The story behind "Sandstorm" by Darude | Muzikxpress 250

Hey there. Welcome to a brand new episode of Music Express. My name is Tuan and this week's episode is a very special one because this is vlog number 250. So, of course, I also needed a special guest for that one. So, in this week's episode, you can see my interview with Darut about his classic sandstorm. But before we start with the interview, please make sure to subscribe to my channel. And very important, also make sure to click the bell button because then you will get a notification the next time a new vlog is online. And if you enjoy my interviews and you want to support Music Express, you can do that via one of the links in the video description. Every donation is very much appreciated. All right, here it is. The story behind Sandstorm, my interview with Darude. Enjoy. Narut is an alias of Fil Veran, a DJ and producer from URA in Finland. You might know him from tracks such as Feel the Beat, Out of Control, Music, and of course, the platinum selling hit single Sandstorm. Sandstorm first came out in Finland via 16in Records on October 26, 1999. In the year 2000, the track also came out in lots of other countries. And it's safe to say that Sandstorm is one of the most famous transassics from the late 90s, early zeros. At the time of recording this interview, the official music video of Sandstorm has over 300 million views on YouTube and more than 550 million Spotify streams. To celebrate 25 years of Darut, Villa is performing all over the world with the Storm 25 world tour. This year he already played in the USA, Australia, Japan and of course he had a gig lined up in his home country Finland as well. So a good reason for me to go to Finland to see Dar perform in Helsinki and to sit down with him for an interview about Sandstorm and more. My first question to him was how old he was when he started to listen to music. >> Oh wow. Uh I started listening to music right out of womb I would say. Uh but my first sort of uh memory with music is I kind of remember it myself what my mom's also told me. Uh there was this one song called uh oneway ticket I think it was called in English and there was a Finnish version of it um that was called Matka uh taking a journey d translation. Um, and I heard that two mornings in a row from the radio. And on the third morning when it didn't come on the radio, I was being a pain because I wanted to hear that when uh when I woke up. So, a little later my mom and dad got me this little uh little recorder thing, tape recorder, and then my mom succeeded in recording that from the radio another day. And then after that, I could always play it. So that's like my first memory of uh being obsessed with music. >> One way ticket. >> Yes. >> So did you take any music lessons when you were younger? >> Uh I didn't take any like official music lessons other than what you do in elementary school. So you know we played some piano and tried guitar and tried some drums and we we sang a lot but uh nothing else than that. Did did you like it or? >> No, I you know I actually uh there's a there was this u a Christmas play that I was a part of in in um uh yeah lower elementary school I was then and I was uh basically like a choir boy. I was one of the four actors or singers in that and I sang like an angel they said that was before my voice broke and uh um I liked it. I liked that kind of performance thing although I was nervous and whatnot but then since then uh I didn't really study music and then when I went to upper elementary school and I didn't like my music teacher there that much cuz she was putting me on the spot and I was not the one who sang wrong but it was one of my buddies and she made me sing solo which I hate it and then when going on the eighth grade uh you pick in Finland. Oh, that list then you picked either like arts like drawing and stuff or music. I took arts because I didn't want to do it anymore. And then there was several years of gap that I really didn't do much musical stuff myself other than listen to it uh obsessively. >> Yeah. And Rot you start like producing music? >> I started looking into things around 18 19 years old. Uh and then when I when I started studying at a school I I just turned 20 uh in Togo here in Finland, Togo Poly Technique. I met up with couple of guys who had done some stuff with tracker programs and they they showed me and that was the time like literally it dawned on me that that without any amazing live playing abilities I could still make music and I started hearing layers. Like I I always say the same thing, but I you know, high hats there and kick drums there and like I was the most boring clubbing partner from that on for a couple of years cuz I went to a club and I'd just be there like not kind of dancing or anything. It's just like oh okay high hat starts there. Oh, breakdown goes like this and I was just analyzing constantly >> analyzing every track that you did here. Yeah. >> Yeah. So >> yeah, for this walk we're going to talk about Sandstorm, a track which you released back in the year 1999. it became a massive massive hit. But I believe you already started working on the track like two years before the release. >> Yeah, that's true. Uh I don't know if two years. Yeah, something like that. Cuz I was I I had a summer job at my uh I was staying with my friend and a friend's family and I had a computer there that I was working on some stuff and I was into production at that point tinkering and I was studying a song um and it had this you know layered parts. I you know dismantled the track in my mind and tried to copy it so that I would learn how those layers would go and how the arrangement goes. And it had this middle part that had a 16th note sort of. It wasn't the same sounding as the dudoo sound as in my sandstorm. Not the same rhythm, but had that kind of a part there. And I made my own part there with a different sound and then finished that track that those studies so to say. Nothing happened with that track, but that thing stayed on my hard drive for until like 99 July or August. Uh, for whatever reason, I pulled it out. I like that middle part. I rendered it as an audio uh file and I put it in Qbase and I distorted it and the doodoo was born. