He is a true master when it comes to working the crowd, his mixing skills are amongst those of the best and he plays the right records at the right time. According to these qualifications one could say Johan Gielen is a good DJ. But it takes more than filling in the basic requirements to get to the absolute top of the world. You need a strong character for instance. You have to be able to resist the pressure of continuously performing on a high level. You have to take for granted all the long trips, waiting hours at airports and lonely stays in hotels. You need to find enough moments for yourself in your life and most important, you have to be there for your fans. It does not come easy and being at the top implies hard work, since nothing comes for free. Dutch DJ Johan Gielen knows how to work hard. He has been a professional DJ for over ten years now. “I have so many airmiles, I could fly over the world 36 times for free!”

Everybody in Holland who is fond of dance music knows Johan Gielen.
And if you live in a foreign country and you like trance the odds are very small you have never heard of the Belgium born Dutchman. Gielen is ranked high in the international
DJ-charts and he has played all over the world.

In Japan he lived his golden years as resident of the prestigious Tokyo based Club Velfarre.

The big breakthrough for Johan Gielen came in Holland with the rise in popularity of the famous Dutch trance sound that would conquer the entire world. Being resident of the world largest trance event Trance Energy he played the enormous Jaarbeurs in Utrecht with a 20.000 people capacity and on top of that came his appearance on Sensation White in the Amsterdam ArenA. There he played for a 35.000 people audience dressed in white, on a massive party that could easily be labelled as the world’s leading dance event. Due to Gielens capability to get large crowds of people dancing he became a well received guest at big festivals like Dance Valley and Mystery Land as well.

But enough about the past, what lies ahead for Gielen?
For 2006 all looks good. Johan will launch his debut album on his own ‘Tunes for You’ label. Some of its tracks like ‘Flash’, ‘Dreamchild’ and ‘Show Me What You Got’ have been released already. Now there is the silence before the storm, what will this album bring Gielen? Will it level the successes he has had with Airscape and his productions with Svensson or even top them? Gielen: “I can’t tell much about this yet, but my album will be very diverse for sure. People will find it hard to define it as trance only. And that is precisely my intention because I don’t want to be labelled as a trance jock alone. In my DJ-sets I play just as easily a progressive or a techno record.”

It is time to take a look at the person behind the DJ. What do we know about the character of Gielen? “I am pretty spiritual in my thoughts. This reveals itself in my habit to get some moments of quietness before going on stage. These are not nerves but I need some time for myself to focus. The spiritual side of me is also the reason why I am so fond of my Koi carps. I can’t explain this in a right way, you have to see them for yourself in order to understand that they make you feel at ease.”

Gielen is not such an easy fellow to work with, the people that worked with him shall agree with that. He is a perfectionist who expects the best from others as well as from himself. Gielen: “Everything has to be fine. Like, I never show up late when I have to play. But even though I have this aim for perfection I find it important to enjoy every minute of my life. Every day can be your last so I live my life as fully as possible. Sometimes, this collides with my ambitions. You have to find the right balance in looking out for your own health and entertaining people. To me, giving other people a good time is the most important aspect of being a DJ. I love to communicate with the crowd without the use of words. Music is the ideal tool for this, it enables you to share the same emotions without speaking them out loud.

When the crowd goes wild on the floor, Johan Gielen is a happy man!

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