"I was constantly dancing or at least bouncing and nodding in the studio when I was working on this mix. And often eating salmiakki, of course! I'm really excited to have such a strong tracklist for my first ever DJ mix compilation, and it makes it even sweeter that I've got my Finnish buddies with me on it! I hope this compilation is something you'll pop in your player warming up before heading out clubbing or when you're psyching yourself at the gym or on your run, or, well, even vacuuming! :)"
- Darude

- It was an easy decision to choose this track as the first one on this mix, as I've played it numerous times as my first track in my live DJ sets. It bridges beautifully from minimal, electro or progressive house, and it sets the mood nicely for me to start building towards faster and trancier tracks.
Joonas Hahmo - Hahmo Recordings

- MM & WD are a relatively new name on the EDM scene, but looking at their list of releases in the last couple of years you can see these guys have been productive and busy! 'In The Horizon' is a happy summery track with an infectious piano-type riff which will make you sway and groove and eventually jump for joy! The official release was tweaked a little further, but I like this original promo that I got early on the best, so I used it in the mix.
Maison & Dragen - Armada Music

- Orkidea is truly a legend and a pioneer in the Finnish electronic dance music scene. In 2011 he celebrates his 20 year DJ career by releasing a new artist album titled '20'. Congrats Tapio! 'Stretching Time' was originally released on Orkidea's 2008 album 'Metaverse' and now I have the honour of giving this awesome Allende Remix its first official release. Old school trance with current sound!
Orkidea - Allende

- This masterpiece doesn't really need much introduction; it's a classic that found its way via Orkidea's hands to another DJ legend Pete Tong's hands and from then on repeatedly on his Technics' platter. It was first released in Finland in October 2000 on Unity Records and soon after in UK, Europe and US, and it made waves everywhere. When I heard new mixes were being released, I was sure to get my hands on an early copy and it was a must to include it on my compilation.
Slusnik Luna - Anjunabeats

- The best things in life are the people close to you, right? When my friend K-System released his vocal trancer 'Call Me 911', my best man and always so busy fellow producer Weirdness missed the deadline by just a little bit. Too bad for Kimmo's release, but great for my compilation, as now this hard-thumping club worthy sing-a-longable remix is an exclusive one for me, and it fits perfectly in its spot in the mix.
K-System - Sherry Davis - Weirdness - KooDigital

- Another beauty from Joonas' wide arsenal of dancefloor movers. I've had the pleasure of DJing the same stages and sitting in the studio collaborating with the man, and I have absolutely nothing but praise to say about him. If you've ever met him or heard him DJ, you know what I mean, and if you haven't, do yourself a favour and correct the wrong(ness?) immediately, you won't be disappointed!
Joonas Hahmo - Hahmo Recordings

- This was one of the first tracks the Bluebear boys sent me a few years back and I didn't want to leave it out of the compilation, because it's made so many people dance and blissfully smile. It's been such a pleasure to play at pool parties in Las Vegas and at raves in Colorado; both tweeny weeny bikini bodies and furry-booted ravers alike have busted moves to it!
Bluebear Project - Andromeda Recordings

- I'm extremely happy this one finally sees daylight! (pun intended) Weirdness has for a very long time been an honest sounding board and often a crucial inspirer for me, and now I get to be involved in releasing his music to the world. He's made his music alongside his other true love, video editing and other multimedia projects and I've had the honour of seeing him grow to be a solid professional in both. Watch out world, the time of Weirdness has begun! :)
Weirdness - EnMass Music

- In Finland Alex doesn't need introductions; he's almost singlehandedly brought every big name DJ to play in the biggest and best parties under his 'Colors' name over the last 10 or so years. In addition to this he's DJ'd every place worthy in Finland, he's had residencies in Ibiza, and the last couple of years have seen him releasing a solid stream of tracks which have been played by all the big name jocks around the world. My boy Weirdness in the remix duties here, taking the original mix a couple of notches harder, adding some roughness and techy drumworks, while being true to the original version, too.
Alex Kunnari - Weirdness - In Trance We Trust

- I was really happy to do this remix as the original mix immediately got my attention, and it features the lovely Jo Angel's vocals, who I've worked with before, in fact she's the beautiful voice on my 'In The Darkness'. I took the main lead synth melody and tweaked to my liking, as well as edited and transposed some of the vocals to form completely new sentences and melodies to make them fit better for what I had in mind. I'm glad Alex liked it, and Jo Angel wasn't offended! :) The gnarly bassline in the break seems to get people's attention and their hands up in the air, which I am definitely fine with!
Alex Kunnari - Jo Angel - In Trance We Trust