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> So, like the the original one, the one that you made like in was it like 97 98? Were you inspired by something when you started to work on it? Uh well, when I was working on it then, I wasn't really inspired by it, but it was basically a placeholder because I uh mimicked this other tracks full arrangement and it had this monotonous C part or whatever bridge thing and then it went to a breakdown. Uh and it was just like that placeholder there. I was mimicking whatever it whatever the function was in the other track. And um I guess I wasn't inspired too much by it then, but then what happened was um the sound that I had used there, it was kind of this dull um midbase, maybe just a single note of 303, but filter almost closed and whatnot and didn't do much. But when you put it through a distortion, it becomes the doo-doo sound. And then because it was kind of like a crappy uh 8 bit mono sample, badly recorded, I think whatever it wasn't a great quality sample. You put it through distortion, it becomes all of these weird harmonics and kind of the piercing sound of the what we now know sound. So then when I heard that, I was like, "Holy crap, the it didn't have the chord progression yet, but it had the me full melody." And so then I was just listening to the and over the next day or two when when the distortion happened, I figured out the chord progression around it and then uh started building a track with it was August 99. Couple of weeks it took to make it like a playable uh version. I I burnt some copies for my local DJs and some of them even played it. But that's not the version everybody knows. But then uh I I gave that to J16 Yakos Alavara and I didn't actually know that he had a record company or he was starting one. I just wanted feedback and there were other tracks on that burn CD as well and he called me back and like basically next week we were in a studio together a week after that uh Sandstorm as you hear it now was done. >> Yeah. So back to the tracker version. Which tracker program did you use? Do you remember that? >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Fast Tracker 2. >> Oh yeah. Yeah, >> I think I played wrong with that as well. But yeah. >> Yeah, that's pretty much the only one I I really used. Like uh my friend uh used the uh the screen uh screen tracker, and the first one that I saw was actually a 4 channel tracker, and I don't remember what that was called, but it was running on a Unix computer uh back back then at the at the Polytenic. So, I don't know what that was called, but Fast Tracker was the one that I landed on and felt the most comfortable with. And uh that had 32 channels at the time I think which was the most at that time like um so 90 97 I want to say or so maybe 96 and um soon after uh Scream Tracker had a little more channels as well. I don't remember exactly the timeline but what when my friend was working on that it wasn't as good as fast tracker so that's why I went with that but then we always had this little battle like whose tracker is better. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, you already mentioned Yako aka JS16. Yeah, people might also know him as the producer behind Bombfunk MC's. >> So, how did you get to meet him? >> Well, so we lived in Turo, uh, Finland. Uh, and um, I literally just he he was a myth and a legend and already like by that time he had won the producer of the year award like once or twice in Finland. and I looked up to him and I knew his J60 material like um Stomp to My Beat and Stomping System the the Stomping System album. And then around that time 989 he was producing uh Bum Funk's first album as well. And there was the track called Upworking Beats that was played on Finnish radio all the time, B Boys Fly Girls as well sometime. And so I knew his style, I knew his sound. Uh, and uh, we just we didn't run in the same circles, but we ran in the same nightclubs in in Turquo. And literally, I gave him two demos before the CD with uh, with Sandstone, which were C tapes. Like I I just recorded tapes cuz I didn't have a CD burner at the time or something. And uh, yeah, so it was my third demo. And um I never really got to talk to him too much, but you know, just passing him at the at a club somewhere and like, "Hey, sorry to bug you again, but here's another demo." And >> and uh I don't think he gave me feedback for the first two ones, but then the third one that had Sandtorm and some other tracks he uh he reached. >> Yeah, I think I think he said in an interview once that I think this was the third demo and he didn't even listen to the first two. I think I heard something like that. >> Oh, yeah. That's very that's very likely. And maybe he better not ever find them cuz I don't think they were that great. Yeah. So, was he impressed straight away when he heard the demo? I mean, yeah, he called you. So, >> he Yeah, like I think I think um I mean, yes, he was. And uh I don't think he was too impressed on any other tracks on the on the demo to be honest. Uh there was another track called Calm Before the Storm that did end up on on the first album as well that that I think was on that demo and um I think those two were the only ones he considered uh like development worthy material and Sandstorm in itself um what what I'm really proud of is that I mean the the doo sound that whole the melody and then the chord progression are ex exactly like they were in the original uh and I sort of um I needed Yako's help desperately for the production to to make it DJ mixable like my first version didn't have proper intros and outros cuz I came from a radio listener background and wasn't a DJ and so I needed all the help I could get and uh his sort of um his studio equipment his golden ears golden touch and he'd been a DJ for years at that point already so he kind of knew what to to uh to get get a track to a format that a DJ could play. And that was our uh our goal. His goal as a record label, I think, obviously was to get commercial play and whatnot, but first and foremost, we service DJs first and and um then Sandstorm just started taking off. >> Yeah. So, you guys re-recorded like the version. So, what do you remember from that day? I guess you were there as well. