Tijs Verwest
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| Tijs Verwest | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Gender | Male |
| Born | January 17, 1969 Breda, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands |
| Age | 39 |
| Nationality | Dutch |
Tijs Verwest was born January 17, 1969 in Breda, Netherlands. His interest for music started very early - at the age of 12 he was already writing his own songs. Nowadays he is one of the most famous DJs in the world, according to Paul Oakenfold the "Godfather" of the English dance scene. Since November 1999 he performs monthly as a resident in Gatecrasher at Leeds, the most popular club in England. In February of that year, he had a break through with his set at Innercity. With Gouryella, a production with Ferry Corsten, he got a Top-20 hit in England.
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[edit] The beginning
Tijs has always had the feeling that he wanted to share his music with others, but never seriously had in mind to become a world-known DJ. At the end of the 80s he mostly played in a little club called Spock, in Breda. Every thursday, friday and saturday from 22.00 till 4.00 hour in the morning. Spock was a small club, however very extravagant like the Roxy. There was space for about 200 people.
"It didn't matter if there were less people, I could do what I wanted, the isolement from other DJ's was good. Through that I could develop myself and my music."
In the beginning of his carrier as DJ he mostly played New Beat and Acid House, sometimes some Madonna remixes also. Tijs likes the work of Madonna, because "her music shows that she likes to dance". Before the release of her album, there were already dance remixes, for example "Vogue". Contrastingly, other electronic music enthusiasts have expressed disapproval of Madonna's commandeering of the genre, notably 'Ishkur' in his "Guide to electronic music"
[edit] Today
These days his DJ agenda is filled for every weekend with gigs all over the world.
"Because when you play somewhere for two hours you'll never know what's before and after you. You can't play the same IDs. Seven hours is long to play and after such a performance I am exhausted, because when I play I have to translate my feelings into music. That needs a very hard concentration. 15 minutes before I begin I am so in myself that I don't hear anyone talking to me. Playing music is more than put some vinyl on my equipment. Timing is the most important thing in house music. You can play the same tracks at two nights but at one night the public gets bored, the other night the people are partying there heads of! Beeing a DJ and perform is like a topsport."
"Innercity was one of the best parties for me that year, not only because it was my breakthrough. At that time I didn't even realise that, but the party was very big and very good. The first Innercity was for me the first big night to DJ and I think that set was one of my best ever! It was a perfect set for a perfect public!"
After Innercity DJ Tiësto's DJ agenda was soon be filled with festivals like the Love Parade, Nature One, Gatecrasher summer 1999 and Hyperstate. He travelled also to party island Ibiza.
"The people who are coming to Ibiza just want one thing and that's good music and party! They are very open minded. I've been there three times this summer, a week and two times for four days. That's long enough! Because you don't get any sleep. The party at Ibiza is 24 hours a day. When you're going to Ibiza a week is enough, than it's still fun."
Tiësto also performs monthly at Gatecrasher in England.
"Gatecrasher is amazing! When you're standing there you see an ocean of people. It's a can full of people. Gatecrasher isn't very big, but there you can party 2500 people in it. The public is very faithfull to you. When you're in a little depression during your set the public pulls you through. They love breaks, when the beat faint they're starting to shout and scream, clapping their hands like the English football team has scored a penalty! It gives you the feeling you're giving a concert. The interaction with the Gatecrasher public is very special."
Dispite the success of his work, Tijs Verwest is still the same down-to-earth guy as before. In autum 1999 he started a recordshop called "Magik the record store" in the heart of his home city Breda in West-Brabant, Netherlands. Together with Arny, Tiësto's bussiness partner, he started also the Record Company Blackhole Recordings there. The series "Forbidden Paradise" and the record label Guardian Angel was the idea of Arny before.
[edit] Awards
Tijs was voted "Worlds Best DJ" 2002 [1], 2003[2], 2004 [3] by DJMAG Dj Top 100.
[edit] Aka, Aliases and Acts
[edit] Solo
- Dj Tiësto
- Allure
- Da Joker
- Drumfire
- Hammock Brothers
- Paradise In Dubs
- Passenger
- Roze
- Stray Dog
- Tom Ace
- Wild Bunch
[edit] With Others
- "A3" (with DJ Montana)
- "Alibi" (with Armin van Buuren)
- "Andante" (with Arny Blink)
- "Clear View" (with Greg 'Storm' van 's Gravesande)
- "Control Freaks" (with Benno De Goeij and Piet Bervoets)
- "DJ Limited" (with Rob Verhoeven)
- "DJ Misja" (with Misja Helsloot)
- "DJ Yves & DJ Maikel" (with Yves Vandichel and Maikel van 't Hof)
- "Glycerine" (with Yves Vandichel)
- "Gouryella" (with Ferry Corsten)
- "Hammock Brothers" (with Cor Fijneman and Roland Kramer)
- "Hard Target" (with Greg Storm van's Gravesende)
- "Jedidja" (with Dennis Waakop Reijers)
- "Kamaya Painters" (with Benno De Goeij)
- "Main Men" (with Piet Bervoets)
- "Major League" (with Armin van Buuren)
- "T-Scanner" (with Greg 'Storm' van 's Gravesande)
- "Taxigirl" (with Dennis Waakop Reijers)
- "TB X-Press" (with Bjorn Wendelen)
- "Tiësto, Montana & Storm" (with DJ Montana & DJ Storm)
- "Two Deejays" (with Yves Vandichel and Maikel van 't Hof)
- "Vimana" (with Ferry Corsten) (Singles)
- "West & Storm" (with Greg 'Storm' van 's Gravesande)
