From: Rotterdam, Netherlands

DJ style: “Blend of trance, house and techno.”

Best known for: “My certain ‘happy-sad’ approach to melodies.”
 

Perhaps best known for a string of trance anthems produced under his own name, as well as aliases including System F and Gouryella, Ferry Corsten shows no signs of slowing down three decades after his first release. This year he has put out stadium-sized music in the shape of 'Mind Trip', 'Love You Loud', 'Connect', and 'Carte Blanche' — the latter a rework of his 1999 trance anthem of the same name produced with Vincent de Moor under the name Veracocha. Corsten also collaborated with Armin van Buuren, Rank 1 and Ruben de Ronde on 'Destination (A State Of Trance 2024 Anthem)', which was created on a live stream, and continued to host his weekly radio show, Resonation Radio.

As well as delivering a production masterclass with Steinberg, where he talks through using Cubase and his approach to writing melodies, a packed tour diary has seen Ferry continue his What The F world tour — "an open-to-close concept where I only play my own music and remixes” — and also host a stage takeover at the massive Dance Valley in Holland. Looking ahead, Corsten says he’s been hard at work on his new album this year, which is expected to be released in 2024. 
 

Hero of 2023: “Fred again.. Because of his refreshing take on music and his boundary-less way of thinking about genres is absolutely inspiring.”
 

Fave tune of 2023: “Cubicore ‘Bifrost’.”
 

Best DJ set you’ve seen in 2023: “Black Coffee in Las Vegas.”

What was the most exciting tech development of 2023? “ChatGPT. It helped me write the lyrics with a few tracks I worked on (laughs).”
 

Rising star DJ/producer of 2023: “Cubicore."
 

What gives you hope for 2024? “The style of music I’ve always had a big soft spot for is currently coming back, big time, and that promises a lot for next year.”