep every night and in her dreams she sees her husband walking back to her. I like drama. (laughs) I found it in like a library of different vocals (Spectrasonics “Vocal Planet”).
MM: You use strings a lot. Did you grow up around a lot of classical music?
T: I just love strings. They are so warm and beautiful, it’s like a layer. You have all these sounds, and when the strings come in, it sounds so relaxing. My parents played a lot of classical music, like Mozart, Beethoven, all the famous composers. But the first thing I remember as a kid was the album by Ennio Morricone, “Once Upon a Time in the West.” That was the first music I grew up on. I really liked that.
MM: Are there other musicians in your family?
T: My father used to be a jazz piano player. But everybody - my mother, one brother and one sister - was crazy about music. My father repaired X-ray machines. That’s why he passed away. He got so much radiation because in the ‘70s there was not much [protection] then. He passed in 1991. I was 21. It was a rough time. I was DJing already but he missed all the success. My mother used to be the director of a girls’ elementary school. They got divorced when I was four, and she had to find a new job, so she re-schooled herself and became a social worker.
MM: What was it like growing up in Breda?
T: It’s a small city, about 250,000 people. It’s 750 years old. We celebrated that two years ago, that’s why I know. (laughs)
MM: What were you like as a child? You are known as a happy, cheerful person.
T: I’ve always been like that. I’m very positive, but the one thing I always got flack for is that I never look ahead. I never look too far ahead in the future. I always lived for today, or tomorrow or next week, but that’s it. When you’re 21 and still going to school, lots of people think oh, I’ve got to get a job, I’ve got to get everything right. At the end of the day, you don’t see that work for a lot of people, that they miss out on good things in life when they’re young. Then when they’re 35, 40, they’ve worked all their lives and come to a mid-life crisis. So I’ve always been very positive. I just love to go out and have fun. That’s one of my main goals, to have fun.
I was an average student. I could study well, but only when I was interested. I was always interested in economics. (laughs) I was crazy about soccer.
MM: Did you have posters on your walls?
T: A lot of soccer players. Later on I was very into rock music, heavy metal, like Iron Maiden, Metallica. Kind of weird, if I think back on it, but if you compare that to the music I play, it also has a lot of drama, lots of melodic sounds and themes, so it’s not that different from what I do.
MM: How did you come up with the idea of “Tiesto in Concert” at Gelredome soccer stadium in Amsterdam (May 2003)? No other DJ has done that before.
T: I played a festival with ten other DJs and they did an inquiry of guests coming in, for which DJ are you coming and 20,000 people said Tiesto. So I said, 20,000 people voted for me, why not give them a whole night of me? People get frustrated sometimes when they want to hear me play, I play for two hours, and the rest of the night they don’t like the music. I have three dates in mind for the next. It depends on when the home team is playing at home. Two weeks from now I’ll know the date.
MM: What do you think of the anti-rave legislation in the U.S.?
T: There are lots of things in the U.S. that I’m scared of. (laughs) It just goes too far, like the rave law - it’s ridiculous. I heard this week that they have to right, if they suspect you’re a terrorist, to just throw you out of the country. There are people, like Muslims, who have lived here for twenty years and have families, who could get [deported] just because they are suspected, not even proven, to be terrorists. The rules are too tight. I’m not used to that. In Europe it’s much easier to live, I think.
MM: What do you like best about the U.S.?
T: What I really like about America is when I play here, people are so enthusiastic, and it’s an underground feeling because it’s not on television or widely promoted yet. There isn’t much press here in general for dance music. In Europe it’s so big and every step you take, they follow. Here it feels like a holiday. And I think the country is really beautiful, the nature is amazing, and the people are amazing as well. There are lots of great people here.
MM: What is the role of dance music in society?
T: Dance music is just like it was back in the day. It’s love, peace and happiness. It’s not about politics, it’s about having a great night out. That’s what dance music used to be about. When it started in 1992, that’s when it really took off in Europe, and at that time everyone was so happy. Everyone went out, smiling, took lots of drugs as well, of course, but the general feeling was just being happy - have fun and make love, listen to great music. That’s what it’s about. Rock bands, they should make statements. Like Radiohead, they make statements, and other bands. But I don’t think dance music fits in there.
When people come to my party, they want to be happy. They want to forget about politics and all the bad things in the world for the three hours that I’m there and just have a good feeling. That’s what I try to do. That’s why I play in Israel twice a year. Those people have so much misery over there. When I come, they want to hear great music, so I want to be sure they have smiles on their faces for three hours.
MM: What are you contributing to society?
T: My contribution to society is that I give people strength, with my music and when they see me perform. I have lots of letters at home from people who were having a hard time in life and they went to my show or bought my CD and it made them feel great and gave them energy to get back up again. That’s the main thing I contribute.
- MIM
Q&A's cut from original story:
Music Monthly: What are you listening to?
Tiesto: A DJ mix. On an average night I get five or six CDs. Sometimes it’s tracks somebody makes. Yesterday I got five, in Minneapolis. The night before in Orlando, I got seven.
MM: What was the inspiration for the song “Just Be”?
T: The lyrics were written by Kirsty Hawkshaw and somebody from Nashville. I felt really connected to the lyrics and I wrote the music. That’s the way I used to work back in the day because I started off as a remixer, not an original producer. But all the lyrics I pick are very close to me. She came to Amsterdam to sing the track.
