Airwave (BE)

1977 saw the death of the King, the release of «Off the Wall», and anecdotically the birth of Laurent Veronnez in Brussels. Of course at the age of 8 or 9 anyone feels attracted by music, but some kids just hear a melody on the radio and reproduce it note by note on a toy keyboard. Surprisingly, this happening didn’t ring a bell, and Laurent ended up addicted to ICT, pixels and graphics more than anything else until the age of 14. Laurent discovered back then what perfect pitch meant, and developed the gift he received from God, was playing keyboards for hours and making his neighbours mad while homework was left undone. A typical youth for a musician but also an untypical way to enter a new world where art is as important as science. Hit by surprise by a virus called Electronic Dance music, Laurent developed his knowledge of music and technology in Parallel until his first demos saw the light of day in may of 1995. 1996 saw him release his first tracks on the infamous Bonzai imprint, but that is 1998 that saw him grow up and become the progressive trance artist we know today, with the release of his first Airwave record, I want to Believe, immediately picked up by UK’s own Sasha and Oakenfold, and later on by up and coming youngster Tiësto, gaining popularity as much as he was playing Laurent’s records. The same can be said about the whole dutch trance scene, in which Laurent’s records were and still are omnipresent Today, Laurent doesn’t count productions anymore, as the track counts hit beyond 500 productions (under Airwave and many other aliases, such as The Green Martian, Velvet Girl, Cape Town, Planisphere, Fire & Ice, Yamakasi, Antidote, Lolo, and many others) and well over 100 remixes under his belt. He’s worked with the biggest names in the progressive and trance scene, from Armin van Buuren to John 00 Fleming and Markus Schulz, and remixed the likes of Tiesto, Judge Jules, Josh Gabriel (under his Andain alias), and many, many others. His 2006 triple opus, «Trilogique» was highly regarded by the likes of Paul van Dyk among others. «Touareg» saw him collaborate with musicians coming from opposed sides of the record industry. Gifted people gave this album a unique stamp. And Tomorrow is another Challenge for Airwave and his troops. By the time you read this, the shift in sound already has started and Fans know how full of surprises the man can be. Forget the big fanfare riffs, it’s time to get mature! To sum it up, Laurent alongside with long time idols of his and day 1 supporters, «is creating a world full of humanity, craving for a better world much more than success and fame, which eventually lead to greed». Imagine a world losing the weight of those useless properties and you vaguely have an idea of how altruistic and important the man is for the EDM scene.