New World Punx discuss the origins of their coincidental partnership [Interview]
It all began in March 2012 when Ferry Corsten and Markus Schulz played their first back-to-back set at Godskitchen in Birmingham, which inspired another collaborative set at Tao Beach, Las Vegas. In Novemeber, the duo’s third ever tag team occurrence took place in Washington, DC. Arguably, that seven-hour back-to-back set, which garnered SiriusXM’s attention and was aired live in the US on Electric Area, made history. Believe it or not, their simultaneous bookings at Echostage in 2012 were a complete coincidence. At the time, they were still just Ferry and Markus.
“When we learned that we were booked individually at Echostage for Glow on the same night, we decided to pull an all nighter again playing B2B.”
It was shortly thereafter that the two suddenly became flooded with requests from promoters to play together at their venues. Officially uniting in March 2013 under the moniker, New World Punx, the name is extracted from Schulz’s “The New World,” and Corsten’s “Punk.” This past Winter, the duo launched their first three shows in North America at Mansion (Miami), Madison Square Garden (NY), and Bal en Blanc (Montreal).
Courtesy of Doug Van Sant
Together, they made sure fans knew that when they came to see a NWP show, they would be experiencing something more spectacular than just Markus and Ferry. The former’s preference for techno-influenced tracks and the latter’s inclination to use electro-inspired sounds have solidified NWP as the “high-energy DJ duo” that they are known as today.
One year later, I welcome NWP back to the district for their official Glow debut and ask how their set this weekend would differ from the prior year’s:
“We have definitely fine-tuned our NWP sound and identity. We will be playing a lot more NWP mash ups and bootlegs and the whole set will be more structured.”
Some of these would include “Mammoth Forever,” “Nothing Without Fortuna,” and “Binary Finary- 1998,” in addition to their debut track, “Romper.” What the two powerhouses bring to the table, or in this case the stage, is harder and more electrifying than what one would expect to hear when just Markus or Ferry hit the decks. Melody is built upon melody, and together they work within a boundless framework that inspires fun, creativity, and facing the unexpected head-on.
In theory, the concept of NWP is all about having fun for the two DJ’s. “It is pretty cool to be in the DJ booth as a group. We can challenge and try to surprise each other by digging for unexpected tracks that will go next into the set.”
Courtesy of Doug Van Sant
The project could even be considered an accidental blessing, considering how naturally it fell into place. I ask if it ever feels as though the fun is lost with solo DJ’ing and if working together reinvigorates those feelings. Markus responds:
“Not necessarily through DJing, because if I wasn’t having fun DJing then I would probably hang up the headphones right away. Where the fun disappears is when you get lost within the politics of the business. Everyone is fighting for that right timeslot on the right stage at the right festival. Whereas when we went into the studio together, nobody is thinking remotely about any of that. It’s just a simple geek session in the studio.”
The mastery that Markus and Ferry have individually acquired over the years explains why they are able to flourish as a collaborative project. Although they’ve just begun, their colossal presence as a duo is already in high demand and continues to develop with each show. But as with all new undertakings, the German/Dutch team will keep moving through the trial and error process, paying finer attention to detail and further discovering their likes and dislikes, what meshes well together, and what doesn’t. This is New World Punx.
Official Ferry Corsten & Markus Schulz 2012 After Movie Courtesy of Anna Pineapple
Categories: Music