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, I I took all the samples, separate samples, and then like MIDI for the chord regression and whatnot, and then a couple of drum loops and whatnot. And we used uh some of my drum stuff, then the full doodoo stuff. Uh, and he sampled, I mean, I remember quite well everything. He sampled my stuff to ASR10, his he had two ASR10 samplers. Um, and then he had a Nordra 2 and a JP 8080 Roland um, the the trans machine. And, um, he just basically recreated the the basics first really quickly and then we started, you know, he had a 909 drum machine. The kick in is a real 909. And uh the snare that we use sounds like a 909 and is a 909, but it's not from the real one, but it's from a a Roland JV uh 2080, which is well Roland's own, but they've they've sampled and that just sounded better than the regular a real 909. High hats, claps, I think they're all from the 909. And um it was really uh it's kind of a blur for me, but at the same time I remember some stuff really really closely because it was my first time in a real studio in a sense. And at the same time, Yako Studio wasn't actually uh equipment and and and studio room was that impressive. And I'm not dissing him at all like he made magic there. But it was um it was this quite small room and and in a way my my setup or my computer was a Pentium PC and with a 15-in screen and his was an Atari SD with a black and white screen and I was first weirded out by like how can you do stuff with that? But but he was um he was so good. He knew all those like the back of his hand and um mixed down on a Mackie 248 analog mixer and then he had some uh I think Behringer compressor stuff and yeah. >> So how long did it take to finish that version? >> Uh you know what? So we we I think we went to the studio maybe on Thursday and then worked Thursday, Friday and then Yako worked on Monday on his J16 remix and then when I went there Tuesday I think uh we recorded two or three takes of uh of the original version on that. And uh one tidbit that some nerds might be happy with or interested about is um there was something about MIDI controller uh data coming back to the Atari that wasn't working. So all the filter sweeps, some reverb stuff and like reverb washes and whatever towards builds um snare volume maybe was all done manually. >> Oh, it was like >> kind of like old school live. Yeah. So, Yako had this rack with uh uh with the Nord rack and uh JP and uh yeah, and we kind of had our hands on crossed here and there and we we talked about sort of a you know, it's not that much of a um chore choreography, but still we needed to kind of figure out who does what and where and then we did a couple of takes and I it was a second or third take that >> uh was the one that we sent to mastering. >> Ah, cool. So, so the title, okay, tell us how you came up with the name Sandstorm. >> Yeah. Uh, my question is like, doesn't it sound like Sandstorm? And, uh, yeah. So, Roland JP 8080, if you when you turn it on, I think the factory presets, the first one on one of the banks is called Sand Storm. It's spelled separately, but it's Sandstorm. And that is the pad sound, the super saw pad that is in the in the breakdown and and opens with the little volume and and filter fade. And um it was as easy as that. But actually we spent probably couple of days thinking about the name of the song. It's an instrumental so there's no reference to anything. And um I do remember for instance one day at Yako Studio we were thinking about the name, didn't come up with anything. We went to uh his place and I think we might have polished a bottle of some liquor and had a an MTA4 paper or two and wrote down all kinds of names. And I don't remember if it was there or if it was the next time we went to the studio that we're like, "Oh, okay. That that sounds good." And then it just became Sandsstone. >> Yeah. So I guess on the demo you gave to him it wasn't called Sandstorm then. >> No. No. It was it was called something else. >> Do Do you remember what it was? >> Yeah. It was it was called Back in the Time. >> Back in the time. >> Yeah. >> And that's because uh I had a version of it where it had a little vocal clip on it. >> Oh >> yeah. And that said back in the time. Um, but then also I had a version with my friend uh Lucid or Tony Lahade who was a local guy in Turgu uh who was a rapper and he um I did a version where he did kind of like this u speed rap that was typical to like you know um uh uh well I'm drawing a blank um like Renegade Master or something like something like you know speed rap on top of trans or um like UK hard house type of thing. He did one of those rap things for me. Uh and I for for a second I considered that but then we came into a conclusion that uh like the vocal wasn't needed or it might have been like pulling attention away from the doo doo. >> Yeah. Yeah. So yeah signed Sandstorm to his new label 16inch records and yeah you were the first artist and Sandstorm was the very first release as well. So that was a pretty amazing start for the label. >> Yeah. Yeah. I guess it was and I don't think uh either of us know from each side of the business and I mean Yako is heavily involved in the production of course so he's he's part of the artist or production crew but also as him as a label and starting a label I don't I don't think he imagined what would happen either. >> So how old were you when Sandstorm was signed? Uh so uh I think we signed the papers on the 20 I mean 99 signed I don't remember exactly but so I would have been uh you know 24 25. >> Yeah. So yeah what happened after the release? Did DJs in Finland pick it up straight away? >> Well