MC: Hi Piet thanks for taking the time to speak with me, how was the WiLDCHiLD gig on Friday?
Rank1: Hi Matt it's my pleasure, I love playing in London I don't get to do it as often as I would like, WiLDCHiLD parties are always really enjoyable to play. The last one JFK was playing, it's such a good feeling playing to the English crowd.
MC: DJ's we speak to always find it very different playing over here in Blighty (England) and we're not just talking about the weather… what are your experiences?
Rank1: People get really into the music over here. I can be really creative with my sets. I get a lot of people coming up and asking me to play certain tunes, I’m always impressed with their knowledge of the music!
MC: Apart from the mighty WiLDCHilD London Sound Clash, have you got any other UK gigs scheduled?
Yes I'm playing for Dance Academy in Plymouth in March. It's a great club, I've played there before, I don't like the journey though - there's a lot of driving! London gigs are much easier to get to.
I remember playing Peach at Camden Palace a few years back, the crowd was one of the most up for it I've played to! Just a shame I couldn't see them over the tall DJ box at the back!
"PEACHY PEACHY Oiiiii Oiiiii - where are yaaaaaa!"
Yes something like that.
[B]MC: What about the other countries - I've noticed you have gigs in Canada, USA, Poland, Switzerland all over the place! Do you change your style when you play in different countries?[/B]
Rank1: Yes of course I play to the crowd, I enjoy the variety of music I can play across the world. The dance music scene is getting really big in USA now, I love being a part of it. It’s really good to see what's rocking it in other places, it helps me get a much bigger idea of the music. I hope to get more gigs in Ibiza this year… we'll have to see!
MC: So tell us about Rank 1 the DJs. Your schedule seems very demanding, how does Rank 1 have the time to travel and produce your tracks?
Rank1: Well I do all of the traveling! Benno's passion is producing the music developing the sound. I love to play the music and to the crowd so I'm the DJ! I've been DJing since I was 12. But it's Benno who has not been as interested in the DJing side, as he prefers producing too much. The traveling is very demanding, he'd rather be spending time working in the studio making new music - it works really well. I have a studio in my house, and so does Benno, we can always work on new projects and new ideas any time we want. When Benno comes to the gigs, he can sit back and think about new material, and look to see if we should change anything from judging by crowd reactions. It's a really good way of working. When we're in the studio together I give him a lot of stick - if I don't like something, we can bounce ideas off each other.
MC: Ok now this is always a hard one but what's your favourite track of the moment?
Rank1: At the moment a track by Vangard called 'Fire Alarm', Speedy J did the remix and it’s a crazy track - check it out, you can find it on a German label called Frisbee Tracks.
MC: Rank 1 has changed its sound from when 'Airwave' and 'Awakening' came out, tell us a bit about the progression and why you changed.
Rank1: The whole club sound has changed a lot since the early days, we have just changed with it. We want to keep coming up with new sounds and new ways of doing things, I want people to say "how did he make that sound?". Our music is driving with tech basslines that work so well with the euphoric sounds we're so famous for. The music I play reflects that, I want to play something different, a tune that not everyone knows and not every other DJ is playing. Our sound is unique and always changing!
MC: So what's happening now! What have you and Benno got in store for us next? Tell us about your new production work and the album that's coming out.
Rank1: The album is going to be very different. We have a lot of diverse tracks so far, we want to make music across the board. We have been working on a breakbeat tune that I'm absolutely loving. Breakbeat is great to play with, we're thinking of calling it '2 Drunk 2 Funk'. Benno’s working with Ronald Van Gelderen at the moment on another project. It’s not going to be house or breaks so watch out for that!
MC: Ronald Van Gelderen! Are you interested in doing any other collaborations or remix work?
Rank1: Yes we are always on the lookout for suitable tracks to remix but we are very selective with what we choose. If we hear a track that does something for us, and we can work with it to make a better remix than the original, then we will do it! We don’t have any plans on working with any other guys at the moment, I want to get our own work done first. I'm happy working with just Benno!
MC: Oh yes and what about this mysterious Marco V track that was rumoured to be a collaboration?
Rank1: Ha! I can't believe you remember that! Well let me clear things up, Marco and Benjamin came over and the 4 of us worked on some sounds together. Marco came up with an amazing melody, we wanted to take it and use it in some of our sets and PA's as did Marco so he did a version as well. We haven't got any plans on releasing it, I prefer to keep some tracks to ourselves, its not always about making money!
MC: Your tune 'beats@rank-1.com' was the official Trance Energy Theme for 2005, how did that come about?
Rank1: It was quite simple, we did the track around the same time of trance energy and ID&T really liked it, they thought it was perfect as a theme song.
MC: So finally Piet, what are your plans for Rank 1 where do you want to be in 12 months time?
Rank1: I want to play in more countries. I love traveling and seeing the new culture, its one of the luxuries of being a DJ so I definitely want to do that more! Benno's got lots of plans on the production side, but I can't give that away! We're going to keep pushing our sound and enjoy life. You can even see us at work in the studio live on our web site via our web cam! Its currently at Benno’s house but we swap it between ourselves, so you can always see what we're up to! Come and visit our site and look for yourself! I want to play in the UK more, as I said earlier I love playing in England and London is my favourite, we'll just have to see how things go! If events like WiLDCHiLD are running I'm sure I will get to play to you guys again soon.
Thanks again Piet for taking time out to speak with us, Rank 1 have certainly got a massive future ahead of their already massive profile. We're definitely going to see you more in England over the coming year.
