Tiesto's Style
Monday, 21 May 2007
Tiesto Interview about Elements of life
A DJ tour with 35 people? No, its not just a huge entourage. It's the full stage show for Tiesto's latest tour for Elements of Life – with visuals, staging, lighting, and live performers all centered around Tiesto's new CD. Diving into the realms of rock and experimental electronica, Tiesto's third artist album "Elements of Life" will offer his fans a new glimpse of where he is at musically.
Pete Kay: Tell us a little bit about the album and why it's called Elements of Life?
Tiesto: It's called Elements of Life mainly because of the world tour I'm going to do. The whole show is incorporating water, fire, earth, and air and how the elements interplay.
DJ Ron Slomowicz: With your new show for Elements of Life, is it going to be more live performance or DJing?
Tiesto: The big difference is that I'm going to travel with thirty-five people. It's crazy and everything is new. We travel with the stage, the sound, the lights, live performers, and special effects. It's almost like a Tiesto experience, not just a DJ show.
RS: With the live performances, are you going to have Jes with you on tour?
Tiesto: Yes, definitely. She is the opening artist. Jes has a new album out and I love her voice, so she's definitely going to be part of the tour.
RS: There are several vocalists on the album, do you write a track with a vocalist in mind or do you write with the vocalist?
Tiesto: Well it depends. Sometimes I just send them a demo with the music and they come back with lyrics and vocals and other times they just send me a whole track but in demo style, and then I just rework everything.
RS: For the "In the Dark" single you worked with the singer from BB Mak, how did you hook up with him?
Tiesto: I met him on MySpace. I really liked his voice and we really clicked together, so I think we're going to work more in the future.
RS: On the single, there's mixes by Karl B and Dirty South. How involved are you with remixes - do you choose the remixers or is that a label thing?
Tiesto: It's both. I was not familiar with the Dirty South remixers, but having heard a track from them, I really liked it - it sounded kind of rocky, so I thought maybe they are good to do. I'm a big fan of Karl B, he's one of my favorite trance producers and he's just an amazing producer and I was like well he couldn't do a better job than me I think, never could.
Pete: This is your third artist album and from what we have heard, it's much different from the previous two. What was the thought process of combining rock, trance and the very experimental music that you have on this one?
Tiesto: Yes, it's very different and I think it says exactly where Tiesto is at the moment. You still hear influences from the old Tiesto, the trancy guy, and the new stuff is in there as well. So it's for me an in-between stop for where I want to go, like it's a time mark in my career.
Pete: The first single "Dance for Life" was dedicated to AIDS research. How has it impacted the AIDS mission?
Tiesto: We don't know the result yet how it impacted, but it did really well around the world. Everybody played the track and it's been very successful. In Holland alone, its sold more than forty-five thousand copies. With radio play everywhere, and there has been a lot of digital downloads.
Pete: Can you tell us about Break My Fall and working with BT? Did you make any other tracks when you were together in LA?
Tiesto: Yes, we made a couple of tracks. He's actually involved in three tracks on the album, "Bright Morning Start," "Sweet Things," and "Break My Fall." We clicked really well together and made a couple more tracks actually which didn't make the album. I think this summer we're going to work more together to get more tracks done.
Pete: Are there any artists or DJs in particular that you're looking to work with in the future or looking forward to seeing at this conference?
Tiesto: BT is still by far my favorite producer and I'm basically open to work with all kinds of people. I would love to work with The Cure, I look forward to seeing them on Friday when I play with them at Ultra.
RS: With your last album you did some crazy stuff to promote it, like jumping out of airplanes and playing at terminals, do you have anything like that up your sleeve for this album?
Tiesto: No, not that much actually. I have some very high profile performances like Coachella where I'm going to perform on the main stage right after the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
RS: Is your performance at Coachella along the lines of you doing a more rock-oriented album? Is that why you went after Coachella?
Tiesto: Well actually, they came after me. The owner of Coachella saw the concert I did in LA two years ago and loved it. He wanted me to do a more rock-y performance at Coachella and I said yes. That's going to be the biggest show I've ever done in the US.
RS: There's so many great Dutch DJs and producers coming out right now, why do think there's so much great talent coming from Amsterdam right now?
Tiesto: I think it's because the crowds in Holland are very hard to entertain so you have to be on top of your game. They've seen and done everything. I feel like when I play abroad it's much easier to perform because the crowd is so happy to see you. In Holland, they're also happy but they don't scream that loud.
RS: I just saw a video of you hanging out with Diddy in the DJ booth. Is there any chance of a collaboration?
Tiesto: Actually I played his track with Christina Aguilera "Tell Me" that night just for fun. He's a big fan and loves my music so maybe in the future a collaboration, who knows.
RS: I'm going to ask you a little bit of a difficult question, have you seen this YouTube video that's a spoof of an interview with you where they dub in different words, subtitle it differently with what you're saying?
Tiesto: I heard about it I think. Is that the one with the dog, the Casio, and the second coming of Christ comment?
RS: Yes, that one.
Tiesto: That's funny I think as I love it when people are creative. The Spitting Image, I mean that's OK and I like it when people make fun of me in a classy way. I don't like it when people say just like Tiesto sucks, just for the way of saying it. When I did the Pirates of the Caribbean remix, they put me on a sleeve like that and that's cool, I like that. I have lots of humor myself so I can handle that.
Pete: Your relationship with fans is quite influential. You told your fans not to vote for you in the DJ pools and to give new artists a chance - how did that work out?
Tiesto: Well I think it's worked out well because a lot of people voted for other DJs and yes, I think it's about time that new talent gets a chance. There's so many good young fresh DJs out there and a lot of other DJs just don't deliver the good anymore so it's time to get some new ones in. There's plenty of good examples like Eddie Halliwell and Sander Van Doorn.