yes that that was really quick. So um I think I think the official release date was October 99 like 26th or something. uh before that potentially maybe like starting September. I don't remember that date, but but uh 16inch made a maybe like a 200 uh test uh dress uh pressing of it and shared it to the Finnish DJ dance chart DJs and then Scandinavian ones as well. And um it went I don't know how quickly that was if it was first week or second or something but it went to finished dance shot number one and stayed there for 17 weeks. >> Yeah. >> And that was we were like the hell is going on? It it was strange and it was obviously cool but um it was beyond our wildest uh like dreams and yeah so it was pretty crazy. Yeah. So, was this also around the time that you guys were like, "Okay, maybe we need like a video clip." Or was that like way later? >> Well, that was later then because that was late 99 and the video was shot, was it uh uh May 2000 or something like that? I don't remember exactly. I think so. Um, so but I think the video I actually uh I actually had this uh video editor, video artist who who did this sort of placeholder video clip early 2000 and uh while in no way that was like a bad one, but it would was an amateur clip one and we >> we might have even had it played once or twice on Finnish TV then. I'm not sure. It was like there was um like very early 3D generations of like uh a sand dune kind of like the the uh single cover was and then some uh sort of very '9s style dancers you know on on top of that and whatnot. uh but then uh 16 got the track signed to uh Neo Records in UK worldwide and then the the sort of scale became a little bigger and it became clear that it's worth doing them you know actually proper music video production not just somebody from a group of friends or circle around and um yeah I mean I'm pretty glad we did because the video itself it's >> iconic they it became iconic And um well actually and I I should say I'm saying we did because I'm you know Yako and I and SA his wife we became friends over the the whole process and over the years. So I feel like close to them in that way but back then I was just the artist. I didn't know anything. So they they obviously is the the Wii I'm talking about. Um but but at the same time we sat in the studio all the time together. We discussed everything. And Yako was somebody who I looked up to, you know, he had a DJ career already and and he did know how to spin vinyl and whatnot. So, I learned most of my stuff either talking with him or sitting in the studio with him. And um some stuff I really took and and and used and some stuff I knew that well that's not me. But we were kind of um we're different people but we we both shared the the the love of the music stuff and the production was kind of um it was it was really fruitful for me. Uh, and I think uh um yeah, it's it's something that I'll I I wouldn't be here either as a producer or an artist if it wasn't for those first couple of years. >> Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah. Back to the music video. What do you recall from the shoot? >> Well, um people have asked me like what I did at the music video and I didn't do much. I followed orders or requests. Um so Yuzo Surya and and Miss Goyho who were the masterminds behind the video. Um they had scouted those places. They had imagined a plot of course 16 in and myself as well. We agreed on it but but they were they get all the credit for for the video and uh that was my first actual music video production I was involved in. So basically I showed up when I was needed. Uh, I sat on a on a high fence when I was needed. I sat on the church steps when I was needed and somebody told me look left and I looked left and tried to look pretty. Um, it was really cool though. Uh, like you know they had a actual production truck, they had actual rigs and then uh there was um this Danish videographer Yens Mosb who was really good at what he does. Uh, and what was his specialty was um, uh, steady cam. And to have that in a music video was actually quite special at the time. And if you if you watch the sandstone video now, keeping in mind it was done in 2000. And there's like running sequences where the camera is pretty damn smooth and runners come to you and then the camera looks back at them and goes behind them or whatnot. there was uh heavy use of the smoothness of the steady cam and uh that's obviously from use and obviously in practice from from Yensen his assist and stuff and >> that's I think part of the reason why the video is cool but people maybe don't think about that being a factor because it's common now you can see anything but but back then it wasn't that common in especially that scale Hollywood maybe but maybe not a music video. >> Yeah. Do you still have the sunglasses from the music video? >> Oh, do I? >> Yeah. >> You know what one? >> Oh, you did bring them. >> This >> these have not been seen by anybody other than my wife who runs everything in this business. So, for you brother, you you have them. >> The the uh little dust that is here is probably from 2000 actually. Well, maybe 2002 or something because I did use this. So, I'll I'll do this just for you for a split second. >> Oh, that's awesome. I love it. Yeah. >> So, yeah, these are the uh original ones. >> They should be in the museum like one day. >> You know what? They are in our safe now that I found them uh a few months ago. >> Ah, good. Oh, that's really cool. >> Yeah. >> So, yeah, in the year 2000, Sandstorm, yeah, got licensed to lots of labels abroad. Yeah. Neo and UK. Um I think they were the first to license the track. >> Uh yeah and then it worked through Neo for the rest of the world. So uh Strictly Rhythm in US for instance uh popular records in in Canada um there was a wow central station in Australia for instance, AEX in Japan but that those all were like further licensed from uh Neo. So Neo had it for the world and then they licensed to certain territories and certain I guess they service themselves. >> Yeah. Yeah. So, do