MM: Did Josh Gabriel and Kirsty Hawkshaw come to your studio?
T: Actually it was Josh’s studio in San Francisco. I spent a week with him. He has a great apartment with a great view of the [Golden Gate] Bridge. I said I want this song to be like a person who wants to get the feeling back of being in love because when you’re in a relationship for a couple of years sometimes you forget how it was in the beginning and you get frustrated because you want that feeling back. That’s why it’s called “Walking on Clouds” – you want that feeling back.
MM: You remixed Samuel Barber’s “Adagio for Strings” to open your stadium show for 25,000 people. How did you think of that?
T: I wanted to start the show with a spectacle, like fireworks. It’s a powerful song which sounds fresh but everybody already knows it so everyone gets in the right mood, they feel comfortable. That was the idea. After the show, so many people asked me for that track that I decided to put it on the album.
MM: You’ve said your mother is a great supporter?
T: My mother’s always been very supportive. It’s been amazing for me because when I was 21 and said, that’s it, I’m not going to go further in school, she was like, whatever you choose, it’s your life and I’m sure you’re going to be all right. She always had the sense, even before I was born, that this one is going to be special.
MM: You’ve said “artist albums are the future of DJing.” Why prompted you to say that?
T: For a DJ to separate himself. There will always be mix-CDs, but there are two categories of DJs. You have resident DJs who play every week in the same club in the same town, and they don’t produce.. They are very important, of course. Then you have the traveling circuit DJs like me and Paul van Dyk and Paul Oakenfold, who produce albums and go on the road. People want to hear those tracks. That’s why I said I think that’s the future. There are so many DJs in the world and every DJ can play music, but to separate yourself, you have to produce your own music.
MM: Will your set tonight be all your own music?
T: No, I’m not ready for that yet because I play for three hours. In that time you drop maybe 60 records. I could fill it with all my own music, but I mix it up. I think it’s about 60:40 tonight, 60 per cent my own music, 40 per cent other tracks. I’m still in the phase of being a DJ mixing anybody’s records. The next step where I’m playing my own music is a hard step to take because the crowd is very mixed. Some people want to hear me spin records and other people want to hear me perform my new album, so I have to keep them both satisfied.
MM: How much vinyl to CD will you play tonight?
T: I do play more and more CDs. Vinyl is getting old now. It takes 6-8 weeks to produce a vinyl track. With a CD I can go to my friend in Holland who has an eight-track hinged to the Internet. If I burn it onto a CD, I can play it the next night, so it works faster plus you have new exclusive music that nobody else has. I do prefer to play vinyl. I think it has more charm, the warmth of the sound and the crispness, but I think it’s 80 per cent CDs already.
MM: Who are your favorite Ameican producers?
T: My favorite American producer is Josh Gabriel (of Motorcycle). I love BT and Deep Dish.
MM: Your music has a spiritual effect for a lot of your fans. Are you a spiritual person?
T: I am little bit spiritual. I used to be more than I am now, actually, because I don’t have time. I was very spiritual 3, 4, 5 years ago, but now I’ve left it a little because I’ve been so busy. I read about Buddhism and Krishna. It’s interesting but I’m not very extreme and I think most religions are extreme. I have my own kind of religion. I believe there’s more after this, but I don’t know which way I will come back. I heard a story that we’re all stars, that we’re here to experiment feelings before we go back to being stars. I really like that feeling, that’s good.
MM: What your three greatest strengths and three greatest weaknesses?
T: I think I’m - I forgot the word - I’m very strong, I don’t give up, I always keep going. Persistent? I’m very reliable. Third thing, I’m very passionate about everything I do. Music, also in my love life. When I go for something I really go for it. I’m very passionate about the things I’m interested in. My weaknesses. I forget things, birthdays and stuff like that. I forget to call my friends and family. I should spend more time with them. That’s one of my biggest weaknesses. And in general, I forget stuff, with business or music. Sometimes I have an idea and I don’t write it down and then two days later it’s gone. I should be more accurate.
MM: What are your favorite movies?
T: I like dramas or comedies. Comedies make you smile. I like cool drama films, like “Traffic” “21 Grams, “movies like that. I don’t like the Schwarzenegger movies or action movies, or the Spiderman’s, I’m not really into those kind of movies.
MM: Favorite actors or actresses?
T: Benicio Del Toro. John Travolta, I like to watch.
MM: Favorite bands?
T: I haven’t heard the new Beastie Boys album yet but that’s supposed to be really good. One of my favorite bands is still Radiohead, of course. I haven’t had time to buy much CDs lately so I’m hoping tomorrow morning to go to the Virgin Megastore and grab new stuff.
respectfully,
mary :) |
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| cryo |
good read
i love walking on clouds, listening to it now heh :D |
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| EssentialMix3r |
| Yeah, a really good read, learned a lot of personal stuff from that interview. |
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| Funshine |
| Hehehe.. that was moi in the CareBear toga :D |
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| vtec junkie |
| Awesome interview.:toothless Thats crazy that Tijs used to be into heavy metal.....believe it or not....but I used to be into the same bands.:toothless :wtf: :disbelief |
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| Trancer-X |
I <3 Mary Morris (Platonically, of course!)
She may be the most exhuberant Dieselboy fan in America, but she's also the East Coast EDM scene's greatest and most friendly news correspondent!
Let's give her a digital Pulitzer! :D |
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