Right before his coming to zurich’s streetparade, it was about time to get an interview with one of the world’s greatest dj, ferry corsten. In this ecounter, the artist tells us about his brand new album ‘L.E.F.’, his various collaborations, his artistic approach to this very project and also comments about each track featuring on the album.

What instruments/programs were used to make LEF?

The main program I used is Cubase SX. I know a lot of people in the U.S. work with Logic, but having ‘grown up’ with Cubase, I love working with it. Furthermore I’ve used the Sony DMX100 mixing console, the Roland JP-8000, the Clavia Nord rack 3, the Alesis Andromeda A6, the Virus Ti and the Roland V-synth. On the software side I’ve used a lot of the Native Instruments plug-ins and all the plug-ins of Spectrasonics are always part of my productions.

What vocalists did you collaborate with on this album? Have you worked with any of them previously? How did you meet Simon LeBon?

I’ve worked with Howard Jones, Guru, Debra Andrew, Oz, Denise Stahlie and of course Simon LeBon. I’ve worked with Denise before on my previous album on a track called ‘In My Dreams’. Denise is actually a Salsa singer and is from Bolivian descent. It’s the first time I worked with Howard and Guru and as a big fan of their work, it was a real trip. Debra is a new female vocalist from the U.K. with an amazingly sexy voice and she and Ben Cullum, the brother of Jamie Cullum, co-wrote the track with me. I came in contact with Simon and Duran Duran because of a remix I have done of their single ‘Reach Up (for the sunrise)’. I found their track ‘Serious’ and heard the first vocal lines of it and fell in love with it and wanted to do something with it. I made a demo track where I sampled Simon’s voice and send it to the band…..they loved it and gave me all the help I needed to make this track happen.

Where was the album written? Made? When did you start working on it?

I started working on it about a year and a half ago. Although I did some touring in between, I recorded most of it in my studio in Rotterdam, Holland. However some of the songs were written elsewhere. ‘Junk’ with Guru was written in New York, ‘Fall Into The Dark’ with Howard Jones and ‘Forever’ with Debra Andrew were written in the U.K. The rest was recorded and mixed in Holland. I like to mix everything in my own studio so all tracks have the same signature sound.

What do you like to do besides making electronic music? Do you have any hobbies, interests? Do you collect anything?

I must say that my biggest hobby is music and that I don’t really have much time to do other things besides that. But when I do have time, I love to go snowboarding and sometimes I love being lazy and read about history. I’m not much of a collector… other than music.

How would you describe your music?

It’s energetic, melodic and uplifting with a ‘raw’ touch! I love it when a beautiful melody is played with a dirty or distorted sound. Somehow the two don’t match, but therefore it makes it sound even better. Loud, Electronic and Ferocious would be another way to describe it;-)

Can you give me a cut by cut of all the songs on the album? Just a few lines about each song – what they sound like? Whats the story behind them? Etc.

Intro – This is a compilation of electronic machine sounds that becomes a rhythm and puts you into a groove and makes you ready for the first track of the album.

Are You Ready – This is the first song of the album. It’s a house tune with a very dirty electro touch. Raw sounds, an addictive melody, a funky bass line and a phat beat. Groovy comes to mind when hearing this for the first time…

Fire – A very colourful house track with Simon LeBon as the featuring vocalist. It’s a very open and happy song with a perfect summer feel. I felt very inspired after hearing Duran Duran’s – ‘Serious’. I sampled the first vocal lines out of the original and went into the studio. I came up with this house tune and the band loved it. The original Duran recording was dug up in L.A. and the vocals send over to me to work with and re-record my track. I was also supplied with their video footage for use in my own video. I was great to get so much help from Duran Duran.
 

L.E.F. – The title song of the album. And as the title song it has everything in it, the title suggests. It’s a massive track with a lot of dirty energy and is made with a big dance floor in mind. It’s a fierce electro track with a rock feel. This is made for the big summer festivals… be careful with those bass bins!!!

Fall Into The Dark – Howard Jones has always been one of my 80’s favourites. When I met his manager in Amsterdam and heard that Howard liked my work as well, collaboration was worked out straight away. I really wanted to give this track that 80’s feel and I send Howard a base track to write lyrics over. I received it back after three days and it was exactly what I’d hoped for. I finished it the week after…It’s a very warm song with 80’s, electro and trance influences and it serves perfectly as the transition track from electro to trance on the album.

