Sven Maes (; born 27 January 1973), also known as Svenson, is a Belgian DJ and

trance music Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that emerged from Electronic body music, EBM in Frankfurt, Germany, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and quickly spread throughout Europe. Trance music is typically characterized by a tempo between ...

producer. His work, especially in partnership with fellow Belgian

Johan Gielen Johan Gielen (; born 23 February 1968) is a trance musician, DJ, and remixer. Early years Johan started DJing at the age of 17 in his home country of Belgium, and during the latest 15 years has built up an international fame spinning as a DJ in ...

, has produced some of trance music's biggest hits. He has been successful as a solo artist and also as a partnership in several collaborative efforts.

Early years

At the age of eighteen, Sven played in an eccentric group of musicians that performed under the name "Mea Culpa". It was during one of their performances at a Belgian contest for rock bands that he was noticed. The yearly event is called

Humo's Rock Rally Humo's Rock Rally is a Belgian contest for rock bands, organized every second year since 1978. It is organized by the Belgian magazine ''HUMO''. Every band that has not yet released an official recording, may enter the Rock Rally, by submitting ...

and he was approached by Geert Blanchart, who competed in

short track speed skating at the 1994 Winter Olympics Short track speed skating at the 1994 Winter Olympics was held from 22 to 26 February. Six events were contested at the Hamar Olympic Amphitheatre. In short track speed skating's second Olympic appearance, two events were added, the 500 metres f ...

. Blanchart, in turn, introduced Sven to a friend of his. That friend was Olivier Adams and was already established in the music industry and was known for their

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

work with the acid band

Lords of Acid Lords of Acid is a Belgian electronic music group, originally formed in 1988 by Praga Khan, Oliver Adams, and Jade 4U. The band is known for their provocative lyrics, blending techno, acid house, and industrial music with themes of sexuality, dr ...

. It was the interest of Olivier Adams that helped Sven keep moving in a successful direction with his music. The use of Adams'

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for Sound recording and reproduction, recording and Audio mixing, mixing of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home proje ...

helped Sven by allowing him to tape several tracks under a few

aliases A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's ow ...

Mainstream success

Adams too was the one that introduced Sven to Antler-Subway Records. This is the time that Sven met

. The two paired up to produce tracks such as Bodyheat and Airscape. A significant portion of Sven's composing and production work was done with Johan Gielen. They worked together as

Svenson & Gielen Airscape is a Belgian trance act composed of Johan Gielen. Formerly including Sven Maes, the group also recorded as Svenson & Gielen () and several other pseudonyms. The original two-man group dissolved in 2005, each going solo. In 2009, Airsca ...

for more than a few years. The Airscape remix of

Delerium Delerium is a Canadian new-age ambient electronic musical duo that formed in 1987, originally as a side project of the influential industrial music act Front Line Assembly. Throughout the band's history, their musical style has encompassed a ...

feat. Sarah McLachlan's "

Silence Silence is the absence of ambient hearing, audible sound, the emission of sounds of such low sound intensity, intensity that they do not draw attention to themselves, or the state of having ceased to produce sounds; this latter sense can be exten ...

" is the duo's biggest hit, as well as their remix of Delerium's " After All", also performed very successfully. It made its way onto several compilations like the

Euphoria Euphoria ( ) is the experience (or affect) of pleasure or excitement and intense feelings of well-being and happiness. Certain natural rewards and social activities, such as aerobic exercise, laughter, listening to or making music and da ...

series of compilations. It was when their contract with Antler-Subway expired that the rapid successes came one after the other. The duo hooked up with Dutch dance organizer

ID&T ID&T is a Dutch entertainment and medium Business, enterprise that was founded in the early 1990s. Their event Thunderdome (music festival), Thunderdome is named the oldest electronic festival in the Netherlands, with later events like Mysteryla ...

and started to produce for them. The first track was the epic "

The Beauty of Silence The Beauty of Silence is an uplifting trance track that was composed and produced by Sven Maes and Johan Gielen. The song was a huge hit in Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast co ...

". This was soon followed by "Twisted" and "We Know What You Did".

Discography

Singles (solo)

*1995 - 'One Way to Live (Is to Party)' (as E-Raver) *1996 - 'Do-Re-Mi' (as Joy Toys) *1996 - 'Blue World Dream' (as Sea Squad) *1996 - 'Nocturna' (as Vince G. Jefferson) *1997 - 'Chorus of Whales' (as Voyageur) *1997 - 'Let Me Take You on a Trip' *1998 - 'Acceleration' *1998 - 'Jesus Is Here' (as E-Raver) *2000 - 'Break the Silence' *2000 - 'Clubbin' on Sunshine' *2003 - 'Sunlight Theory' *2004 - 'Inside Outside/The Devil's LSD' *2005 - 'Wicked Life' *2008 - 'Keeping It Real' *2008 - 'Lover (I Want You)' eat. John Robinson

References

External links