The Riel Deal: From the prolific electronic dance breeding
ground that is The Netherlands, with close to overnight speed,
in 2008 he landed. In that year alone he was tipped by Tiësto
as “the hottest producer around”, by DJ Magazine
as “the next big thing to hit trance” and took
home Trackitdown.net’s Trance Award for the scene’s
‘Best New Face’. 12 lightning-fast months later
he’d qualified all those early markers through a fleet
of equatorially hot track releases, club-hypnotizing DJ performances
and a ‘next-level’ remix ethic. In 2009 he played
over 60 show-stopping sets (which included spinning at an
incredible 7 world-class events in just 9 days). It was an
achievement which culminated in him making his debut on DJ
Magazine’s Top 100 2009 DJs chart at No.85. He’s
the latest DJ to graduate to trance music’s ‘Van
Clan’ hierarchy. He is Sied van Riel…
The Riel-eases: Following several notable ‘early years’
releases (including ‘Fearless’ on Subtraxx and
the PVD-championed ‘My Dreams’ on Expedition),
Van Riel started to beat a path to the dancefloor. In 2007
he was signed to Dutch super-label Spinnin’ Records;
a move which bore immediate fruit through dancefloor bullets
like ‘Changing Places’, ‘Sigh’ and
‘What You Want’. With the quality-control locked
in place, his production career went supernova as ‘Contrasts’,
‘Minimal Symphony’, ‘One’/’Two’
& ‘Riel People Know’ brought mayhem to dancefloors
throughout 2008. In August of that year the track ‘Rush’
was un-caged and marked not only a first release through Tiësto’s
Black Hole Records but also Sied’s vital breakthrough
record. Thrashed by Armin, Ferry Corsten, PVD and (naturally
enough) Tiësto, its nu-skool tech-trance sound surged
through the world’s festivals and arenas. The Liquid
Recordings released ‘MME’ (which was part of the
‘Dedication EP’) & ‘Mongoosed’,
and the Black Hole follow-up ‘Sunrise’ arrived
in 2009, provoking similar floor-quaking upheaval.
The Riel Floor-Rocker: Sied cut his DJ teeth early in his
career playing at events like Germany’s illustrious
Love Parade and Tiësto’s round-the-world ‘ISOS’
Tour. FFWD three years and he is become a essential mainstay
of festivals and arena events, which have included the goliath
Netherlands Trance Energy, Armin’s country-hopping ASOT400,
the 4-gig-long Trance Energy Australia tour, Gatecrasher’s
15th Birthday event, Planet Love and the legendary Crobar
in Buenos Aires. Through far-sighted track selection, marksman-like
mixing and an intrinsic ability to read crowds he has raced
through the ranks of DJs. This rise was brought into the sharpest
possible focus when Van Riel entered the DJ Magazine Top 100
Chart in 2009 at No.85.
In Riel Time: In late August of 2009 Sied released his first
CD compilation. A double disc outing, ‘In Riel Time
Vol.1’ became the ultimate at-home, in-car platform
to experience the Van Riel sound. It proved a sales smash
on Beatport and was made Album of the Month in Mixmag. The
magazine noted that Sied had “rapidly gained in status
over the last year” and that the album itself brought
with it “one intense peak-time track after another”.
Sied4Life: In late 2008 Sied became an official Dance4Life
Ambassador. Donating tracks to the D4L albums and DJing at
fund-raisers for the charity (which works to improves the
lives of HIV and AIDS sufferers and create awereness), he
is a proud member of the charity’s team.
The Riel-Mixes: For the last 3 years Sied’s been lending
the Riel touch to tracks from Europe finest trance labels
(including Armada, Black Hole, Spinnin’, Flashover and
High Contrast). In that time he’s captured the minds
of music lovers, re-touching tracks by luminaries like Armin
van Buuren & Ferry Corsten and Offer Nissim.
The Rielalistic Radio Show: Following numerous radio appearances
(inc. Ministry of Sound – UK, Sunshine Live Maximal,
Germany & Radio 538 in The Netherlands), Sied launched
his own radio show, Rielalistic in 2008. Transmitted every
2nd and 4th Monday of the month on www.ah.fm, it has immediately
drawn a loyal listener-ship.
The Riel Pronunciation: That’s ‘Seed’ van
‘Real’ trance-spotters and accuracy fans!
