[i:Vibes] Interview with Rank 1!!

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Interview with Rank 1!!

16:03 - December 8, 2008

by miles schmidt-scheuber

Rank 1 Mix With Talla 2XLC On Techno Club Volume 28

They’re one of Europe’s most established and respected dance acts. Their debut release, ‘Airwave’ was the first Dutch record ever to hit the #1 position in the European dance charts and went Top 10 in the UK. Over the last 8 years, they have continued to pack the record boxes of the world’s A-list spinners with floor-monsters like ‘Symsonic’, ‘Such Is Life’, ‘Breathing’ & ‘Life Less Ordinary’… Performing to tens of thousands of dance fans every week, they play at some of the biggest dance events in the world. Meet Piet Bervoets & Benno de Goeij - better known as Rank 1!

Piet’s production career started in 1995, when he banded together with another producer Carlo Resoort to produce the proto tech-trance hit, ‘The Silmarillia’. He went on to create the massively infectious ‘Instant Moments’ in 1997 under the pseudonym R.O.O.S. Benno meanwhile collaborated with the at-the-time unknown Tiësto as Kamaya Painters, producing the scene-setting trance classic, ‘Endless Wave’. He was also behind the pan-European hit, ‘Deadline’, under the name Dutch Force.

A chance meeting at a party in the spring of 1997 set Piet & Benno down the road to Rank 1. Introduced by a mutual friend, they spent the entire night discussing their passion for electronic music. Whilst Benno had no formal production training, Piet saw that his classical music background had given him a natural ear for perfect melodies and powerful riffs.

This was quickly born out by their debut collaboration… As the Dutch trance tidal wave began to rise over Europe, the pair found themselves perfectly positioned to ride it. Championed by fellow Netherlanders Armin van Buuren, Tiësto and Ferry Corsten, the stadium-sized sound of ‘Airwave’ exploded across the continent in 1999. By the following year the track had been released in over 40 countries around the world and cemented the duo’s place in trance music’s hall of fame.

Working at roughly one release a year, Rank 1 followed-up with ‘Such Is Life’ (2001), ‘Awakening’ (taken from their debut album ‘Symsonic’ - both 2002), ‘It’s Up To You’ (2003), ‘Beats At Rank-1 Dotcom’ (2004) and ‘Opus’/’Top Gear’ (2005). After a year’s production break they returned to the fray in 2007 with two monster collaborations: ‘Life Less Ordinary’ (in tandem with Alex Morph) and the ‘This World Is Watching Me’, co-produced with Armin.

Rank 1 also has an estimable remix-ography to their name. Freddy Mercury, Ferry Corsten, Push, Cygnus X, Delirium, Cosmic Gate, Marcel Woods, Mr. Sam, Ronald van Gelderen, Angelic and Ayumi Hamasaki have all been given Rank 1’s studio re-touch.

The outfit now has two distinct branches. Benno takes care of all the Rank 1’s production elements. He is currently shaping their new artist album and has just co-produced the new Armin van Buuren’s long-player ‘Imagine’. Piet meanwhile has the role of globe-trotting DJ, spinning at clubbing tent-pole events like Castle Dance in Russia & Dance Valley in his native Holland, as well as regular Ibiza sessions.

Over recent years, Rank 1 have become increasingly about the LIVE performance. They became the first act to perform at Sensation and famously forced the closure of doors when 25,000 clubbers packed-out Trance Energy’s main arena to see them play. They have continued to thrill crowds at some Europe’s best-known festivals including Mystery Land & Germany’s Nature One. Rank 1 will play at the 24 year anniversary party at Technoclub in December 2008 in Frankfurt.

i:Vibes: Hi guys, thanks for taking some time to speak to www.technoclub.tc and also www.ivibes.nu!
Benno, who is your producer inspiration and Piet, what DJ inspires you?

Benno: I can get really inspired by listening to music and especially talking about it with somebody who shares the same vision as I do. Also just bits and pieces of other styles of music can get me inspired to form a new combination. But of course traveling the world to lots of venues and hearing other DJs play contributes quite a lot to it too.

Piet: The same goes for me, but more on the DJ side. Actually when I hear other DJs play I always feel something is missing or could be better. I don't mean that to be arrogant but for me it shows that how I play is different from others and that I'm on the right track. I mean, it wouldn't make any sense if I would like to be just as good as say Armin, right? ;-) But seriously, DJs that play totally other styles than I do can be inspiring, but it's only little things that remark me.

i:Vibes: You’re mixing the legendary Technoclub Volume 28 together with Talla 2XLC. How did this cooperation come about for mixing this CD?

Rank 1: Actually, Dick De Groot (headchief of Beyourself Music) was approached by Talla2XLC and asked us if we would be interested in doing an episode. Since it's such a unique concept we didn't have to think about it for long.

i:Vibes: What can we expect from the Rank 1 Technoclub Volume 28 mix? Will you be featuring some new tracks and possibly a new Rank 1 track?

