TuneAttic: find music, know music
TuneAttic: find music, know music
TuneAttic: find music, know music
TuneAttic: find music, know music
TuneAttic: find music, know music
TuneAttic: find music, know music
Richard Durand

Richard Durand is a Dutch trance DJ and producer who got his first break by being tipped in 2005 as one for the future by trance legend Tiësto in DJ magazine.  He is renowned for a tougher Tech-Trance sound and has remixed many major trance artists and tracks including Tiësto and Armin van Buuren.

Richard Durand  scales of success
Richard Durand timeline
'Into Something'
(Black Hole Music 2009)
'Always The Sun Magic'
(Muzik 2009)
Trance Energy
Melbourne 2009

Early Years: 2005 to present

Richard Durand is a Dutch trance DJ and producer who got his first break by being tipped in 2005 as one for the future by trance legend Tiësto in DJ magazine. The same year he issued his first release ‘Make Me Scream’ (Terminal 4).  ‘Make Me Scream’s combination of dirty electro riff and progressive trance lead line followed in the Tech-Trance style of the likes of Marco V and Marcel Woods. 

Whilst some other Tech-Trance DJs and producers had moved onto other styles Durand pushed ahead developing the sound further.  His tough edged, minimal percussion-led sound soon found a wider audience due to the success of remixes such as legend Tiësto’s ‘Flight 643’ and ‘Lethal Industry’ and his tech rework of the previously lightweight vocal trance hit ‘Toca’s Miracle’.

His own productions continued in a similar vein, with tracks such as ‘Sweep And Repeat’ (Terminal 4, 2007) and ‘Weep’ (Terminal 4, 2008), the latter of which featured the vocals of Skim Anansie’s Skin.  

Durand’s Tech-Trance remixing style continued to be in demand resulting in remixes of Armin van Buuren’s ‘In And Out Of Love’ and the trance classic ‘Madagascar’.  Duradn was also becoming in demand as a DJ with performances at events and clubs such as Dance Valley, Godskitchen, Godskitchen and the legendary Gallery.  In 2008 he recorded a BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix.

By the late noughties Durand had started to experiment with a more commercial and mainstream sound, such as on the softer edged vocal trance tracks ‘Always The Sun’ and Now Way Home’ (both Black Hole Music 2009).  Both of the tracks were taken from Durand’s first original artist album ‘Always The Sun’ (Black Hole Music 2009).  Durand hadn’t completely abandoned his tougher techy sound though as seen with ‘Into Something’ (Black Hole Music 2009), another track taken from the ‘Always The Sun’ album.

The following year he released the mix compilation ‘In Search Of Sunrise 8 - South Africa’ (Magick Muzik 2010).  The ‘In Search Of Sunrise’ series had previously been mixed, appropriately enough, by Tiësto.  In March 2011 Durand released his second artist album ‘Wide Awake’. 

Richard Durand quickly built a strong reputation as a producer who was willing to pursue a tougher edged sound that cut through the increasingly samey mainstream trance scene.  Whilst many of the early Tech-Trance moved more mainstream Durand stuck true to his tougher, minimal percussion led sound.  In latter years though he himself has started to incorporate a more mainstream commercial sound in some of his releases.