Tiesto
Dance Partner
Tiesto caps off a banner year with the release of Kaleidoscope

By Andy Argyrakis

He’s often referred to as the “biggest DJ in the world” and that isn’t just record label hype or personal ego getting in the way, but a genuine fact backed up by plenty of evidence. Known just as Tiesto these days (no “DJ” introduction required), his resume includes a smash hit remix of the Delerium/Sarah McLachlan single “Silence,” a performance at the opening ceremonies of the Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, a Grammy nomination, along with sold out tours across the entire globe.

“There are so many highlights, it’s been crazy,” Tiesto confirms via phone. “One is, of course, the opening ceremony to the Olympic Games, but also the fact that the music’s been so successful it’s allowed me to travel around the world. It’s a nice title, but I don’t know if it’s true. I know my shows are always good and I give it my best, plus they’re packed and people care, which is the most important part.”

The beat genius can also add another critical triumph to the cap as his fourth studio CD Kaleidoscope is accompanied by a slew of special guests including Jónsi from Sigur Rós, Nelly Furtado, Tegan and Sara, Kele Okereke from Bloc Party and Emily Haines from Metric.

“The reason I called it that is because when you look into a kaleidoscope, you can turn it, twist it and make all sorts of different figures with the light on the other side,” he explains. “And that’s how the album came up as well. I worked with a lot of different artists to make something special, and I couldn’t make these songs without these collaborations. There’s a concept behind it and that’s to work with a lot of different artists who could bring something extra to the songs.”

In order to hook up those collaborations, Tiesto basically went to the live shows of artists on his wish list, hung out backstage and asked them one by one to sign up. In the case of Jónsi, the DJ finds his ultra crisp voice to be an ideal match for any beat, while Furtado was an obvious choice given her affinity for the dance floor. As for Tegan and Sara, they’ve already become acquainted thanks to a previous remix, and if Tiesto has anything to do with it, they’d be transitioning in a different direction all together.

“They’re such natural singer-songwriters, which actually translates well to dance music,” he confirms. “The energy totally came over and I think they should go all dance. They’re very powerful vocalists and artistically have a lot of flavors. I think they should totally switch.”

To further illustrate the Kaleidoscope concept, the collection seems to possess dual appeal in Europe and America, despite each scene’s differing trends and the fact that acts like Sigur Ros have tremendous popularity overseas, while Tegan and Sara are more familiar on these shores. But no matter what the association, Tiesto is confident in the translation, if only for the global growth of dance music in general (even if international terrain remains a trendy step ahead of the States). “In Europe, dance music is huge already and has been for almost ten years now,” he asserts. “In the U.S., it’s just started, sort of like how it took awhile for hip-hop to be accepted.”

Considering he’s just as active in clubs as he is an arena and festival attraction, Tiesto is sure to amass a wide variety of audiences. Though the travel schedule is always insane, he finds advantages to both ongoing residencies and continous concerts in varying cities.

“When I’m on the road it’s a lot of fun, like a crazy fun road trip,” he says. “But when I’m in one place, I get more work done and I have more time to myself to relax during the day. It’s easier to be in one place, but I like the diversity of being in a club one day, a stadium the next and then the beach. But it’s a pretty 24/7 party kind of lifestyle. When you want to be top DJ, you have to sacrifice a lot during the day so you can be on top of your game at night. But I don’t mind it. I’ll sleep when I’m old.”