Ferry Corsten

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Ferry Corsten bigraphy, stories - Dutch trance producer, DJ and remixer

Ferry Corsten : biography

December 4, 1973 –

Ferry Corsten (born 4 December 1973), also known under the alias System F, is a Dutch producer of electronic dance music, in addition to being a DJ and remixer. He also hosts his own weekly radio show, Corsten’s Countdown. He routinely plays at events all over the world with crowds in excess of tens of thousands. In 2009 Ferry Corsten ranked #7 on DJ Magazine’s annual Top 100 DJ Poll, dropping to #9, #18, and #22 in subsequent years.

Pseudonyms

Aliases

Ferry Corsten aliases

Collaborations

Ferry Corsten co-productions

Tours

  • Play Station Tour (2003)
  • Right of Way World Album tour (2004)
  • Heineken Tour (2004)
  • Passport Compilation World Tour (2005)
  • LEF World Album Tour (2006)
  • FULL ON FERRY Tour (2007) — relaunched as FULL ON (Hosted By Ferry Corsten) in 2012
  • Tour (2008)
  • Twice In A Blue Moon World Tour (2009)
  • Once Upon A Night World Tour (2010)
  • WKND Tour (2011-2012)
  • FULL ON (2012) — ongoing dates and one-offs

Life and career

Before 1999: Early years

Ferry Corsten was born in Rotterdam, Netherlands. He has produced and remixed under many aliases since the release of his first record at the age of sixteen, but he officially started to work as a musician when he was 17 years old. As a teenager he saved money to buy his first keyboard by washing cars, and selling mix tapes to kids in his neighbourhood. He later began to perform live performances with a friend and won his first award "De Grote Prijs van Nederland" at the Netherlands in 1995.http://www.ferrycorsten.com/web/index.php?page=artist-info-biography He eventually released a record with a couple of friends when he was just sixteen years old and later began releasing self-made productions while he grew up in Rotterdam in the 1990s, producing underground hardcore gabber tracks, later expanding into club-house and trance music. His first single to reach a chart position was "Don’t Be Afraid" under the alias Moonman, which was only the start for becoming a composer as well. In 1997 Corsten and his partner Robert Smit established a dance label named Tsunami with the Dutch based dance company Purple Eye Entertainment b.v., this junction made the creation of another label possible; Polar State. Ferry Corsten was studying to become an Electrical Engineer, so he went to the Technical Training School and after that Higher Technical Education.

1999–2004: Rise to fame

In February 1999 Corsten’s second solo project, System F, was released on the Tsunami imprint along with the album Out of the Blue, including the same-named melodic tune that became a hit on dance floors all over the world, achieving a top twenty position in the United Kingdom single chart. The follow-up single was "Cry", produced together with Robert Smit which reached the UK Top 20.

His growing popularity in the late 1990s led to cooperation with many famous trance DJs and musicians like DJ Tiësto (Gouryella, Vimana), Vincent de Moor (Veracocha), and Robert Smit (Starparty). The track "Gouryella" by the act Gouryella was released in May, the single entered the UK Singles Top 75 at number fifteen and achieved various hit positions throughout the world. The next single was entitled "Walhalla" which entered the UK single chart at number twenty-seven. In 1999 Ferry was elected as producer of the year at the Ericsson Muzik Award in London. In September 2000 the third Gouryella single entitled "Tenshi" was released. In 2000, Corsten also remixed William Orbit’s "Adagio for Strings" as well as "New Year’s Day" for U2. His remix of Barber’s "Adagio For Strings" was awarded at the Dancestar 2000 awards. The Ministry of Sound dance compilation series entitled Trance Nation became one of the best selling dance compilations in the UK and was awarded the platinum status. In 2000 in his home country Corsten got awarded the Silver Harp award for his numerous outstanding contributions made to Dutch dance music.