On Monday, Sept. 19 at 9 p.m., world-renowned DJ and electronic dance music artist Tiësto will play the Mullins Center.
The concert is part of Tiësto’s Club Life College Invasion Tour, a highly anticipated, nation-wide American college circuit tour. The trek will conclude with a massive performance at Los Angeles’ Home Depot Stadium to a capacity crowd of 26,000 — the largest single headline DJ show in American music history.
We corresponded over e-mail with the Dutch DJ, who was voted “World’s No. 1 DJ” by DJ Magazine three years in a row from 2001-2004. He expressed excitement to be reaching out to his younger fans on this tour.
“I can’t wait,” said Tiësto. “There has been a lot of feedback on my Facebook and Twitter from college students looking for me to play their schools, and I want to reach this fan base that I had not been able to play to.”
Supporting Tiësto on his Club College Invasion Tour is Porter Robinson, an 18-year-old electronic dance music prodigy from Chapel Hill, N.C.. After being impressed by Robinson’s performance in an opening slot on his recent Canadian tour, Tiësto was thrilled with the idea of bringing along a young talent on his college tour.
“I’ve loved the sets he has played and I can’t wait to see what he’s going to bring to this College Tour,” said Tiësto. “It’s great to bring someone young along, especially as we’ll be playing to such a young audience.”
Tiësto has released four studio albums since 2001 in addition to a plethora of remix and compilation albums. His most recent studio album, 2009’s “Kaleidoscope,” spawned a gigantic world tour that spanned 175 dates over 15 months and six different continents, ultimately playing to over a billion people worldwide.
Primarily known as a trance artist in his early career, Tiësto has shown an affinity for experimenting with and changing his sound, especially in his later studio albums. In addition to his trance roots, he has been known to incorporate elements of progressive trance, electro, house, and even rock and pop into his music.
“I’ve always kept myself open to inspiration, whether from other music I’m enjoying or from all sorts of areas,” said Tiësto. “I let that inspiration dictate where my music goes.”
Tiësto frequently collaborates with other musical artists from varying genres, whether on his own solo albums or on remix and compilation efforts.
One of his first exposures to mainstream success was in 2000 when he remixed Canadian group Delirium’s song “Silence,” which featured Sarah McLachlan.
Other collaborators over the years include Nelly Furtado, Busta Rhymes, Tegan and Sara, Jonsi of Sigur Ros and Three 6 Mafia. Recent notable remixes include a trance version of Katy Perry’s hugely popular single “E.T.” The iconic electronic music artist still has a personal wish list of people to collaborate with.
“I’d love an opportunity to work with Arcade Fire,” said Tiësto. “I think we could produce something really special.”
Ever the diligent artist, Tiësto is planning to begin work on a new studio album after the finish of the Club College Invasion Tour, which he hopes to release sometime next year. When asked what fans can expect from his newest work, he simply replies, “they can expect something really epic.”
Dave Coffey can be reached at [email protected].
