Big things have always been expected from Markus Schulz, and in 2010 the German stalwart looks set to continue his meteoric rise. The man’s #8 ranking in DJ Mag’s Top 100 DJs poll verifies the fervour for his take on progressive trance.

Following on from the Las Vegas ‘10 mix earlier this year and some storming releases under his Dakota alias, Schulz has an artist album set for June. He’ll naturally be supporting it with a dizzying schedule of shows – including headlining the Godskitchen arena at We Love Sounds and Winter Sound System. Speaking to inthemix from his adopted home of Miami, Schulz is in high spirits. Can’t say we’re surprised.

What have been some of the standouts from your tour schedule so far in 2010?
Well, the ones I did last week are probably going to stick with me for the entire year. That was Trance Energy and also Bal En Blanc in Montreal, which was absolutely incredible this year. I brought in New Years Eve in Los Angeles at Together As One for 40,000 people, so that’s another one that will stay big in my memory bank.

This year so far do you feel there’s a good energy amongst the crowds?
Absolutely, it’s one of the cool things right now. There’s a feeling of change in the air. The last generation of DJs and producers did an amazing job, but you get a sense there’s a new sound of trance. There’s so much electricity around these new guys. Trance Energy this year featured a lot of the new guys, and they absolutely killed it.

So do you feel there’s a lot of innovation and creativity in trance at the moment?
Oh, absolutely. There’s definitely grittiness to trance now – it’s not all rainbows and unicorns. It’s amazing to hear what these producers come up with now.

Do you feel that your sound is always on the move as well?
I think you always have to reinvent yourself. I hope with my new artist album I’ve been able to reinvent myself. June 14 is the release date, smack-bang in the middle of this winter tour. It’s definitely not the Dakota album. The Markus Schulz album showcases a lot of vocals. It was a year and a half in the making and there’s 16 tracks on it.

Each track has its own story, but overall the album is another level for me as a producer. Making a track here and there is one thing, but sitting down for a year and a half and having the tracks that you made at the very beginning still be relevant is always a challenge. I’m hoping people will realise I’m a real musician; somebody who can actually write songs and work with vocalists.

Earlier this year, you released your Las Vegas ‘10 mix. How did you want it to follow on from Toronto ‘09?
Each year I dedicate a compilation to a city that has inspired me. I think Las Vegas in general is a really exciting place right now. It’s a little more ‘bling bling’, but that can be fun. The people in Las Vegas love the progressive and the trance sounds. I was hoping to showcase that it’s not underground or uber-cool, but it has this freshness to it that comes from being a party city. The mix is ‘bling bling’, but not your obnoxious MTV bling.

A lot of people don’t know this but Las Vegas used to have one of the coolest rave scenes in North America back in the day. When people think of Vegas, they usually just think of the strip. In all honesty, they used to have some of the most incredible raves in the late-1990s. There’s a heritage of coolness. A lot of the locals, promoters and DJs I used to see there ten years ago wearing phat pants and glowsticks are now coming in wearing proper dress shirts and nice shoes. They’ve all cleaned up [laughs]. But they’ve never forgotten their passion for this music.

Having grown up in Germany then moved to the US, how different are the musical cultures?
When I came to the US, obviously hip hop is king here and as far as dance music, diva-style house was always so big. Growing up in Europe, I had this taste of more melodic stuff, and I think that is what has made my sound special. I’ve always loved the house-y groove with trance-y melodies.

How do you see your Dakota alias as distinct from what you produce as Markus Schulz?
Dakota was an opportunity for me to go down the rabbit-hole. The Dakota stuff doesn’t have vocals, so I don’t spend much time with other people. It’s just tracks that can rock a dancefloor, or deeper instrumental stuff. There was a lot of inspiration I had that I needed to get out of my system so I could work on the Markus Schulz album.

With We Love Sounds and Winter Sound System approaching, is there anything you’re looking forward to trying out this time?
The big thing I’ll be trying out is my artist album, so I’m really looking forward to dropping brand new remixes of some of those tracks and other productions coming out on [Schulz’s label] Coldharbour. These kinds of festivals are a celebration of our music, so I always make sure there are plenty of hits that people know and love.

Is the plan to keep your Global DJ Broadcast coming live from various cities around the world?
For sure. We haven’t really planned it yet, but I know we’re definitely going to have to represent Australia again this year.

Markus Schulz plays Winter Sound System and We Love Sounds in June – expect in Perth, where he does Godskitchen Winter Edition at Metro City.