Tijs Verwest

Tijs Verwest (born January 17, 1969 in Breda, Netherlands) or Tiesto is one of the world's leading trance DJs. Although he has used many aliases in the past, he is best known for his work as DJ Tiësto. However, his latest productions have him dropping the "DJ" label and he is now known simply as "Tiësto." In Europe, Tiësto is best known for his famous remix of the Delerium single Silence (featuring Sarah McLachlan) and for his interpretation of Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings. Tijs will be permanently attached to his Tiësto alias, an Italian twist of his childhood nickname, and this acclaimed remix that brought him into the strata of world-renowned DJs.

Career

Tijs began DJing professionally at school parties, and then moved on to becoming a resident DJ between 1985 and 1993 at several clubs in the Netherlands. During these years, he produced hardcore/gabber tracks under aliases Da Joker and DJ Limited. However, it was at "The Spock," a small club in Breda, where he was able to fine tune his own style by playing in a separate room from 10pm until 4am on weekends. In the mid 1990s, he started to produce trance, and in 1997 he and Arny Bink co-founded Black Hole Recordings to support his work. Black Hole Recordings and its sub-label Magik Muzik continue to sign Tiësto's vision of trance-producing talent and DJs such as Cor Fijneman, Ton TB, and Mark Norman.

His hit singles include "Flight 643," "Lethal Industry," "Suburban Train," "Traffic," and his interpretation of Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings." Flight 643 was voted as the second most influential dance track of all time by ID&T fans, Lethal Industry has one of the most identifiable climaxes in trance, Suburban Train was his infamous and energetic closing track, Traffic was the first instrumental track to reach #1 in the Netherlands in 23 years, and Adagio for Strings was the mind-blowing opening track at his 2003 concert. His albums are also deserving of acclaim for their quality, style and popularity. His artist albums, "In My Memory" and "Just Be," together contain these mentioned songs in addition to more of Tiësto's better known productions. His Magik CD series of 7 albums, beginning with "Magik One: First Flight" in 1997 and essentially ending with "Magik Seven: Live in Los Angeles" in 2000, was the best selling trance mix CD series of all time. His 4th album In Search of Sunrise series contains some of the more artistically worthy trance records and is mixed by Tiësto so well it releases the listener into the warmth and energy of Ibiza and Latin America.

Tiësto became famous in the late 1990's by playing at the first ID&T Innercity party, and in the early 2000's for his six hour "Tiësto Solo" sets which he performed without other DJs or opening acts. This idea of one DJ playing alone to a large crowd was brought to its pinnacle when Tiësto was the first DJ to hold a solo concert in a stadium when he did so for over 25 000 people in Arnhem's Gelredome May 10th, 2003. Dubbed "Tiësto in Concert", the event was an enormous success for Tijs. He repeated this type of concert in the next year during two consecutive nights in late October 2004. In addition to holding these two concerts for 25 000 of his fans, he held another for 20 000 in Belgium the week afterwards. Tickets for these shows sold out in a matter of a few hours. DVDs of both his May 10th, 2003 and October 30th, 2004 concerts have been released.

On August 20th 2005 he took "Tiësto in Concert" to America by playing to 10 000 Tiësto fans in Los Angeles, California in the LA Sports Arena. Despite his four city American tour being postponed due to the hurricane damage in New Orleans and Miami, playing such cities in the United States further expanded and cemented his popularity among more mainstream audiences. In the fall of 2005 he went on a very successful tour throughout Central and Eastern Europe where he played once in each country to amazing crowds of 10 000 to 15 000 fans. Stops were made in Slovakia, Serbia and Montenegro, Macedonia, Romania, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Turkey, Poland, Lebanon, and Croatia.

Tijs was the first DJ to hold DJ Magazine's 'No. 1. DJ in the World' title for the three consecutive years, in 2002, 2003 and 2004. Tijs also played at the 2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in Athens Hellas, witnessed by an estimated two to four billion viewers around the world, another first for any DJ of any style or time period. Other honours include being named an Officer of the "Order of Orange-Nassau" by the Dutch Royalty, and being voted by the Dutch people as their 40th greatest citizen of all time. Especially in the Netherlands, but also around the entire world, Tiësto's humility and musical talent have raised him to a celebrity and near mythical status.

