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What’s new with DJ San?
Well I am doing great! My latest single with video clip: Nothing Remains the Same did really well and was released by Universal, Sony/BMG, Ministry of Sound and more. It even won a video award for best dance video in Toronto, Canada.

After this single I decided to write some more club orientated tracks, the one after it ‘Insane’ is a big room progressive trance production, which got amazing response from the big league trance djs of which Tiesto is still playing it in almost every set (3 months already).
In the next 2 months two progressive based tracks are to be released of which San – Hi Tension is already exclusively been picked up by Tiesto in his clublife show.

Are you planning any future cooperation with famous Jan Johnston again?
Actually the productions I did with Jan Johnston have not been released yet. Jan is a great vocalist, but it’s was very hard to stay away from the trance genre with the way she is singing. As most of you know I don’t play full on trance, but more progressive music. My label also felt that the version of the track I did with her didn’t fit with my sound. Therefore I put the record on hold for a while and just 2 weeks ago I started with a new version which will be much more progressive based!

To answer your question, I don’t know. Jan contacted me again to do a track, but I’m currently working on my new single with Jerry Given. Jerry is a pop/rock singer from America living in Holland and he just released a double platinum album (120.000 copies sold) and he asked me to do a dance version of the best selling single.

What’s new with Dutch electronic scene? What about the role of trance or harder styles in your country?
The last few years many things have changed in the world of music. Downloads have taken over the majority of sales, vinyl has almost disappeared and many labels as well as distributors have gone bankrupt. Surely this has been a tough period, but due to the fact that it got harder to survive as a music label, this resulted in the best ones surviving which I think has professionalized the music industry in a great way. On the other hand a lot of digital-only labels have appeared which give new talent the chance to release their music, which is also a great development.

In Holland this is not much different, only the electronic scene has become more commercial.
The most popular genre is house music mostly with vocals. And the trance community has shrunk compared to the form is once had. The harder styles of music in Holland have always been very popular (‘gabber’ it used to be called), but now I think that it’s struggling. I know for a fact that sales on this type of music are much lower than before. The only party organization still doing huge parties is ID&T, but the last parties in these genres have not been sold out.

You’re visiting Czech Republic quite often, is that true that you’re part of Tomstar Day Party line-up? Are you looking forward to that event in Brno?
Yes, that’s true! When Tomstar asked me if I wanted to play at his birthday I didn’t hesitate for a moment. He is a great and very loyal guy, who –I think- has taken over a thousand pictures of me . I am happy to be part of his birthday party in Brno.

When talking about our country? Do you like Czech Republic?
I do like the Czech Republic and especially Prague. I am surprised in a positive way how much a city can develop into almost Metropolitan standards over such a short period of time.
The majority of people, mostly the youth have been really warm and nice to me. When you combine this with the romance and beautiful buildings of your country, I am always looking forward to come back to it.

And not to forget to see the smiling faces of the clubbers dancing, because that makes my heart beat faster ;-).

What about the future – marriage, children?
I would love to get married and have children, but I also want to be able to spend a lot of time with my future wife and children and I think that with this crazy travelling schedule it would be hard to combine it.

What’s your dream? Which goal wants DJ San to fulfill?
I am living my dream! I have never dreamt I could turn my love for music into my profession. I get to travel the world, see all these great places, meet a lot of great people and experience different cultures.

Of course I have goals as well; I would love to be able to spread my music around the world even more and to be respected by as many people as possible for my contribution to the dance scene!

Do you (or did you) have any DJ idol, some marvel in the world of deejaing?
I used to have an idol, but now he became a friend. His name is Anthony Pappa. We toured through Romania, Hungary and Greece together and he is a really great guy and a very talented dj. Unfortunately I haven’t heard him play for a long time now, but I would like to. He is just one of those dj’s who can mix flawlessly and not only on beats, but with the tone of the music also. Just how I like it!

Do you have some funny story from your DJ career? Tell us :-)
Last month I was on a mini tour in India and I had to fly from Bombay to Bangalor, which is in the South of India. I arrived at the airport and I rushed to the gate because I was quite late. For the ones of you who have not been in India before, it’s a crazy place and nothing is structured. Being almost the only white guy at the airport, especially when going on a National flight you have to pay attention. There are busses leaving to go to the plane and they just open a regular door with a number, which matches the board in the departure hall. At least this was what I thought. They ended up changing gate numbers and only announced it in Hindi (Indian language), so I was standing at the wrong gate. The friendly flight attendant took my boarding pass and smiled friendly and let me on the flight to GOA instead of Bangalore, which is by the sea. I boarded the plane, fell asleep and woke up in Goa, not knowing I was there. In the arrival hall I was looking for the driver with the sign with my name on it, but nothing. I even called the promoter and he said that he was standing there next to the driver… And then it hit me! I was not in the right city. Unfortunately I didn’t manage to make it to the party, but Goa is really beautiful so I spend a day at the beach instead .

What do you think about the future of trance? Isn’t the change of Sensation some hint?
I don’t think that the change of Sensation has anything to do with the future of trance. Sensation is a party organizer and they are focused on pulling a huge crowd and therefore have to be commercial. In Holland the style of Sensation has always been house orientated.

On the other hand the most popular dj’s in the world are trance orientated and the genre is still very popular around the world. Or side genres of trance, such as progressive and psy trance, which are really popular in countries such as Brasil, Australia, India, etc. So I think trance is here to stay, especially progressive trance, which I my favorite genre of house music.

San plays at 27 March at the Energy Party in club Nebe in Brno