you recall who were the first big DJs to play Sandstorm? >> Uh, you know what? I remember who were who was the first one to play uh the commercial version. So, the the real version of Sandstorm was this guy called Up uh a DJ at a club called Berlin in Duro, Finland. And uh yeah, he might not be the biggest DJ, but he was the I think the first one that I heard live. And uh Yako and I went out one night and just wanted to hear our I don't even remember if that was a master or if that was just something that Yako burned like a premaster on CD and uh but that that's worth mentioning but um our local there was a couple of like there was Yanni and Hugh and couple of others locals that were playing it uh and actually even my version before that. So big big ups to those guys. And I'm maybe forgetting something somebody don't mean any offense by that. But um so uh spring 2000, Judge Jules was definitely one. I don't know who was the first one, but Judge Jules on radio one played it like eight weeks in a row before the release, which definitely must have helped um the release being successful. Pong played it as well. outside of UK. Uh Paul van Djk played it and he played it the whole summer 2000. I I actually the first time I was in IBA I went to Amnesia on a Thursday. My gig was on Friday and I was in a VIP when I heard something being mixed in. I ran downstairs to the dance floor and they had this huge cryo thing back then and when it dropped I was crying my eyes out smiling screaming and then the cryo hit me and I almost uh you know needed new set of pants but I hadn't experienced that before um and uh yeah Paul was one of those who was a heavy supporter as well early on uh Dave Pierce I think fold as well early on so to name few big names. >> Yeah. Yeah. So, at one point you were also asked to perform Sandstorm at Top of the Bobs. So, what do you remember from that day? Was this like your first TV performance ever? >> I don't think at that point it was my first TV performance. I think uh I'd done some uh in Finland and also I did a good bunch of um touring promo stuff and and actual gigs in in Sweden, in in Norway and Denmark as well, Germany by that time I think. So, so I might have been to um you know uh TV before, but Top of the Pops obviously was huge. And uh what's funny about that performance is that I have an actual live acoustic drummer there, which in certain ways had nothing to do with the actual production of the track, but it looks cool. And uh it was it was such a weird day. uh the top of the pro top Pops production was such like conveyor belt like you had practice you had whether you're done or not now you're done you know then you go wait and then the order is kind of I think backwards and then it's your time they did have potentially like another take or two if if you need it and sometimes actually at least feel the beat with it once or twice extra so that they could have other angles so they could just later mix in like on the same track. But but it was interesting to say the least. But then the weirdest thing about those is like while I'm not a, you know, live band, but I used to do even back then something live, you know, even if I in some occasions I had a background tape, but I might have had a live synth that I would play on top or trigger samples from a sampler. And you barely had power to your synthesizers when you did Top of the Pops. And I think like maybe Madonna would have sing sang live in Top of the Pops, but everybody else was just miming. So it was uh it was very conflicting at the same time as it was really cool. >> Yeah, because I think I I've seen like a lot of top of the pop shows and you see people behind the synthesizer and there's no cables plugged in. Yeah, >> I have a story about that. Uh my third single, Out of Control, uh I got to go to Top of the Pops, which was amazing. But uh while we did the rehearsal, I actually had a like a little riser and a keyboard stand and I was working was supposed to be working with my gadgets two gadget keyboard and this uh sequencer and they did not give me power. And then at the time where the director whoever it is like the big man there said to the camera guy like, "Hey, come over his shoulder and look at his hands." And I'm like, "I'm not going to do that. Like if you at least give me power like I'm not going to have you look at my synths being dead and I'm just trying to play like mimic my my something and uh so he was insistent okay so we go and that was the rehearsal and I told my record company guy that I'm not going to do that like simply won't and the plans changed now and what we did is I found a chair and then I had an X stand which I made as low as possible. I put my core karma keyboard on the stand and then I went in the back of the the stage with my chair and with my stand and I had my legs over it and I did this the whole 3 and 1/2 minutes of the of the track. Uh but actually it worked really well because I had dancers who were doing similar things that the synchronized swimmers in the music video of out of control and then I had a singer uh Tammy Marie who would be be doing her vocal. So um it did work but I don't think I had too many friends with the production at that point because I just changed the whole thing at the time. But >> have you been back since at the top of the pop? >> No I haven't but I also haven't had a like a top 10 hit which would you know get me to top of the box. So now it doesn't exist anymore. >> Yeah, that's true. Well, so you went three times then, right? >> Yes. >> Yeah, that's nice. >> So yeah. Um, yeah, as we all know, Sandstorm became a huge, huge hit all over the world. It became like a top 10 track in the charts of all over Europe, but also Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the US. So I guess you had to pinch yourself like almost every morning when you woke up. Yes. But but it took me easily like 2 3 years to kind of catch up. Like I literally was um when I got the got the initial chance. Do you want to go tour? Uh I guess. And then I became a touring