I have my own charity organization in Berlin called Ruckenwind, which supports kids from - ya - not ideal backgrounds.

I have my own charity organization in Berlin called Ruckenwind, which supports kids from - ya - not ideal backgrounds.

It is not the gift, but the thought that counts.

I don't tell anyone what they should do (drugs). It's like this music is so full of power and energy you don't really need to take anything if you just open up and let the music take you.

When I started, DJs weren't in the media, electronic music wasn't in the sales charts and a DJ was the freak in the corner who provided the music while other people had fun. So to do it, you must have been a freak and a music lover.

The good thing, really, is that electronic music started as a fringe subculture, and now it's the biggest youth culture in the world. People pretty much everywhere go crazy for electronic music.

Trance had become a dirty word. Thanks to Ian Van Dahl, Lasgo, Flip 'N' Fill and DJ Sammy, a generation of kids has grown up thinking trance is the shittiest music since country and western.