For many music fans, the art and craft of the album have been lost to a digital age, for others, the vision of a concept album often lacks that atmosphere-enhancing quality. Dutch electronic music producer Ferry Corsten is an artist who shares this view. Music fans wanted the ‘old Ferry’ back. “I was getting sick of my music I was sucked into this, spending the whole EDM everything that sounds the same, I’m at fault, I felt I was going to deep into it. You know your f****** hands up, everybody jump, and I was like Ok I’m done with this. What do I really like, you what I am longing for, it’s the sound of the early 00s”. Trance fans got exactly what they wished for as Ferry Corsten releases a true concept album conceived by a wilful passion for recording how the music delivers its story, entitled ‘Blueprint’. EDM Sauce had the opportunity to interview Trance pioneer about his new album and Documentary setting release later this month.
Your new album Blueprint, can’t stop listening to it, it's like a storybook.
“Right! So it's great when you say that that is exactly what I was hoping it's amazing I mean yes it is a story is what I try to do, I knew that a new Ferry Corsten album was due same time I felt like I don't want to just do another collection of music with an album. As well as many people playing like the phenomenon of the album is dead and I disagree, you know and vinyl is coming back too.”
While the album transports you into a portal of sound and light, escaping from the reality we all face, a concept that will inspiration to another artist or trance fan. Helping you to face your fears and “don’t take no for an answer”, Blueprint is more than an album it’s an “audio book”.
“Vinyl sales are shooting up right now I cannot imagine a case like people listening to vinyl, you take the record to put it on for 2 seconds, to you talk the needle and put it on the record, it doesn’t work like that as soon as people are listening to vinyl again then that there's patience you don't just put vinyl on and subconsciously in my mind it helped make the decision of doing this but actually I want to do something like this or even for a long time like I like the music album that had something more like a different dynamic to it and just the music and so I think I created my hybrid between them, an audio book.”
Feeling stuck in the EDM scene, Ferry wanted to explore his appreciation for the art of screenwriting and film scores and bring to the project a wider scaling approach. Working with friend and acclaimed screenwriter David H Miller (of House Of Cards and Rosewood fame), the pair worked closely on storyboarding a narrative to accompany the album's conceptual direction. “It was all a reaction to a response”.
“Yeah so basically my dad said to me when I was filming the Gouryella documentary (coming out in June) and he said ‘Ferry why you take the next step’? Take a plunge, do something with an unspoken word.” He hit the nail on the head. My friend’s manager is David H Miller so it’s him and me and we had a sit down, so I hit it off straight having the same likes in science-fiction, and he said now let me put a dress something up and shoot it over to you and we made a concept and that’s how it was made.”
Throughout the storyline giving nods to the proses of iconic sci-fi authors such as Jules Verne, Hugo Gernsback and most distinctively HG Wells, whilst equally sharing familiarities with modern day shows such as The OA, Westworld and retro Sci-fi-fest Stranger Things, ‘Blueprint’ is an explorative piece of work that puts Sci-fi at its interstellar core. Hollywood actor Campbell Scott (known for The Amazing Spider-Man and The Exorcism of Emily Rose) provides his voice as the narrative of the album flirts between first and third person narration. A unique style for one of the biggest names in the electronic scene but Ferry’s attempts with ‘Blueprint’ is to bring a wider perspective to the listener, and give what the fans they want, as he aims the album to be inclusive of dimensions of religion, history, idea and science fiction.
“It was very cool what I really liked about this whole process is you sit down with some writers and ok I think the hardest part of writing a song is to find the actual concept and the actual thing to write about with this having a story ultimately gives you that platform that that first wave of inspiration to write and you know. It's very cool but it sent on everything had to work together with the song had to make sense with the story but script separate a story and the song still had to make sense without the story for people who don't know the story just you know what I mean so I the only difference like that pitfall along the way.”
Can you talk about your documentary?
“When I brought it back after thirteen years, I said you know it's like OK what did I do what ferry was 25 years old you know when I was in 1998 what was I thinking so I went back to my old projects just trying to find the younger Ferry back then I found this one this older synthesised track, which was only was released and in Japan. So this is what the younger was thinking so I took the melody from the track then brought it up to today’s standers but with the old vibe and there was an era you know so, when it came out the response what so touching that the trance wanted that not like the EDM trance stuff and the track got released based on the response I brought it back as live show and based on that response I decided to bring to bring it back with an album and some scenes from concerts and make into a DVD. This is what the fans wanted.”
“I started working on Blueprint right around the same time I was bringing back Gouryella, so that’s why Gouryella is on the album so I’m merging the two.”
Can you give some inspirational words to the up and coming producers out there?
“The thing that I firmly believe in is to stick to your guns, do your thing, don’t copy that track that you're a fan of, invent your own music.”
Order your copy of Blueprint today!
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