Richard Durand

Richard Durand emerged from the thriving Dutch dance community as the apparent heir to Tiësto’s King of Trance title, establishing himself as a producer, remixer, and DJ whose work earned widespread respect. Born in Amsterdam in 1975, he took up the piano early but shifted focus once the city’s club circuit captured his attention, launching a DJ career that fused trance, techno, and electro in sets whose growing appeal drew Tiësto’s notice. That connection yielded remix assignments on “Lethal Industry,” “Flight 643,” and “Break My Fall,” plus Tiësto’s endorsement of Durand as his Tip to the Top in MixMag.

Before issuing his debut album Always the Sun under his own name in 2008, he issued singles via the aliases Cliffhanger, Cube Human, and G-Spott. After reworking material by Armin van Buuren and Fragma, he topped bills at Godskitchen Global Gathering, Trance Energy, and Planet Love while joining Cosmic Gate on a U.S. tour. In 2010 Black Hole Recordings enlisted him to lead the In Search of Sunrise series, beginning with a South Africa-themed edition; his 2011 sophomore album Wide Awake then incorporated vocal work from BBMak’s Christian Burns and South London folk-pop singer Ellie Lawson.