Tiesto - club Essential 15/092006-08-10
Warm up: Kaspar Kondrat
Tiësto’s career is punctuated by landmark achievements – the first DJ
in the world to sell out a solo stadium event for over 25,000 people,
he scored a number one hit with his single Traffic, the first
instrumental track to reach the top spot in his homeland of Holland in
23 years. His remix of Delerium featuring Sarah McLachlan’s Silence was
the first house track ever broadcast on daytime radio in North America,
(it became an international dancefloor anthem and also spent eight
weeks in the UK top 10 chart). He played live in front of billions of
people during the Parade Of The Athletes at the official opening
ceremony of the Olympic Games in Athens. But despite his meteoric
success, Tiësto remains grounded about his achievements and clearly
loves making and playing music above the accolades it brings.
Born in Holland, Tiësto became a DJ because he “liked to share music
with other people. When I was younger, I’d listen to a radio show
called the Soul Show, and to Ben Liebrand’s mix show, where he would
remix and cut up different tracks, and I just thought - I wanna do
this!” Starting out with a mobile show around the country, he
progressed to student parties, and then to three nights a week in a
club, learning and perfecting his craft. “music was always my first
love but back then I didn’t know it was possible to make a living out
of being a DJ… If I wasn’t a DJ now though I’d be a chef. I love
cooking – it must be because of the mixing element!” The productions
came later, in 1995. “I really wanted to produce music that I could
play in my sets, because it brings much more fulfilment to the process.
I bought some samplers, some computer programs, and just started
working on it.” He makes it sound easy – indeed, he makes it look easy
as 10 years down the line his productions consistently bother the
charts and frequently reach number one around Europe.
The future for Tiësto promises yet further success, both as the solo
artist he’s become and the DJ we know him to be. “Another album, more
remixes, definitely,” he agrees, “but it’s hard to look too far into
the future. Every couple of months it seems that something new,
unexpected and exciting is happening!”