Trance Awards

My Trance Story

Jurrane

I'd always been into electronic music but the day I first heard trance, my world changed. I'd recently bought the first Northern Exposure compilation by Sasha & John Digweed and chose to listen to it for the first time on my Walkman while lying by the beach on a Mediterranean island (no, it wasn't Ibiza that time!). I couldn't stop listening to it for the rest of my holiday and as soon as I got back, my dance music collection began.

Funnily enough, I didn't really go to clubs at first and simply listened to it all at home. That all changed when I went with a friend to a night called Plasma at the Soundshaft in London and then I completely "got" the music. It sounded incredible: so energetic, uplifting and dynamic and, soon after, when I started going to the amazing Planet Angel parties (where I met co-producer and fellow Planet Angel resident DJ Sly One), I decided I wanted to DJ and produce trance music. The rest, as they say...

Influence-wise, I guess my main inspiration was the music played by then-Knowwhere residents Ian Betts and Anthony Dean. All trance sounded good to me back then but the music they played was somehow different: even more pumping, bouncy and impossible not to put a smile on people's faces. A lot of trance these days is great home or car-listening music but my golden rule is that it has to be uplifting, energetic and fun: the sort of music that makes crowds dance, whoop and cheer, no matter what time of the night it is or how tired they are. I try to keep this feeling in all my sets: if it's not a "dancefloor" track, I'm just not interested.

I've been very lucky to have enjoyed some great moments in my DJ and production career. Playing closing set at The Gallery at Turnmills was a dream come true, with US stars Gabriel & Dresden handing over to my for final set of the night. I'm also incredibly grateful to the team at Planet Angel for first giving me a chance (a peak-time debut gig in front of nearly a thousand clubbers!) and then, several years later, making me a monthly resident for their amazing parties. Watching recent crowd reactions to some my tracks also ranks as recent highlights, especially when the likes of Paul van Dyk have supported my music.

I'm a little biased but if I had to name anywhere in the world as trance-central, it'd have to be London. While I've enjoyed countless parties outside the capital, London's my home and it's where all my favourite events have been. The clubs are amongst the best in the world, some great DJs and producers are part of the scene there and the crowds are second to none. That said, when I finally got to Amnesia in Ibiza, it absolutely blew my mind...

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