artist with uh Yako's help. I sort of figured out what I would do and my shows. And I wasn't a DJ, so I sort of didn't want to go and embarrass myself trying to vinyl beat match and mess up. Yeah. So slowly but surely when I was doing those live shows and whatnot, I I started to become comfortable being in front of an audience and I did those live shows until like 2003 or four I started DJing cuz I kind of learned to beat match and learned to technically DJ on the way as well. But around that time when we started to make our uh the the second album 2002 2003 I took a little bit of a break and that was the first time I actually sort of had time to look back and think about what had happened and I I I mean that sincerely like of course I was happy and I was pinching myself hey I'm in IA playing I'm in the same lineup with Arman van Helden and Underworld and you know Paul Van Djk and whatnot that was crazy so I had those moments but next flight, next interview, you know, next whatever all the time for the first 2 years. So, I didn't really have like this realization what was going on. >> Yeah. >> And then uh when I took my break, it was just this overwhelming like holy crap like I'm earning a little bit of a living doing this and >> what's next? And yeah. >> So, when did music become like your full-time job? I think soon after you signed Sandstorm. Yes, it technically did, but I I still held on to my my job at this uh Apple uh authorized reseller and repair store that that I I worked at in in Torico, Finland. And it was uh sort of hard for me to, you know, let go of that job because I had no idea that if the music stuff would be months or years or 25 years. >> Yeah, pretty safe. Good decision. So yeah, Sandstorm is 25 years old now and during the years it has been used in tons of memes, funny videos, etc., etc. So how often do people tag you with memes or funny videos regarding Sandstorm? >> How often? Um, yeah, daily. Numerous times a day, these days still. And uh then I I often get text messages from like you know people my friends and circle of friends that um go to NHL games or or something like that very often like hey dude thinking of you then like >> Yeah. >> Yeah. That's like my next question because yeah Sandstorm also became popular in gaming culture. Yeah. and also a League of Legends, but it's also being played during lots of sport events, uh, motocross races, and I saw a video of the South Carolina College Football League, uh, football team, which is using Sandstorm. >> Um, a few years ago, you did team up with YouTube for an April Fool's prank, which involves Sandstorm. You also did a special Sandstorm Angry Birds remix. Uh, and for the New Year's countdown from, I think it was 2016 to 2017, you did play Sandstorm here in Helsinki. There's some massive fireworks. So yeah, this might be a difficult question, but what is the absolute highlight for you when it comes to 25 years of Sandstorm? >> Well, there is no absolute highlight in that way. Yeah, you are absolutely correct. It's a hard question, but people do ask me all the time like what's my uh favorite gig ever. And uh the 2016 2017 New Year's Eve became my answer. It's also it is sincere but it's also uh very practically uh valid answer because I got to open the 100year uh celebrations for our 100y year anniversary. So uh in 2017 we turned 100 uh Finland did and starting that year was the sandstorm drop uh for about I don't know 80,000 people here in the in the center of Helsinki and it's such an honor uh to be chosen to to do that track and I I was told kind of in in our discussions when I was asked if I should do that like you know there would have been like Sibelius's Finlandia well-known amazing in classical piece was one of the uh sort of options and and some other stuff that would have been sort of like uh serious and very very uh you know highly highly valued and then they chose to go with sort of newer generation stuff and and my track. Um, so that's the best gig ever. >> And, uh, with that answer, uh, if somebody's offended that their gig wasn't, they can be because I'm patriotic enough, but I I can take that. And, and it really was amazing. And >> my my fellow Fins were there partying and uh, the fireworks were crazy. And uh funny anecdote about that night is that it felt very much like a regular gig to me. Although the crowd was big, but then the fireworks and stuff, they happened basically like behind the stage back high up, so I didn't really see them that well. And I wasn't I mean I was a little nervous and whatnot, but I was kind of in my normal gig mode. Then I go to the hotel, uh, you know, like 2:00 a.m. I start getting messages from people and they were either there recording video clips or they send me clips of the official broadcast and then I just realized how incredible it was and and basically baldled my eyes out how, you know, it was such a moment of pride pride and um, you know, it was also I got to brag a little bit more. Um, we got comparisons Mariah Carey was at the ball drop in New York and uh there was some big international magazine or paper was like Mariah who and then they linked sandstone ball drop uh from Finland there. I was like >> yeah that's cool. That's cool. Yeah. So yeah during those 25 years do you have any idea how many copies have been sold worldwide? Uh I should um I think we were uh calculating the 16-in pips and and ourselves at some point that it must be you know the first year I think it was the most sold 12 in 2000 I think. So that would have been like maybe 2 million copies or something like that which was quite massive worldwide. And then couple of years later total might have been like 1 or 2 million more. So I think we're around 5 million mark in in sales like that which is quite big for a dance track. And then few years later the streaming started. So it's really hard to calculate from then on onwards. >> What is it now? Spotify is like 41 was it 400? No 500 million I think. I mean >> yeah. Yeah it's a little over five. No not bad. >> Yeah. And uh we we just look it's uh