- It just so happens that my collaboration track 'Crazy World' with 2AM & Georgia Haege is in the same key and tempo as my man Randy's own remix of 'Monster'... I mixed them one after the other live at a gig once, and I just immediately knew that I had to marry them as soon as possible :). Here's the result, an official mash-up which will give a nice new perspective to the originally instrumental 'Monster' and adds yet another different take on the already well-remixed 'Crazy World' package!
Randy Boyer - 2AM - Georgia Haege - EnMass Music - GP Music

- Hearing the original house version the first time I liked it a lot, but it left me wanting for more. There wasn't anything wrong with it, it just wasn't my kind of record, not my style. When I was asked to remix it, I re-used several of the original bits, so that almost all of it is easily recognizeable, but I also changed the chords and melodies a touch and straightened up the vocals here and there to fit my style. I sped it up and added a good amount of my sounds and drums, my goal being giving it more of a rolling, energetic vibe, so that it'd be different, yet complement the more housier takes in the remix package. I'm really happy with the result, and playing it out has only reaffirmed that it works nicely for both house and trance crowds.
J Nitti - Rowetta - Dos Or Die

- The longer I've followed the (dance) music world, clearer it has become that it doesn't matter what kind of genre you dress up a great and catchy song with; it'll work by camp fire with a guitar and a few of your friends singing to it, or at Rain in Las Vegas with 2500 crazy party people. 'Midnight Train' is originally a pop-rock song and it was such a rush to turn it to a club record after I heard it the first time and played it on repeat for a couple of days. I've had the pleasure of performing the song several times with Paul singing live with me, and it's always great to see the crowd reacting to both the song and Paul himself live on stage. Needless to say, we've got some future plans of collaborating again.
Paul Corson - EnMass Music

- This song has a REALLY special place in my heart. I first heard it about 10 years ago and I told my home boy Ville "Weirdness" Heikkilä that has that "something" to it, and that it should be released "soon". Well, it wasn't soon, but finally the stars aligned and I got to release my best friend's awesome track on my own label and I got to remix it, too! The remix process was actually somewhat difficult as the original is so deeply burned in my brain. It was hard to shake it completely, which sometimes is necessary to be able to really give your all and to make a remix different enough. Weirdness did give me his thumbs up, so I'm happy, and it's such a joy to include this one on my first ever official DJ mix compilation.
Weirdness - Amy Hamblin - EnMass Music

- My man had started this remix project and sent it to me saying he loved where it was going, but was too busy to finish it... Because I hadn't even started my remix yet, it was perfect timing for me to jump in and so we decided to kill two birds with one stone. Almost all of the sounds and basic arrangement comes from Weirdness, except the rolling bassline and some additional drums I brought in, and then I "cruelly" took out some of his parts and added supporting layers to other parts of his to make them stand out more. Finally we tweaked the basic chord structure and further edited the arrangement together over the internet until we both were happy about the flow and sounds, and then I put the final mix together; et voilá!
Randy Boyer - Cari Golden - Weirdness - EnMass Music

- Randy and Kristina had made several different mixes of 'WTTF' over the last two years and I took on one of Randy's different takes that he had started and wanted my hands on it, too, to get some new perspective. ShyBoy's vocals are really beautiful and haunting and it was our idea to have both that and then some pretty darn raw and distorted bass and drums contrasting, and I think we succeeded combining some softness and hardness in this remix. Both Randy and I road-tested this version a lot before committing to it and we've been excited texting each other after gigs, sometimes mid-gig, about huge crowd reactions, that's how well it works played loud in great club system. TIYIYDBM. Try It Yourself If You Don't Believe Me! ;)
Kristina Sky - Randy Boyer - ShyBoy - EnMass Music - Hypnogaja

- Detroit's Kenneth Thomas and I met several years ago in Flint, Michigan, USA, at a sports-bar-with-a-bowling-alley-turned-into-a-club-for-that-one-night. It was one of those bizarre things that doesn't really look too good on paper, but it turned out to be a great party and a start of a life-long friendship! :) When I started working on the 'Stronger Creature' remix, I knew right away what I wanted to do with it: the chords and Betsie's vocals to me sounded like a perfect match with some old school trance sounds, long anticipating breakdowns and build-ups!
Kenneth Thomas - Betsie Larkin - Tetsuo Music

- The original mix's gnarlyness needed to be transferred to my remix somehow, that much I knew right away, but the jump from 128 bpm to 136 bpm meant that several things didn't work by just speeding them up. I needed to straighten shuffles, alter melodies and rhythms and come up with some nice chords and additional melodies to make it work in the trance realm. I personally like the driving bassline and drums most in this remix, and they support the original main synth that I tweaked to fit the faster pace and more direct rhythm. Playing this live has shown once again that trance and the upper spectrum of tempos are not going anywhere, people love it and need it as much these days as they did ten years ago!
Randy Boyer - EnMass Music