Tiësto's motto is: "I feel the energy from the crowd and I try to give back, to create a unity."

Aliases: Allure, Da Joker, DJ Tiësto, DJ Limited, Drumfire, Hammock Brothers, Paradise In Dubs, Passenger, Roze, Stray Dog, Tiësto, Tom Ace, and Wild Bunch.

He has also worked with the support of Cor Fijneman, Tony Montana, DJ Mocca, and has collaborated with Benno De Goeij under the name Kamaya Painters, Armin van Buuren under the alias Major League and Alibi, and has previously worked very successfully with Ferry Corsten under the name Gouryella (which is now Ferry Corsten alone) and Vimana.

Discography

Albums (Solo)

2001 In My Memory 15 April, 2001
2002 In My Memory - Remixes 23 June, 2002
2004 Just Be 15 May, 2004
2004 Parade of the Athletes 18 October, 2004
2005 Just Be: Remixed 27 September, 2005
2005 Tiesto '' 2005

Singles (Solo)

? Spiritual Wipe Out (as Da Joker)
1994 Arabsession (as Dj Limited)
1994 In The Ghetto (as Da Joker)
1996 Second Game (as Tom Ace)
1996 The Tube
1996 In My Heart (as Paradise In Dubs)
1996 Blackspin (as Passenger)
1997 Blaze Of Night (as Hammock Brothers)
1998 Our Love (as Roze)Á
1998 When She Left (as Allure)
1998 Flying Squirrel Problem (as Drumfire)
1999 Mirror (as Stray Dog)
1999 Rejected / When She Left (as Allure)
1999 Lethal Industry
1999 Sparkles
1999 Theme From Norefjell
2000 No More Tears (as Allure)
2000 We Ran At Dawn (as Allure)
2001 Battleship Grey
2001 Flight 643
2001 Suburban Train
2001 Urban Train
2002 In My Memory
2002 Magik Journey
2002 Obsession (with Junkie XL)
2002 We Came (with Ferry Corsten)
2003 Traffic
2004 Dallas 4pm
2004 Love Comes Again (with BT) #30 UK
2004 Just Be (feat. Kirsty Hawkshaw)
2005 Adagio For Strings #37 UK
2005 The Loves We Lost (as Allure)
2006 He's a Pirate (Remix)

Co production

"Gouryella"(with Ferry Corsten) (Singles)
- 1999 Walhalla
- 1999 Gouryella
- 2000 Tenshi
- 2002 Ligaya ( Tijs Verwest did not participate, John Ewbank participated)
"Vimana"(with Ferry Corsten) (Singles)
- 1999 We Came
- 2000 Dreamtime

"Kamaya Painters" (with Benno De Goeij) (Singles)
- 1998 Endless Wave
- 1999 Northern Spirit
- 1999 Far From Over
- 2000 Cryptomnesia
- 2000 Wasteland
- 2001 Summerbreeze

"Control Freaks" (with Benno De Goeij and Piet Bervoets) (Singles)
- 1998 Subspace Interference

"Major League" (with Armin Van Buuren)
- 2000 Wonder Where You Are
"Alibi" (with Armin Van Buuren)
- 2000 Eternity

"Glycerine" (with Dj Yves)
- 1996 666

"Hard Target" (with G-Shock)
- ? Knights Of Hardcore
"T-Scanner" (with G-Shock)
- 1994 Trip To Heaven
"West & Storm" (with G-Shock)
- 1995 Porpoise
- 1995 Sunday Morning
- 1996 Back 2 Basic

"TB X-Press" (with Dj Ghost)
- 1996 When I Was A Sperm

Video/DVD

1999 DJ Tiësto Live At Innercity, Rai Amsterdam (Video)
2001 Underground Trance - Special Appearance & Magikal Remake By Tiësto (DVD + 2 CD)
2003 Another Day At The Office (DVD)
2003 Tiësto In Concert (2xDVD)
2003 Tiësto In Concert - Take Two (DVD)
2004 Tiësto In Concert 2 (2xDVD)
2005 Tiësto In Concert 2 (US Release)