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Molek FMInterview: Jan Oostdyk
Responsible for some of the biggest trance anthems of 2009, including hits ‘Eivissa Eivissa’, ‘Out Of The Box’, ‘The Beginning’ and his ‘RTFM’ remix for Misja Helsloot vs. Signum, and with a knowledge for studio buttons, sliders, computers, instruments, sequencers and plug-ins that borders on obsessive, there’s no doubting why Jan Oostdyk has been at the happy end of a love-in with peers like Tiësto, Armin van Buuren, Gareth Emery and Paul van Dyk. Even name checked by Ferry Corsten and Sied van Riel in their DJ mag interviews as the Breakthrough DJ & Producer of the Year, next to his talent as a DJ and Producer, Jan also hosts an outstanding monthly podcast. His 2009 was a blast, but if our crystal balls are to be believed this 2010 Jan’s future is gonna be strapped to a rocket.
What’s the last thing you did before going to bed last night?
Let me see, I checked my e-mail, talked to some people on MSN and did some work on the mix of my new track.
And what do the Dutch have for breakfast?
Normal Dutchmen eat bread, but those rules don’t apply to me haha. I always work at night, so morning is night for me and the night is morning, if you get my point? When I wake up I usually run to my coffee machine and if I feel like eating, I’ll eat anything I have lying around the house.
Ugh…. The music you make has an incredibly euphoric vibe, what contributes to this?
The inspiration for my music comes from anything … love, anger, a dream or just happiness. And yes, I consider myself to be a very positive person. I always try to solve my problems, make things right and every day there’s another achievement. So I really try to get the best out of life and truly believe that every person is here for a reason. Besides that I believe everyday can be your last so you have to make the most of it!
You’ve had some of the world’s biggest and best DJs and producers give you props. Which of your peers do you admire the most and why?
I admire Ferry Corsten very much. Producing a good piece of music is quite a challenge, and to keep on doing that and to keep being on the top for so long is what I call talent!
In our January issue, JUICE tried to get to the bottom of why it is Dutch DJs find such great success. What is your theory?
In 1999 trance music found its way to reach a global crowd and I think the Dutch were the first to become famous for it; the Dutch are on the top of the trance world. Besides that, I think the Dutch have a great sense for telling a story and finding a touching melody – Sied van Riel, Leon Bolier, W&W, Ferry Corsten, Benno de Goeij (Rank 1) can all do this perfectly!
Trance is a genre that gets a lot of flack, why do you think that is?
Personally I think that’s because the standards in trance are very high, so producers will try to imitate other producers to get some success. In Holland we call that cheesy. If you copy someone’s style, the emotion and vibe will disappear. The sound is the same, but the value of the track is gone. I believe this is also the reason why the trance community dislike the copiers and place true composers/producers on a higher level.
What about downloading?
Because of all the illegal downloading, ripping and sharing of music, lots of producers don’t see the use in spending some extra time on a being original and making a track perfect. If a producer has an amazing trance track, he will sell about 400 mp3s – not that much. I work on a track for about three weeks, day in day out, but the money earned on the record is not something to get excited about. So maybe, we should all stop downloading and sharing music. If you love it, buy it!
1999 was such a great year for trance, which you yourself have pointed out. 10 years along, where do you see the dance music industry, especially the trance scene?
I have the feeling that dance music will stay with us for many years. The evolution of dance music never stops, new genres and new talents keep on presenting theirselves and as long as producers keep on making new material and the people keep listening, it will remain with us. At the moment house is having a huge revival in the mainstream music charts and someday, trance will return in the charts. Trance will make its breakthrough in the United States soon and will be used by many pop artists.
Tell us more about the Basement radio show.
My monthly one hour radio show The Basement is broadcast by 13 radio stations. I host the show myself and have a 20 minute guest mix every month. I prefer the show to be short and contain only the best music that month. At the moment we have a lot of listeners and it looks like I’ll keep on doing the show for quite some time!
What was the last movie you watched and give us a quickie review?
The last movie I saw was 2012. It’s a movie about the theory that the world will end in 2012. I’m so happy that it will take 2 more years before that happens so we all still have some time to enjoy ïŠ. The movie ends (spoiler for everybody that hasn’t seen it), with the continents moved instead of the earth being destroyed. So if that happens in 2012, Thailand will have a white Christmas and Holland will finally have a normal summer haha!
Last album you bought?
Lenny Kravitz – Greatest Hits, awesome music, especially when driving!
What are you working on at the moment and can we expect an album?
I just finished some new tracks. One is a collaboration with Robert Smit (who also worked with System F), one is with Ron van den Beuken. Besides that I have been working on the follow up to ‘Eivissa Eivissa’, which is inspired by Malaysia. This one is almost done and I expect many people to like this one.
Thanks Jan! We’ll eat some Edam in its honour.
For times of Jan’s Basement radio show podcast and to subscribe to Jan’s newsletter there, drop it at www.janoostdyk.com.