RS: Cool. Is there anything you have to say to all your fans out there?
Tiesto: Well I can say thanks for your support, I think that's the most important thing, and without them I wouldn't be where I am today.
Pete Kay: Tell us a little bit about the album and why it's called Elements of Life?
Tiesto: It's called Elements of Life mainly because of the world tour I'm going to do. The whole show is incorporating water, fire, earth, and air and how the elements interplay.
DJ Ron Slomowicz: With your new show for Elements of Life, is it going to be more live performance or DJing?
Tiesto: The big difference is that I'm going to travel with thirty-five people. It's crazy and everything is new. We travel with the stage, the sound, the lights, live performers, and special effects. It's almost like a Tiesto experience, not just a DJ show.
RS: With the live performances, are you going to have Jes with you on tour?
Tiesto: Yes, definitely. She is the opening artist. Jes has a new album out and I love her voice, so she's definitely going to be part of the tour.
RS: There are several vocalists on the album, do you write a track with a vocalist in mind or do you write with the vocalist?
Tiesto: Well it depends. Sometimes I just send them a demo with the music and they come back with lyrics and vocals and other times they just send me a whole track but in demo style, and then I just rework everything.
RS: For the "In the Dark" single you worked with the singer from BB Mak, how did you hook up with him?
Tiesto: I met him on MySpace. I really liked his voice and we really clicked together, so I think we're going to work more in the future.
RS: On the single, there's mixes by Karl B and Dirty South. How involved are you with remixes - do you choose the remixers or is that a label thing?
Tiesto: It's both. I was not familiar with the Dirty South remixers, but having heard a track from them, I really liked it - it sounded kind of rocky, so I thought maybe they are good to do. I'm a big fan of Karl B, he's one of my favorite trance producers and he's just an amazing producer and I was like well he couldn't do a better job than me I think, never could.
Pete: This is your third artist album and from what we have heard, it's much different from the previous two. What was the thought process of combining rock, trance and the very experimental music that you have on this one?
Tiesto: Yes, it's very different and I think it says exactly where Tiesto is at the moment. You still hear influences from the old Tiesto, the trancy guy, and the new stuff is in there as well. So it's for me an in-between stop for where I want to go, like it's a time mark in my career.
Pete: The first single "Dance for Life" was dedicated to AIDS research. How has it impacted the AIDS mission?
Tiesto: We don't know the result yet how it impacted, but it did really well around the world. Everybody played the track and it's been very successful. In Holland alone, its sold more than forty-five thousand copies. With radio play everywhere, and there has been a lot of digital downloads.
Pete: Can you tell us about Break My Fall and working with BT? Did you make any other tracks when you were together in LA?
Tiesto: Yes, we made a couple of tracks. He's actually involved in three tracks on the album, "Bright Morning Start," "Sweet Things," and "Break My Fall." We clicked really well together and made a couple more tracks actually which didn't make the album. I think this summer we're going to work more together to get more tracks done.
Pete: Are there any artists or DJs in particular that you're looking to work with in the future or looking forward to seeing at this conference?
Tiesto: BT is still by far my favorite producer and I'm basically open to work with all kinds of people. I would love to work with The Cure, I look forward to seeing them on Friday when I play with them at Ultra.
RS: With your last album you did some crazy stuff to promote it, like jumping out of airplanes and playing at terminals, do you have anything like that up your sleeve for this album?
Tiesto: No, not that much actually
RS: Is your performance at Coachella along the lines of you doing a more rock-oriented album? Is that why you went after Coachella?
Tiesto: Well actually, they came after me. The owner of Coachella saw the concert I did in LA two years ago and loved it. He wanted me to do a more rock-y performance at Coachella and I said yes. That's going to be the biggest show I've ever done in the US.
RS: There's so many great Dutch DJs and producers coming out right now, why do think there's so much great talent coming from Amsterdam right now?
Tiesto: I think it's because the crowds in Holland are very hard to entertain so you have to be on top of your game. They've seen and done everything. I feel like when I play abroad it's much easier to perform because the crowd is so happy to see you. In Holland, they're also happy but they don't scream that loud.
RS: I just saw a video of you hanging out with Diddy in the DJ booth. Is there any chance of a collaboration?
Tiesto: Actually I played his track with Christina Aguilera "Tell Me" that night just for fun. He's a big fan and loves my music so maybe in the future a collaboration, who knows.
RS: I'm going to ask you a little bit of a difficult question, have you seen this YouTube video that's a spoof of an interview with you where they dub in different words, subtitle it differently with what you're saying?
Tiesto: I heard about it I think. Is that the one with the dog, the Casio, and the second coming of Christ comment?
RS: Yes, that one.
Tiesto: That's funny I think as I love it when people are creative. The Spitting Image, I mean that's OK and I like it when people make fun of me in a classy way. I don't like it when people say just like Tiesto sucks, just for the way of saying it. When I did the Pirates of the Caribbean remix, they put me on a sleeve like that and that's cool, I like that. I have lots of humor myself so I can handle that.
Pete: Your relationship with fans is quite influential. You told your fans not to vote for you in the DJ pools and to give new artists a chance - how did that work out?
Tiesto: Well I think it's worked out well because a lot of people voted for other DJs and yes, I think it's about time that new talent gets a chance. There's so many good young fresh DJs out there and a lot of other DJs just don't deliver the good anymore so it's time to get some new ones in. There's plenty of good examples like Eddie Halliwell and Sander Van Doorn.
RS: Cool. Is there anything you have to say to all your fans out there?
Tiesto: Well I can say thanks for your support, I think that's the most important thing, and without them I wouldn't be where I am today.
Labels: elements of life, interview, tiesto
posted by dumis at 11:41
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