Rank 1: On this CD you can find Jochen Miller which is also written by Benno. Furthermore you will find tracks which are picked out by us because they have that special thing to us. When we are choosing tracks we both try to match the sound we have in our minds for a mix CD.

i:Vibes: There are many mix CDs like the Dream Dance, Armin’s ‘A State Of Trance’ or Tiesto’s ‘In Search Of Sunrise’, but no CD is as unique as Talla’s Technoclub. What does it mean for you to be able to mix this incredible CD series?

Rank 1: For us it's an honour to be asked for it, there are many compilation CD concepts out there, but only few survive this long and feature other artists in this way.

i:Vibes: What is your favourite track at the moment that is featured on the Rank 1 CD mix and why?

Piet: For me it’s Armin van Buuren ft. Jaren – Unforgivable : nice vocals, good build up and gives me the perfect feeling of dreaming away.

Benno: Thanks Piet! Now I have to choose something else ;-) An equally favourite of mine is the Arnej track. I really like what he is doing lately, great sound and atmosphere!

i:Vibes: Talla 2XLC is a legend and has been so important for the EDM scene not only in Germany but also in the whole world. How has he inspired you guys and what does the name Talla 2XLC mean to you?

Rank 1: For us he is a big name, because he was there in the beginning when the scene wasn't that big, and is still on the world map today. And we are still thankful for his remix of our track ‘Such Is Life’.

i:Vibes: You guys will be playing at the Technoclub 24 year anniversary in December. Piet also played at the Technoclub 20 year anniversary. How excited are you guys about playing with Talla 2XLC and Ronski Speed?

Rank 1: Ronski Speed is a DJ of the last few years and Talla is there for ages. We are in the middle of that, so it’s a perfect combination! Really looking forward to compete against the two Germans!

i:Vibes: What can we expect from your set at the Technoclub 24 year anniversary? Will you unpack classic tracks like ‘Airwave’ or ‘Awakening’?

Piet: I won't be playing very differently than I do usually, but of course if the atmosphere of the night is asking for it, who am I not to play them? I am not afraid to play them so you guys can loosen up your arms for the big wave.

i:Vibes: Benno, you produced 8 of the 11 tracks on Armin van Buuren’s album. What was it like producing together with DJ Mag’s #1 DJ for the second straight year?

Benno: Lots of fun! I was very surprised that our cooperation went so well, because I can be a real pain in the ass when it comes to cooperations. Armin is certainly somebody who has visions of what he wants, and it was nice to see that he took so much time off to travel to my place to work on tracks, whereas he could have been playing for thousands of people instead.

i:Vibes: How can one imagine the studio work between you and Armin? What duties did each have?

Rank 1: He is really somebody who has specific ideas about how a track should be, and he can make good decisions to get the flow going. That's something I need sometimes because I can get lost in that. The funny thing is that we both have skills but on different levels. He is master in arrangements, knowing what should come when, whereas I can translate what he wants into sound. But aside from that we had lots of 'arguments' too, which is a good thing in my eyes, because it brings the best of both worlds together.

i:Vibes: ‘Face To Face’ is a beautiful instrumental. Was this difficult to produce? What was the hardest part in getting this track perfect?

Rank 1: The most difficult part of producing a track is to get the right idea for it. After there is one it's just a matter of making it sound right and writing it down. While we were writing it however we came to a part when we thought “Hmmm something is missing here…”. That’s when tried this riff and we both knew that was the exact thing that made it complete.

i:Vibes: Rank 1 reminds me a lot of Steve Helstrip (Thrillseekers), because both acts release less, but offer the finest quality. So far there has been only one album and little singles. What can we expect from Rank 1 in the next year? Possibly a new album?

Rank 1: Well thanks for putting it that way. We don't have an album on the shelf at the moment, but a new single is in the pipeline. It’s not 100% finished yet, but already chosen as Trance Energy theme for 2009.

i:Vibes: I can imagine a Rank 1 Vs. Thrillseekers track could sound very interesting. You guys ever thought about getting together in the studio?

Rank 1: Actually we haven't yet! Although our latest tracks were all versus, it's not like a cooperation would succeed instantly. Most of the time it starts by talking, sharing the same vision and then most of the time the sentence “Actually we should do a track together!”, comes up. Then we know that spending time in the studio together is worth it.

i:Vibes: ‘Life Less Ordinary’ was a big hit in 2007. Can you imagine hooking up with German Alex Morph for a new single?

Rank 1: Sure why not! But most of the time such things just happen instead of being planned.

i:Vibes: Soon it will be the ten year anniversary of the classic ‘Airwave’. That track was made so early in your career. Where will the Rank 1 sound be heading in the next 10 years?

Rank 1: How time flies... Unbelievable that we are talking about it ten years after, definitely not something we expected when we were in the studio at the time. Hopefully we will be talking in 10 years about a track we will yet have to make but have no idea it will be big haha. We will evolve and do different sounds for sure, but the one thing will be sure, it will always have that typical Rank 1 sound!

i:Vibes: Thanks guys for the chat. See you soon at Technoclub in Frankfurt!

Rank 1: Our pleasure, and don't forget to warm up those arms and hands!