Fresh off the stage at Transmission’s 25 Years of Gouryella celebration during Amsterdam Dance Event 2025, trance legend Ferry Corsten sat down with us to discuss the milestone anniversary of his beloved alias. The Ferry Corsten Gouryella project has captivated trance fans for a quarter century with its ethereal sound and spiritual depth.

The special Ferry Corsten Gouryella showcase featured an entirely new visual production, complete with profound lyrics and the iconic tree of life imagery. Corsten opened up about the spiritual depth behind Gouryella, his creative process, and how the universe guides him when it’s time to create new music for this transcendent project.

The New Show Experience

You just got off stage. How do you feel?

Feeling really good. I did two shows here as Ferry Corsten, and then the 25 year anniversary of my other moniker Gouryella. It’s two different sets.

Especially for the Ferry Corsten Gouryella milestone event, we did a whole new show, whole new visuals and a whole new structure of the set, and a lot more other stuff. To actually see that new show for the first time in an environment like this was amazing. Really, really cool.

Creating the Visual Concept

I loved the lyrics on the screen and the tree of life. Who comes up with the concept behind the visuals?

I worked together with David Moor. He’s also the person behind the application Showkontrol. A lot of people in this industry definitely know what that is—an application that allows you to sync everything on the screen that you put out from your decks and way more. But he’s also pretty strong in visuals.

I already had the actual topic with Ferry Corsten Gouryella of the bigger things in life. What is the universe, and how is frequency related to our existence? Pretty deep stuff. But that’s also perfect fuel for an amazing concept.

If you put that in words on a screen, it’s already visual. When people hear it and read it at the same time, it triggers a mechanism where they start thinking about stuff. I’m sure people will walk away tonight and be back home thinking of certain phrases on the screen. They’ll think “I read that today, that actually made sense” or “I can totally agree with that.” I want them to question more.

So together, feeding the ideas behind what Ferry Corsten Gouryella means into David’s brain, we go back and forth and come up with ideas for the visuals which he then creates.

Photographer Credit: Rutger Geerling

The Meaning Behind Gouryella

I’ve asked you before what Gouryella means, but what does it mean to you now in this moment? What do you want people to take away when they leave today?

Obviously the straight translation for Gouryella is basically heaven in one of the Native Australian tribes’ languages. But what does Ferry Corsten Gouryella mean now?

Seeing what the music with that meaning has done to so many people over the last 25 years—I know people who, it sounds really weird, but for them Ferry Corsten Gouryella is almost like a revelation type of experience. When they hear a new Gouryella single, they really live for it. It’s not just a bit of music, it’s a life changer.

Which is crazy, because for me, I’m in the studio making my music, doing my thing. But then when that track leaves the studio, it starts its own life. I could see it really in the end with all the lights and stuff. The whole package was complete tonight.

Planning the 25-Year Anniversary

Your family was here as well. How long have you been planning this? Has this been a long time coming?

Well, it started in 2001. The first three singles of Ferry Corsten Gouryella I did with Tiësto, and then number four I did myself. Then we had a break of 10 or 11 years, but the name and the project was still alive.

A lot of people kept asking me “when are you doing Gouryella?” Then in 2015 I came back with a track that really blew up massively and brought the whole project back again. That’s when I decided to put it into a show.

It’s been a show for about 10 years now, and it’s been evolving every time. When there was a new single, I had to add a new visual, so the show changed slightly over time but relatively still in a similar way. But now with the 25 years anniversary at ADE, I felt like we just need to completely give this whole thing a new overhaul and come out with a new show.

Photographer Credit: Rutger Geerling

Staying Creative and Motivated

How do you stay motivated to continue being creative?

Sometimes it’s best not to think about it and just be. Sounds weird, right? But to be creative, you’ve got to accept that you cannot put your clock to it. You are when you are. If it doesn’t work out, then just don’t get worked up about it.

I know people that feel instantly they have a writer’s block and think this is the end of it. No, it’s not. Give it some time. Always make sure you’re not useless in the studio. If you don’t write a melody today, you can always work on sound effects or create new presets or sound design. Do something else. You’re still productive.

But maybe tomorrow your mindset is different. You wake up in a different sort of vibe and today you’re feeling it—bang, there’s the next track. For me, it’s always been goofing around in the studio that brings what it needs to bring. If you take it too serious, it’s hard. You don’t need an idea to go into the studio. Just go in the studio, play around, and then something sticks and you work on that.

From Fun to Transcendence

That’s a really interesting juxtaposition, because you said that your music literally changes people’s lives. It’s so deep, so spiritual. But then you say you just go in the studio and goof around. How does that translate? How do you get from “I’m just having fun” to music that’s making people weep?

There’s two things, because Ferry Corsten Gouryella is its own entity. I really put that in its own sort of league. It’s not like I go in the studio and “oh, I have the next trance track, here’s the new Gouryella.” No.

I know that for that act, that sound has a certain emotion. You can’t really put your finger on it, but when I hear 15 trance tracks and I hear a Gouryella track, it’s different. That’s in its own environment if you will.

Going into the studio for Gouryella is very often in a bit of a trippy way. Gouryella is all about the universe. It’s very ethereal. But I’ve also become a firm believer that when the universe feels that I’m ready for a new Gouryella, it will hand it to me.

So look, I go to the studio and I find a new track. Maybe it’s a great idea for a house track or a trance track, but it’s not Gouryella. And then I’m in the studio and boom—oh, we’re on to something. That’s why over the years there could be a year or two or three years in between two Gouryella tracks, because there was never a track that was the right one for that.

Photographer Credit: Rutger Geerling

Evolution of the Sound

How has the Gouryella sound evolved over the last 25 years?

A bit more polished, bit more rich in texture and stuff. When you learn to produce in a better way, that happens. But some Ferry Corsten Gouryella tracks have been really ethereal. Some of the earlier stuff had a bit of a rave thing to it as well. I am now at the point where I feel like it needs to stay ethereal, but I need a bit of pepper and salt for the next punch.

A Solo Journey

You started the project with Tiësto. Now you produce yourself. Would you do it with somebody else again?

Just me. When I did the first three with Tiësto and asked if we should do number four, he was like “You know what, I’m actually changing my sound.” That’s when he went all housey. I was like cool, maybe I’ll ask Armin.

So I asked Armin once “would you want to be part of the next Gouryella?” And he’s like “Yeah, but you know what? That’s such a thing for the people out there that’s you and Tiësto. So I don’t really want to do that because it’s just your thing.” Then I was like, you know what, I’ll just do Ferry Corsten Gouryella by myself and I can completely blast my vision onto it. And that’s it.

Looking to the Future

Last question: where do you see Gouryella in the next 25 years?

I don’t know. Only time will tell and the universe will guide me again.