Hailing from the flatlands of Dordrecht, Southern Holland, Daniel Wanrooy has been influencing the playlists of some of the world’s top DJs for over 6 years. Both as one half of highly-lauded duos Progression & Odyssee and as a standalone artist, his evocative, imaginative music has successfully cross-bred virtually every sub-genre of trance.
Mr. Daniel, Teesy and I thank you for your time on this interview you, care to maybe perhaps tell us about your last gig, where was it, what was the crowd like?
Hi guys, you are very welcome, thank you as well! Anytime, just give me a shout
Honestly, my last gig was a bit of a disappointment. It was an outdoor festival here in Holland, but the weather was really shitty and the area I played was one of the open air areas, some of the other areas where in tents. So most of the people were at the tents obviously! Thank god the DJ booth had a roof! That’s always the risk when you play at an open air gig in Holland, it can be 30C and sunny or it can be 13C and rainy, I was the unlucky one to discover the last. But, there are cool gigs coming up in the next couple weeks, so I am looking forward to that.
Progression - Technophobia, definitely one of my favourite tunes on the "In Search of Sunries 5" compilation, how you you describe your signature sound that you bring to your melodic works?
Thanks, great to hear that. That was a collaboration with my former music partner Robin by then. We used to do the Progression alias together. I always try to do something different, when I create a sound I have hardly heard before, it feels like a nice start for an unique melody. The Progression alias was pretty good for some of these deeper and a bit experimental tracks. With my Daniel Wanrooy alias I like to do a little more uplifting stuff, but I always desire to give it an unique twist in some kind of way. There is no exact way or rule to start a track or a melody, it just grows during the process (the melody I mean).
A step from the above, Progression and Odyssee, how was it formed? What were the events that led to its formation?
Like I mentioned above, Progression (and Odyssee aswell) were a collaboration with Robin. We used to be in the same class and we were both messing around with sounds. We called it “making music” by then, but it was more of “creating noise”. I can still hear my parents calling “Stop that f*ckin BONKaBONKaBONK!!!” from downstairs, but now they are proud of what I do, and they actually like some of the tracks! But I think we just should call that “evolution”
. Like our Odyssee song.
Leaning towards 2009, what could the loyal fans expect from you this year ?
The first big thing is the fact that I am going to mix the next In Trance We Trust compilation, that’s a great achievement and I am really proud of that. I made a few tracks for that, including my collaboration with vocalist Melissa Mathes “What you want” which is going to be the introtrack of the cd. Sweeeeeet!
Furthermore I signed new work at Spinnin’ records and I did a remix for the well respected classic “Taste Experience – Summersault” (check it out:
YouTube - TASTEXPERIENCE-SUMMERSAULT- DANIEL WANROOY RMX- PERFECTO 2009 ) for Oakenfold’s Perfecto records and I recently finished a remix for Menno de Jong’s Intuition Recordings. Gigwise I am working on a North America tour to promote my new In Trance We Trust CD and I just have my Dubai debut confirmed. Besides that I am playing at the Technoparade in Paris, that’s gonna be huuuge! And I have some others confirmed in Holland as well, and some other gigs that still have to be confirmed. The future is definitely looking bright!
If you had to name 3 people, who would be the top 3 Producer`s that you currently admire the most, and why?
Sander van Doorn, he is just one of my favourites. He comes always with something new, he has a great label and he is just a down to earth guy after all his success. Respect!
Orjan Nilsen, besides he is a funny bastard, he is just a great talented producer. From trance to the recent more housy productions, it always grabs me in some kind of way.
Royksopp, maybe more in the dance direction, but their latest album is awesome! I just can’t stop listening to it. I hear new things each time I listen to it. It would be awesome to work with them one day.
If you one day had to stop DJ`ing , what would Mr.Daniel Wanrooy do then?
I would be a pornstar then!
No, I think I would do something creative anyway. At least something with music, maybe composing game music or film music. And also something with design. I am graduated as a graphic designer and I still love to do that as well.
When and how did you discover your talent in DJ`ing and producing?
I didn’t discover it, it was just a matter of time, loads of patience and sending a billion demos and stalk these damn A&R managers for several years.
After my first release about 9 years ago it just grew and my music expression evolved. That resulted in more releases on bigger labels. That’s when I caught some promoter’s attention who were interested to book me (or us, back in that time). Then I needed to learn how to DJ like a madmen, cause the first booking was a fact and we only had a couple weeks to understand DJing. But it worked out well after all!
Loads of people know about your radio show, but for those who dont, how would they tune in?
I have my own show “The beauty of Sound” which is broadcasted once a month on danceradio.gr, clubbinghouse.com, puresound.fm and Citybeat Radio UK to name a few. My monthly podcast is available through clubbinghouse.com, or direct link:
iTunes Store
We know you've been to Norway a few times, what do you think about your gigs over there and is that a place you would love to go back to?
The people in Norway seem to be always enthousiastic, they just love music and a (few) beer(s)! I have been to Oslo a few times, I really love that city. Can’t wait to go back there once again. And early this year I have been to Svalbard, Spitsbergen (try to search that on Google earth!). Damn! It was quite cold, but so worth it. Amazing sceneries, total silence, polar bears (haven’t seen them, but the are there! I have seen pictures!) AND a little bit of the northern lights. That’s something I really desired.
What is the wierdest thing that have ever happened to you when you have been travelling??
Once I went to Greece, on the way back to Holland we had a pretty late flight, so most of the people where sleeping. I was sitting in the back of the plane, and I was reading some magazines or playing my PSP to kill the time. Then I suddenly saw smoke coming by… My first reaction was: “Nice, BBQ, let me get something!”, but after a few seconds I realised there was a fire in the kitchen whaha! Can you imagine a fire in the plane at 3000ft! Nice to see the stewardesses STILL smiling then! They just run a walk faster than normal. Respect!
One last thing. We heard you are a STAR when it comes to drinking vodka from coffee cups... is that something you learned from early age or what's the deal?
Whahaha. Yeah, drinking vodka from coffee cups is one of my biggest undiscovered talents. Actually someone taught me that in Oslo a while ago. The great thing is you get better after each cup!
Download Daniel's latest mix
here.
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