Tiësto: World Leader
| LABEL: DJ Mag |
| CAT NR: DJ354 |
| YEAR: 2003 |
| MIXED BY: Tiësto |
| COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: UK |
| 01 | Mojado feat. Mr. Sam: Naranja (Mr. Sam Vision) | 05:24 |
| 02 | Andain: Beautiful Things (Gabriel & Dresden Unplugged Mix) | 08:08 |
| 03 | Fictivision: Out Of Orbit | 05:53 |
| 04 | Mr. Sam vs. Fred Baker pres. As One: Forever Waiting | 07:32 |
| 05 | Choopie & Shmuel: Sunrising (Original Mix) | 06:56 |
| 06 | The Ambush: Acapulco | 05:23 |
| 07 | Mark Norman: Stream | 05:38 |
| 08 | Fictivision vs. Phynn: Escape (Phynn Mix) | 07:15 |
| 09 | Mark Norman: Shine | 04:54 |
| 10 | Fred Baker: My Thing (Original Mix) | 06:16 |
- Photography by Chris Davison.
- Front sleeve notes:
- 10 brand new tracks from Europe's finest dance imprint digitally sequenced and mixed by Black Hole Recordings.
- Inner sleeve notes:
- When Tiësto DJs people have the best nights of their lives. It's a simple statement and one that defines him comletely. Of course he's devoted to his art and naturally loves the music he plays, but for the No. 1 DJ in the world it's all about the crowd. You can hear it in the tunes he plays, you can see it in the way he dives around behind - and often in front of - the decks. Hell, it's completely eveident in his eyes when he talks about his gigs around the world. And that is why he's The People's DJ.
- The world needs superstar DJs, a focal point of worship for big crowds of dancers full of love. But superstar DJs naturally become arrogant, growing fat on the devotion of kids on their honeymoon of dance. Big name jocks fly to the top of the pile and then slowly fade away. It takes a special sort of DJ to get the No. 1 position of the internationally renowned DJ Mag Top 100 poll, but it takes an extraordinary person to hold that spot. Tiësto plays to hundreds of thousands of frantic fanatics every year but you'd be hard pushed to find a more down to earth fella.
- He likes to play big and bold but there's an intimacy to even Tiësto's most gigantic stadium gigs. At every gig he plays a journey of emotional tech-trance tracks that encompass mood pieces, secret remixes and the tracks that everyone has come to hear. It's all put together to make everyone feel that he's playing right to them. Combine this with the biggest smile in the dance world and you can see why people leave his gigs feeling special.
- Like we said, when Tiësto plays people have the best nights of their lives.
- And it's no wonder Tiësto can't stop smiling. Heading into the 100 Top DJs poll at No. 24 three years ago was impressive but that was just the start. From there he shot straight to No. 6 and then hit the top spot in 2002, claiming pole position again this year. For many people Tiësto has seemed an overnight success. But there's a whole story that goes before. The 34-year-old stepped behind the 1210s a lot further back than you'd imagine.
- It all started when Tiësto realised he was happiest playing music for other people. He used to make his friends tapes of the best songs from the Top 40 and when he started mixing them a mate was so impressed he told Tiësto he had to do something with his gift. So he took his records with him on holliday to Majorca, went into a bar and asked if he could play some music. Simple as that. "That's when I really fell in love with DJing," he grins. "It's great when you play music and you can see people enjoying it, it's just an amazing feeling to share your music with others."
- This was the mid-80s, a long time before the trance music that Tiësto is known for hit the clubs. This first music in Tiësto's box was a mix of American house and garage and Italo house. An eight-year residency playing a mix of house and garage with pop in the back room of his local club took him into the early 90s and gave him the chance to polish his art. "The owner of the place always let me play whatever I liked because if people didn't like it they could always go to the other room," he says. "But all the people who came were very into it so I didn't have to make any concessions. It was a good learning process."
- Strangely Tiësto was big in Israel before he found his audience in his own country. Releasing his own mix CD on his label Magik, the Israeli distributor made some promotional tapes to give out. The buzz on these cassettes was crazy and Tiësto went over to play. Other Dutch DJs who travelled there were surprised to find a countryman they'd never heard of as one of the biggest DJ's of the scene. When they came back they thought they'd book him to find out what the fuss was about.
- Then came the biggest break a DJ can ask for. Tiësto was booked to play at Innercity indoor festival in Amsterdam for ID&T. The party was the first of it's kind in Amsterdam and the media were all over it. The biggest TV channel wanted to follow some of the people involved for the day and when they needed a DJ to stick with, they chose local boy Tiësto. The big fella picked that night to play the best set of his life. Not only did he leave the 30,000-strong crowd catching their breath but he blew Paul Oakenfold's socks off. Oh, and the whole thing was broadcasted to three million people. That's some time pull it out of the bag.
- "I played a bomb of a set - everybody loved it, they were talking about how good it was all night - and it was on the news," remembers Tiësto. "After that people were saying, 'That Tiësto, he's the new guy.'" Oakey ran back to Britain announcing Tiësto as his superstar DJ successor. And how right he was.
- Fast-forward past the God'sKitchen residency, the Gatecrasher gigs and the international tours with Cream and Tiësto is playing to the biggest crowd that a single DJ has ever drawn. "In May, Gelredome Stadium in Arnhem was packed with 25,000 fans for Tiësto In Concert, an eight-hour extravaganza of tech-trance. Surprisingly Tiësto showed no nerves before the gig and when the music kicked in it was smilies all the way.
- As the end rolled on, the unity was very much evident on the dancefloor. As the 19,000 Dutch ravers still on the dancefloor after seven-and-a-half hours punched in the air simultaneously the moment "Flight 643" kicked in, it seemed like the biggest local gig in the world, with all the communication and community that that implies. Tiësto sees it as the best night of his life, and many of the 25,000 fans have told him it means as much to them too.
- The only way he could have pulled off such an amazing feat was to have the records to send the crowd stratospheric. He knew the emotion and energy that each one was going to draw. How come? Well, he made more than 70% of them. It just proves what an incredible production career Tiësto has had.
- In addition to taking an instrumental track at No. 1 at the time of this interview (the powerful "Traffic", a track that started off as a mixing tool), he has also spent a month in the British Top 10 with his definitive mix of Delerium's "Silence". Add to that the three tracks that Oakey put on his million-selling "Travelling" mix album and it's hard to believe that Tiësto is seen as a DJ at all.
- But after winning the Top 100 DJs award for two years in a row that is exactly the way we see him. He's not shy with his gratitude and firmly believes that it's changed his life. People in the industry are taking him more seriously, he can't move for remix work and offers to play around the world, and more people than ever are coming to see him play.
- "It's great," he beams. "It's like winning an Oscar."
- James Kendall.
- Back sleeve notes:
- Tiësto is the No.1 DJ in the world, as voted by the readers of DJ Mag. This is the second year in a row that Tiësto has scooped this accolade, the first non-UK DJ to win the award. Previous winners have included Carl Cox, Paul Oakenfold, Sasha and John Digweed. Tiësto can now be held in similar acclaim to these esteemed spinners. We hope you enjoy this exclusive mix that the flying Dutchman has delivered especially for readers of DJ Mag.
- Note:
- - Free with DJ Mag issue 354.
- - Not for resale.