what 300 something on on YouTube as well the video. So >> yeah. So I guess you have an impressive collection of golden and platinum records. >> I have some. Yeah. And we you know uh we what was really cool from 16 in I just got the 500 million uh a few months ago that went over. So So that's my uh new one. >> Yeah. >> On on my um uh bookshelf. But uh yeah, there's a couple of cool ones like one was uh a gold one from Germany and that was I think 2001 or so and then there's a UK one and there's a Canadian one is which is cool. Uh Sandstorm and Field were on the same chart I think I don't remember maybe number two and number eight or something like that at the same time still. So while Sandstorm was still there Field the Beast started coming out. >> Oh nice at the same time. >> Yeah. And when I was in I did the Much Music, which was a music program in in Canada a long time ago, which in Finland we had actually the same thing. So it was like um licensed thing in Finland. It was a different name. It was called Yuri, but they used a similar graphics and similar >> sideways shot uh images and whatnot. So when I visited much music one time, I got that award there or the the plaque for the two two in a top them at the same time. >> Oh, cool. So yeah, I'm sure you heard a track yourself a lot as well on radio and TV. So what's the weirdest place you ever heard Sandstorm being played? >> Oh wow. I should have an answer to this because it's been asked a couple of times and I'd never know. Um I wasn't there but uh and it's not maybe the happiest of things but but I know of a couple of people who had it played at their funeral. >> Oh wow. >> Yeah. And it's kind of heavy, but then at the same time, imagine that funeral like those people must be uh not the most seriousminded and even in death death. Um whether it was my track or somebody else's standard music record, but they they celebrate life >> and not, you know. >> Yeah, I'm sure it made a few people giggle when they heard it at a funeral. >> Uh probably. Yes. Yes. Yeah. Um, so yeah, the track is 25 years old now and even after 25 years, the track is still very successful. Yeah, another difficult question. What is the secret behind the success of Sandstorm? >> Yeah, that's uh easy. It's just a great track. I I don't know. I I always say the same thing. I know it. I know every millisecond of it. I know every sample in it. I could uh quite easily play the track and point out each sort of sample, kind of tell the notes and tell whatever's in it. And um I still don't know the answer to your question. Um but one of the things that I have figured out is that if you have a hit record, it has to have something recognizable. When you hear it the first time, you you remember, oh, immediately this is it. The Sandstorm has like one or two three of those things. The dudoo is the main thing obviously people remember but then um the Sandstorm sound the the patch the synth chords that come up those are quite recognizable as well. Then it has those bangs and then it has the rim saw the and those are not as obvious but when you hear it the second and third time you will recognize them from there. So that's one thing. You have recognizable sound, but I think a key to a hit record then is you remember it, but you don't get bored or pissed off at it. And I don't know why you don't get pissed off. >> And some people do. I'm not saying that nobody does, but u we now have 25 years of empirical studies showing that >> a good bunch of people don't get pissed off at it or so. >> Yeah. True. >> So that is it. But but that you can say that about almost any hit record. Like if you analyze it, you might not know or for some tracks maybe it's it's clearer like it's a vocal bit that is very emotional or very catchy. And I know the hook is catchy, but why? I don't know. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. This year you're performing all over the world with the Storm 25 tour. So how's the tour going so far? >> Well, we're about halfway through and the tour has been really good. I I've been very excited about it myself. I worked my butt off to to prepare for it. And then I had my team work on the visuals and obvious obviously the all the bookings and and uh we've planned and and discussed and went back and forth with sort of design and theme and all that. And now seeing it happen and working it uh and getting the the people's feedback, it's been very very very satisfying and and heartwarming and sort of um I don't know if that's a good thing or bad thing to say, but it's even even made me much more confident artist. >> Yeah. >> The Cuz it's it's was planned a year year and a half before it started happening and it's been working as sort of planned. So it's been it's been very good rewarding. >> Yeah. We we are recording this interview 2 days before your show here in Helsinki. >> So is playing in your home country Finland always a bit more special to you than performing anywhere else? >> Uh I mean yeah home country is more special. Uh it's um I don't know. It might be a little more pressure in a way because there's supposedly a lot more people that I do know and then it's kind of like I have to show that I know what I'm doing. Uh but at the same time, I've actually always liked seeing friendly faces in a crowd. It's kind of um like a warm blanket. >> Yeah. >> You know, um >> but uh you know, we've we're here on the ground. We know the promoter. We know the tech people. We have planned a little bit more specific uh production on it here cuz we can affect things more than going to some place in New York for instance or or some place in in whatever Australia. Great tech usually everywhere but then we don't have the same personal touch. So we can't be on the ground couple of days before and plan the lights and whatnot the same way that we can hear. >> Yeah. Yeah, we do know each other like for 25 years now and Saturday will be actually the very first time I'm going to see you perform live because during all those years I've never seen as you. No pressure. So yeah, what what