How many DJs do you know of who have played both the mainstage of Holland’s Trance Energy this year, as well as that of hard dance spectacular the Defqon.1 Festival not long after that? Fausto is the one and only who can lay claim to such an epic achievement, and it’s for reasons like this that he’s increasingly becoming known as one of trance and hard dance’s most versatile and rock-solid performers. And that’s not even to mention his tendency for dressing up and getting all theatrical on stage.

Australian crowds got a taste at when he toured for Q-dance earlier this year, and he’ll be coming back for the Defqon.1’s mighty debut next month. And Fausto says we’ve got something pretty extraordinary to look forward to. “Last year I played at the Orange (hard trance) stage in Holland and this year I got the honor to play at the mainstage, right after Kamui. It was an awesome experience and I think Defqon.1 in Australia is going to be the absolute shit! The environment looks fantastic and the Australian crowd is definitely up for a good party.” ITM chats with Fausto about his designation to demolish.

Hi Fausto, you’re talking to inthemix in Australia. How are you, and how is your year turning out so far?

Hi all! I’m doing just great, couldn’t be better to be honest. I’ve reached some milestones that I had only been dreaming of for years. I closed down the mainstage at Holland’s biggest trance event Trance Energy, I’ve played at the mainstage of Defqon.1 (of which I also did a mix for the compilation CD) and also I get to host my very own area at the Q-Base festival. My radioshow called ‘Fausto’s Crossover’ was launched last year and has proven itself to be a real hit, therefore the show will host its own area at this festival. Me and my co-host Artento Divini present Crossover on a weekly basis and we will record all sets of our area during Q-Base, which will be broadcast in the weeks after the event.

Your profile seems to be skyrocketing this year, with a slot mainstage at Trance Energy one of your highlights for sure. How was that experience?

It was absolutely amazing, I think it’s a dream for every trance-DJ to close the mainstage down playing after some of the biggest names in the scene like Armin van Buuren and Paul van Dyk. The whole experience was fantastic, once I was on stage I felt a huge energy. I was really glad to feel this vibe, mainly because the week before the event my hard disk had crashed and I literally had no new own production and promos at all to choose from. So I started some sort of promo offense to gather all new and forthcoming stuff. I ended up playing a combination of some new upcoming hits and some good old trance classics, I was very happy to see 15,000 people going wild to my set.

You certainly seem to have the support of ID&T. How valuable is a relationship like that to the career of a DJ/producer?

Of course it’s always nice to have a huge organization standing right behind you, especially when it is the leading organization when it comes to dance events. They have given dance music a whole new perspective and I’m glad to be part of that. They have given me the opportunity to present my sound to a bigger audience globally, if you have to do that all by yourself it’s almost impossible to do so and I’m very grateful for that opportunity.

You have toured internationally any played at many nightclubs and parties across the world, is there a particular venue or country that you like to perform at most?

The UK has a very special place in my heart because that’s where my career has started. Venues like The Fridge and Brixton Academy and Club Opium in Miami Beach were awesome to play at. In the last named club I closed down the Dance Valley night during the Miami Convention. And of course I love the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney, you Ozzies rule! But every venue and every country has its own vibe, it’s too hard to compare everything. But of course it will always be special to play in my own country, some of the best memories I have are about a club called De Melkweg in Amsterdam, I’ve been a resident at the HQ parties that can be seen as the longest running clubnight ever in Holland.

What was it like for you being offered a spot at Amsterdam’s longest running nightclub High Quality, and what did that do for your reputation?

By playing HQ on a regular basis I developed a very valuable feeling for playing hard dance. During these HQ parties I was given the opportunity to explore the boundaries of the harder styles and I’ve learned very much about DJing in general just by playing at these events. The same goes for my Dance Valley residency, which started off in the same period. This really kickstarted my name here in Holland.

The Excessive Records label has become part of your daily schedule, and has been responsible for producing some awesome records. What are your plans for Excessive in the future?

We’re expanding every day. We’ve signed some new and upcoming stars-to-be, such as Chris Cortez, Audio Psychos and Ricky Raw. I think these artists will go sky high within no time and I’m glad to be able to offer them a platform on which they can show their skills. They all have a shared passion for dance music and so do we, and this fits perfectly within the Excessive Records philosophy. So there’s no doubt about the fact that you will hear a lot of Excessive tunes in the future.

Out of the tunes you’ve produced to date, which one has to be your favourite?

I have to say Lupara. I tested this track out during my performance at Sensation Black and once it was released, the track has done amazingly well, Marco V even decided to sign the remix I did with Artento Divini on his label In Charge. The runner up would be Outlaw, because it’s got this raw and massive drive which is basically what I think hard dance is all about.

You were recently here to perform at a Q-dance party in Sydney. How was that experience for you?

It was a whole new experience which worked out so well. It was a lot of fun to drive around Sydney in a massive bus and to do some promotional activities for the fans in Australia. I met some very nice people and of course the climate is amazing, I’m really glad to be heading back Down Under in September.

What are your thoughts on the dance scene in Holland at the moment and where can you see it heading in the future?
Holland is one of the leading countries when it comes to dance music, the scene is slowly evolving every day. More quality and higher standards are becoming important again and this maybe explains why the Dutch do so well in both Holland and abroad. I could talk about this for hours, but I’ll let you be haha!

Are there any other future plans that you haven’t shared with the dance world yet?

I’m working on my first artist album. This will contain both new and old material and some new edits and remixes. Next to my own stuff there will be some remixes of some A-class artists, but I can’t say too much about that yet as I don’t want to spoil the surprise. Also I’m very happy to say that I’ll be playing Hard House Academy in London again in October.

Finally, tell us what we can expect from your set at Defqon.1 in September?

It’s gonna be rocking, banging and full of f*ckin energy. I will open the mainstage and in the middle of the day I will do a special surprise set at the Orange stage. So be there!

Defqon.1 Festival comes to the Sydney International Regatta Centre on Saturday September 19th, tickets on sale now from tickets.q-dance.com.au. Keep your eyes on ITM’s Festival Page in the leadup to the event, and check out the official ‘Aftermovie’ from the Holland event below…

*