We sat down with Dutch DJ Ferry Corsten at the K-Swiss pop up studio during the Nexus Lounge Amsterdam this past fall.
Ferry Corsten is the artist behind several pioneering trance tracks of the 1990s and 2000s, which he released under multiple aliases including Moonman, Pulp Victim, and Gouryella. While Corsten is still proud of his old tracks, he wishes he had branded them with different pseudonyms––when asked what advice he would give his younger self, he answered: “Stick with one name.”
Corsten discussed a wide range of topics, from shoes to where he gets his inspiration, from hangovers––or lack thereof––to which DJs he would take with him to the Amazon rainforest for a year. His versatility in music permeates into his fashion taste: if he were to be a shoe, it could range from Vans to trainers, depending on the day.
Any artist can relate to Corten’s explanation for where he finds inspiration:
“Man, I wish I had one recipe. But it’s sort of like everyday life. From the food I eat to the people I meet, the place I am. It could be something I hear on the radio or speakers in the distance… I hear something that’s not really playing, and that creates something in my brain where I start hearing something that music is not actually doing, but in my head [I’m hearing]. Sometimes I just get my memo recorder out and just start humming it on my phone.”
For Corsten, and many of us, music is important to him because it is an escape. As the DJ powerfully stated, “It still is and it will always be.”
“It still is and it will always be.”
Corsten’s latest track, “Mo Chara,” was released earlier this summer. To learn more about DJ Ferry Corsten, including how music helps him stay grounded in the hectic world of this day and age, check out our interview with him below
