When you first start up as an artist in the electronic dance music genre, your primary focus is the music and the music only. However, when you begin to reach superstardom, there are more things to think about, most importantly, production. Not only do you have to serve up consistent grooving tracks for your audience, but there also has to be some sort of production value to the show. Guys like Tiësto, Deadmau5 and even Matthew Dear get this, and recently Ferry Corsten has jumped on the bandwagon with his new compilation, Once Upon A Night. His new tour concept for the compilation is set to take his fans on a journey that comes in three parts; sunset, night and sunrise. He’ll be premiering this show during Winter Music Conference this week at Karu & Y.
Clubplanet recently caught up with Ferry Corsten and chatted about his new tour concept, his hit Sirius XM radio show, and what he has in store for the remainder of the year.
Clubplanet: What’s been keeping you the busiest lately?
Ferry Corsten: I’ve been very busy in the studio again for Once Upon A Night, the latest mix compilation I’ve done. It took quite a while to mix all of the tracks because most of the tracks had to be made for the album and we had to realign them for the right story, so that was quite a challenge. I’ve also been putting together some ideas for the next artist album, which will be coming out sometime next year.
Clubplanet: You’ve also come up with a new tour concept for your mix compilation, Once Upon A Night: The Experience, can you go into that a bit?
Ferry Corsten: It’s a very cool concept that’s very visual. The whole show is based on visuals. The nametag, The Experience, came from Twice In A Blue Moon, my previous artist album. So we’re trying to have the audience experience the entire album in a visual way. This album is slightly different because these aren’t all my tracks, so in order to keep the whole visual aspect right up there we decided to come up with a backdrop that will change throughout the night. It’s basically part of the sleeve on the CD, which is taken in Rotterdam, where I live. It’s a living backdrop, so the whole city comes to life throughout my set, and also for the support act. It’s going to be very interactive in a sense that the visuals will speak to the crowd.
Clubplanet: And you’re actually going to be premiering the show during Winter Music Conference.
Ferry Corsten: Yes, at Karu & Y. It’s going to be the first show for this concept. The week after that we’ll be in LA, and then we have London and a few more lined up. But we are kicking off this whole concept in Miami.
Clubplanet: Are you looking forward to the WMC crowd?
Ferry Corsten: Yea definitely! I’ll be there from Thursday night until Sunday afternoon, and Friday I also have this party at Nikki Beach, which I’m really looking forward to. I’ve never played at Nikki Beach and usually when I’m in Miami I’m inside playing a club, so it will be nice to be playing at the beach.
Clubplanet: Talking about that Nikki Beach party, what other names can we look forward to from that event?
Ferry Corsten: We also have BT and Shiny Toy Guns. The live element for music always works so getting a band in the show always gives it a different vibe. It’s going to be an interesting one for sure.
Clubplanet: Why do you think your sound fairs well in Miami?
Ferry Corsten: I’m not sure. Miami is a big melting pot between the Latin world and the North American market. Both sides have a good feel for electronic music, but also for the melodic side of things. When I play in Latin America there’s always a big crowd that comes out. But especially for WMC because you have people coming in from everywhere. I think it’s the big melting pot that makes it work.
Clubplanet: You’re off to San Francisco after Winter Music Conference. What other markets would you say are your favorites outside of Miami?
Ferry Corsten: I really love playing New York City, I did the Nokia Theater with Made Events, which was amazing. Washington DC always works for me as well. I really like Chicago and LA. There’s also Denver. It’s one of those places where the crowd is amazing and they’re always really into the music.
Clubplanet: Let’s talk a bit about your radio show on Sirius XM, Corsten’s Countdown. It’s been gaining a lot of momentum.
Ferry Corsten: It’s a weekly show and it’s also one of the very few shows that last only an hour. Maybe that might be the secret behind the momentum, because you’re just getting into it, and then the show ends. I also like our concept because you as a listener have an influence on what we play. Every week I do a pre-selection of dance tracks, and then on my website you can vote for your favorite track. Then at the end of the month I do a roundup of the most popular tracks, so the audience determines them.
Clubplanet: What can we look forward to from you for the remainder of the year?
Ferry Corsten: Definitely the tour for Once Upon A Night. There’s also another tour in the works for late October. Any time that I have off I’ll probably be working on the next artist album that will be released next year.