Galaxia – The first Trance track on the album. The original track dates back to ‘96 when I made it under one of my old aliases ’Moonman’ and I used it again for my own wedding where I transformed it into a more film score type of piece. I’ve always had a soft spot for this arrangement and last year I decided to remix it one final time for my own DJ sets. I never made it with the intention of releasing it. But the demand for the track started growing and became so big, that I decided to include it on the album…

Beautiful - The melody in this rocky Trancer is mind blowing. This track is the perfect example of what electro-trance should sound like. Melodic, emotional, dirty and rocking. The melody and bass line are both very distorted and the vocals are synthesized and give the track a very ‘beautiful’ but mysterious touch.

Possession – Denise Stahlie is doing the vocals for this vocal trance track. It’s a very emotional song and a deep bass line gives the track the right texture. The first half of the track is pretty calm is more focused on the song rather than on the music. When the melody is introduced in the break, all of a sudden the track starts to lift up and when the beat drops back in, it explodes into this massive driving trance track causing a real acceleration.

Down On Love – This is the only break beat track on the album and has a real poppy feel. The vocals performed by Oz are smooth and warm and the piano line could be the perfect ring tone.

On My Mind – This track is a welcome break after all the energy you’ve just received. It’s a chill out track with some sort of tech feel. A really deep kick drum gives it that sexy feel and the synth pads in the chorus are really sweet. The vocals are also performed by Denise Stahlie. This track was recorded in one evening as a demo, and I kept it that way because I thought that the minimalism of the song said it all.

Forever – Probably one of the houseiest tracks on the album. This 80’s synth pop track features Debra Andrew and is one for the girls. The song is co-written by Ben Cullem (U.K.‘s newest talent Jamie Cullum’s brother) and Debra. Because of the big piano riff and the sweet vocals, this song has summer written all over it and is a great track for picking up the tempo on the album.

Watch Out – This is a typical mix of electro and rock. It has everything you’d expect from a raw party track. The melody is very catchy and will be stuck inside your head instantly. The vocals are performed by me through a vocoder. I really enjoyed making this track because of the raw energy it gave me…

Junk – This is an answer to a track on my previous album ‘Right Of Way’ called Punk. ‘Punk’ is one of those tracks that everybody sings along to whenever I play it out in my sets. I really wanted to do something crazy on the album and I decided to look for a very different and respected artist whose voice I could combine with the melody of ‘Punk’. As a fan of old-skool hip-hop, I felt that the voice of Guru would be a real contribution to such an anthem. With the ‘rock’ beats and guitars, ’Punk’s’ melody and Guru’s rhymes, this one will definitely raise some eyebrows!

Cubikated – The original track ‘Cubik’ by U.K.‘s 808 State was one of the first tracks that put me into electronic dance music. I re-created the sound and used it in a new track that I made for last year’s festivals. It’s a very rhythmic techno track and makes you want to scream…

Freefalling – After all the energy of the second half of the album it feels like bliss to listen to the chilled out vibes of Freefalling. It’s a dubby tune with very warm sounds and it reminded me off sky diving when I made it.

Daylight – This track is a combination of old-skool electro break beats and very uplifting melodic trance. This combination gives you that smile on your face and still remains cool. I’ve used some very grainy sounds to give it the distorted feel that the whole album has. I’m I big fan of the electro breaks from the 80’s and used that as the base for this track.

Are there any major points about LEF you’d like expressed in the press release/bio? What are the important things about the album journalists should know?

Most people got to know me during my ‘trance’ years. But I have been making electronic music for 15 years now and have produced every possible style you can think of and under dozens of aliases. I’ve produced music from Ambient to Hardcore ‘Gabba’, Drum’n Bass and Techno. I just wanted to know what it was, that attracted people to a certain style of music. But I’ve always had something with melodies. Therefore, it was Trance, I felt very comfortable with. And I eventually broke through with this style. I’ve made trance for about 7 years and I felt it was time for me to go back to a wider range of styles. I made L.E.F. with a very open mind and this is the result.