STREAMING AUDIO INTERVIEW

The duo of Benno De Goeij and Biet Bervoets AKA Rank 1 may have helped establish the formula for the Dutch trance sound back in the late 90s, but they certainly haven’t stayed there as they’re still every bit the cutting-edge trance act more than a decade later. Witness their massive anthem for Trance Energy this year L.E.D. Let There Be Light. When those massive chords sounded out through the Utrecht stadium back in March, it shook the room to its foundations but what’s most notable about the tune is for an ‘anthem’, just how house-influenced it was.

“What we try and do is make music we like ourselves,” Piet told ITM. “And that’s the perfect formula for us. It’s not like we try to do a hosuey kind of song, or a trancey kind of song. We just sit down in front of a computer and talk about ideas, and that’s the perfect way to work for us.”

With Benno currently holed up in the studio with Armin van Buuren helping him produce his upcoming new artist album, Piet is on his way over to Australia for a run of DJ dates, including an appearance at Sydney’s Freedom Festival at Luna Park. Angus Paterson talks to Rank 1 about where trance has come from, and where they’ll be taking it in the future.

Rank 1 tour dates:

Fri 6th Nov – Freefall, Perth
Sat 7th Nov – Freedom Festival, Sydney