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DJ Mag Top100 DJs
66
Richard Durand
25

Dutch trance sensation Richard Durand broke into the Top 100 DJs last year and was singled out as Tiësto's 'tip for the top' over the coming 12 months. Well, sure enough, Lord Tijs' prediction was bang on the money. Storming up 25 places, 2008 has seen Durand rise as one of the very hottest properties in trance with headline spots at GodsKitchen, Planet Love and a storming seven-gig residency at San Antonio's Judgement Sundays. "When I was beginning with the Richard Durand project two years ago I thought maybe in five or six years I would make a dent," admits Durand. "Everything has moved so much quicker than I imagined, but for me it's no problem!" Brewing a distinctive concoction of tech-energy, electro basslines and trance euphoria, it's as a producer that Durand continues to stand tallest with Tiësto, Corsten, Jules, et al, fuelling their more fiery DJ moments with his tech-trance dynamite. Paul Oakenfold, meanwhile, wasted no time in signing up Durand's Skunk Anansie sampling stadium smasher 'Weep' to Perfecto. "I just found the samples on the internet so originally I just produced a remix for myself," explains Durand, who broke through when his bootlegs of Tiësto's 'Lethal Industry' and 'Flight 463' snowballed to seal major release remix deal. For the immediate future, though, it's full steam ahead on his debut artist album, which he plans to drop early next summer. "I want to have an album full of fresh material rather than songs that everybody already knows," he tells DJmag.