 While Mike Dierickx has already released 6 albums under various guises (including Push and Plastic Boy), enjoyed dance and chart success all over the world, and remixed everybody from Sinead 'O Connor to Moby, The Perfect Blend is his debut artist album a It encapsulates two years of work, and spans everything from techno to trance, tech house to electro, and is equally listenable whether you’re chilling out or firing up for a big night out.
Belgium-based Mike has been obsessed with producing music since the age of 10, when Depeche Mode wowed him with a full synth electro performance on TV; he went on to release his first track at 18 and never looked back. While most DJs dabble with producing, Mike is a producer who has always been passionate about making music, with his sets generally comprising 40-50% of his own productions.
Mike joined the Armada label on its inception three years ago at the request of Armin Van Buuren, setting up his Club Elite label within the group. “Armin and I had DJed together over the years, and he was always a supporter of my productions,” says Mike. “I respected him for what he did, and he’s a strong figurehead for the label. It’s a great team of people so it wasn’t a hard decision.”
The Perfect Blend, out on Armada,is a musical journey: “This album reflects perfectly what I am for the moment, and represents the music I play,” Mike says. The name comes from two things that happened while I was producing the album – my brother passed away while my wife was pregnant with our first child, so I had a lot of conflicting emotions. The Perfect Blend is about how there’s always a positive side, and when you mix everything together you get a perfect balance.”
From the driving tech trance of For Always In My Heart through the lush pads of Swoon, featuring electro kitschy vocals from Lux Lisbon, the album has it all, and comes with a bonus CD featuring thebest of M.I.K.E.’s three years with Armada. “All the tracks are different - music has to move forward” says Mike, “but they allhave meaning, and I hope people enjoy the story when they listen.”
THE MAN BEHIND THE CD
Mike's aka Dirk Dierickx started to DJ at the age of 16. He used the name DJ Mike, which is why, after he also produced under thisname, he decided to change his real name from Dirk to Mike in 2001.
Mike is releasing under several project names like Solar Factor, Plastic Boy, Return of the Native, The Blackmaster and of course Push. His style of DJing is very similar to the musichemakes, on a hard-edged tech-progressive trance tip. M.I.K.E is at the forefront of Europe's new sound, regularly topping chartsinseveral leading countries.
The story began when an 11 year old boy discovered the potential of samplers and keyboards... Atthe age of 18, Mike handed his first demo tape to the Antwerp based record company, 'USA Import'. Shortly after, his first record,'Vision Act' was released on the Atom label in 1992. Mike released a series of successful records before he signed up with Lightning in 1996. This gave him the opportunity to team up with Yves Deruyter, as his producer. Mike was behind YDR hits, 'To TheRhythm','The Rebel" and more recently, 'Back To Earth' and 'Spiritual Feelings'. Pole positions in the worldwide dance charts weresoonputting the Belgian dance scene firmly on the map.
M.I.K.E's reputation shot through the roof, and although a commercial crossover had never been anticipated, in 1998 'Universal Nation' by push took the world by storm, winning several dance awards, andundoubtedly being recognized as one of the classic records of the trance era. His Push follow up single, 'Strange World', destroyed hundreds of clubs across Europe, in the same vein as 'Universal Nation'. This was followed by yet another blockbuster, 'The Legacy'once again topping all dance charts across Europe and entering the British National charts at #21. Over the years Mike received several music awards including best club singles and best dance-producer, and enterd 6 times the national top 40 in the UK.
Mike also teamed up and did remixes for Sinead 'O Connor, Moby,Mauro Piccoto,Bom Funk Mc's,Oliver Lieb…
This kindof successdid not go unnoticed, as M.I.K.E. was asked to DJ at some of the best venues in the world, including: 'Gatecrasher' and'Godskitchen'in the UK, 'Fura' and 'Vel Farre' in Japan, 'Massive and 'Trance Energy' in Holland, 'Limelight' U.S. and the BerlinLove Parade…are a few to mention… |