can I expect when I go to see a gig of you? >> Well, a gig of me in general, you will see me smiling ear to ear, being happy about being there, being able to perform music for the crowd. And I think that's half of at least half of my performance is the being comfortable and enjoy the moment. Uh, and yet I don't I think when people see me, and I hope when people see me that they don't think of me as somebody high up just performing for the little people there, but I'm I'm with the people basically on the same level. I just play the music. That's the difference. Uh, I enjoy that a lot. Um, good vibes. Uh, this tour is a little different. And I've actually so since 2003 or four I've been playing as a DJ and been booked as a DJ and uh which to with today's deck means that I can also add some live stuff here and there loops and and trigger other stuff with uh I play with tractor and able to live on a side. But now this is an actual sort of producer live set. So where I prepped all the tracks which is by the way remixing about 20 of my tracks and then I got a couple remixes from other people for the set. So, there's about 25 tracks and um they are as stems in Ableton Live and I can manipulate stuff on the fly. And I play a couple keys here. I tweak a 303 filter there and and uh play a couple of drum breaks and stuff like that on the on the fly. Um and it's sort of um the flow should feel like my regular DJ set. That's how kind of how I planned it. So, you know, no tracks ending and I'm not expecting claps here and there. It's like a DJ sort of >> performance thing, but it's been really cool for me as well. Kind of go back to my roots cuz I started doing live stuff in the beginning and and then now kind of going back to it and uh it it's a lot of work to prepare a live set of 90 or so minutes. Uh a lot of decisions to make, a lot of production to do, but uh it's been very rewarding. I'm happy about it. Excited to show that to you. >> Yeah. And and of course we're going to hear Sandstorm, right? Uh yeah. Okay. Okay. I'll play that for you. >> This is actually a serious question. Did you ever do a gig where you did not play Sandstorm? >> Um yes, I did. Uh but so let's get this straight. 25 soon 26 years. And I want to say maybe 1,500 or more gigs and there's been maybe five gigs where I didn't play Sandstorm. And at least three of them is because something happened like uh you know promoter told me like yeah you can play a little over 2 p.m. uh 2 a.m. and then the security came like oh we have hard cut at 2 and I'm like well I didn't play my track yet. So that's happened a couple of times but um and once or twice there's been something cheeky or spiteful happening and I just decided like well I'm not going to do that tonight. But but no I I love playing it. Um, there was a time where a couple of years mid 22 2010s or something where I didn't play the original sort of ever. I have tons of remixes, different variations and edits that I've made myself and then there were a couple of remixes by my buddies who I used as a part of it, but they all still had the same doo-doo thing and and recognizable stuff. Uh, but it's funny like some people have been pissed off that I didn't play the original or or even reported like, "Hey, Dar didn't play sandstorm." I'm like, >> "I did." >> And I actually can prove it because I have recordings of probably 95% of my sets in 200 two or three. >> Oh, wow. >> Yeah. >> So, besides the tour, what else can we expect from you in the in the future? >> Well, the tour is going to be going till the end of 25. Maybe that we've had some requests on 26 site as well. So, if people are not too bothered, Storm 25 being done in on the 26 side, we're going to do a couple of those gigs as well. >> Um, even on this set now is uh one or two new tracks that I'm I'm trying out and and sort of showing that this is not the end, but stuff's going to go on. And so, there's going to be new releases coming. And um actually since March now or April, start of April, I haven't really produced much music. I've prepped some stuff and had ideas, but but I did such a sort of rough year and a half producing uh that uh this been kind of nice break. And then I've been on the road so much that when I get home, I kind of just want to catch up with sleep and with the family as well. >> Yeah. >> But so excited to be working on new music again. And um >> um I don't know. I can't reveal too much of that, but we're still going to do the same transy housey mix of this and that. And by the way, the the tour set is going to be kind of mixed bagged as well in a sense that >> uh I could have kind of gone with like 2000's retro the whole way through and that probably would have worked as well, but this is more like what my current DJ sets are. There's a little bit of a I don't know uh melodic techno, some trans, some house, even some bass house and sort of various things that uh people I think think that I'm sort of 100% like a trans DJ, but I've never really been that. I've always kind of thrown some different stuff in there and u this is a really good sort of um uh you know, whatever reflection of that as well. >> Yeah. Ah, nice. And the last question, pineapple on pizza, yes or no? Pineapple and pizza. Hell yes. >> Okay, good. Great. Well, thank you very much for your time and good luck on everything. >> Thank you, man. Thank you. >> All right, that was it. This week's vlog music express episode 250, my interview with Darude and the story behind Sandstorm. VA, thanks a lot for your time. Much appreciated. Thank you for watching. I hope you enjoyed the vlog. If you did, make sure to give this video a like. Leave a comment in the comment section below and very important make sure to subscribe. Also, make sure to click the bell button because then you will get a notification the next time a new vlog is online. And I did two more interviews with Darut. Those will be online in a couple of weeks from now. Check the links in the video description and stay tuned. Once again, thanks for watching and until next time. Bye-bye.