First State

Ralph Barendse (1977) released his first dance record in 1999 as ‘Alpha Breed’. In 2001 a new track was noticedb> by DJ Tiësto and got signed and released as ‘Ralphie B – Massive’ on In Trance We Trust (Black Hole Recordings). The trance record became a huge success and is still considered a classic. After the great response to ‘Massive’, many Ralphie B. remixes followed, and in 2002 a new project was released: ‘Midway - Monkey Forest’ on In Trance We Trust. It turned out to be an instant success. Ralphie focussed on this new Midway guise in 2003, which resulted in several new tracks and remixes, including ‘Midway – Inca’ (which also featured on Tiesto's compilation ‘Nyana’) and ‘Midway – Amazon’ in 2004. Ralph eventually asked his friend Sander van der Waal (1981) to do a remix for this track. Sander already had released some successful records as ‘Devoid’ and ‘Sander van Dien’. Black Hole instantly signed his Amazon remix and released it together with the original version.

In 2005, Sander and Ralphie decided to work together on a track. Their first co-production was called ‘First State - First State’ and was released on In Trance We Trust. It became a big hit and got played exclusively by Tiësto for a long time before the rest of the big DJs followed. Because of the success of this new project and the huge click between both of them, Ralphie and Sander decided to bundle their powers, merging the studio together in Dordrecht, The Netherlands and form a duo.

In June 2006, Black Hole Recordings signed their new First State track called ‘Evergreen’ and asked if they were interested in producing a First State album. Now, the album titled ‘Time Frame’ is finished and showcases a diverse sound and great vocal collaborations. The guys spent almost a year to produce their album and finished it with a total of ten tracks that fully represent what they stand for. The setup of the whole record is one similar to a DJ set: an easy going begin that grows with housey tracks towards a nice climax with more techy productions. Of course the real trance aficionado will find what he wants: the fat trance sound that made the duo famous, complete with classical arrangements. At the same time, obvious influences of ‘regular’ house and minimal are present in songs like Falling with Anita Kelsey, which currently features on Tiësto’s successful mixcompilation ‘In Search of Sunrise 6’, or the ones with Tiff Lacey and Elliot Johns. The biggest challenge for First State was to deliver an album that reflects the time in which it was made, and still delivers timeless tracks that have the power to become classics or even anthems. With many DJ performances in 2008 like: Tiesto's DVD Premiere party, Gatecrasher Ukraine and Intuition Invites and as support act for Tiesto's European ISOS Tour.....