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First State aka Sander van Dien (born in Dordrecht, NL in 1981) had early musical influences, primarily that of his father, who would play “moody” music.
For years this inspired Sander, who took a keen interest and began to produce his very own interpretation of this music which influenced him, Which Sander describes as “Emotional music that touched the soul”.

With his enthusiasm for music, Sander attended lessons on a guitar which his father had given to him. Soon after, he traded in the strings and opted for keys.
2003 saw the beginning of Sander’s professional career in Electronic Dance Music, after becoming acquainted with Ralph Barendse (Ralphie B), who asked Sander to remix the hit “Amazon”, which was immediately signed to Blackhole Recordings.
By This point, Sander already had a few successful releases to his name, such as “Deviod – Cremona / Arella” and “Sander van Dien – Terms”.

In 2005, Sander and Ralph had decided to collaborate under the alias FIRST STATE, also the name of their first single. “First State – First State” was in instant success and was soon after released by In Trance We Trust. The track had monumental support from Superstar dj, Tiesto, who supported the track and featured it , exclusively, in many of his sets, long before the rest of the DJ world followed.

Owing to the huge success that the FIRST STATE debut project brought, Sander and Ralph had decided to merge their studios in Dordrecht, and combine their creative forces.
In the summer of 2006, “First State – Evergreen” was signed to Blackhole Recordings.
This led to the question of whether Sander & Ralph would be interested in producing an artist album.

With no hesitation, they got to work and 12 months later their debut album, “TIME FRAME” was completed.
“TIME FRAME” showcases a diverse and unique sound which was a true representation of what the duo stand for.
A host of 10 masterfully crafted tracks structured similar to the progression within a DJ set.

Starting off with an easy listening , almost “House” feel, then escalates through the track progression into a climax that is a Tech-Euphoric frenzy.
The Stand-out elements in the album are that of the signature “Fat Trance Sound”, as Sander describes it, along with the intelligent Classical arrangements which accompany the rest of the elements superbly.

With that, the “House” and “Minimal” influences still shine through in tracks which feature Tiff Lacey , Elliot John’s and without a doubt, their biggest track to date “FALLING” featuring Anita Kelsey, which was Featured on Tiesto’s 6th edition of the highly acclaimed “In Search of Sunrise” compilation.

Their biggest challenge was to deliver an album that reflects the time in which it took to produce the album, yet still delivered “Timeless” tracks which have the strength to become anthems over time.

2008 saw a big “boom” for First State, who were asked to remix tracks for Tiesto’s “Elements of Life” remix album, as well as Armin van Buuren’s “Imagine Remixes” and also feature as the opening track on Armin van Buuren’s “A State of Trance 2008” compilation.

Along with the amazing studio success of this duo, First State have also graced the decks of some truly honourable events , to name a few : Tiesto’s DVD Premiere, Gatecrasher Ukraine, Intuition Invites, and 8 Time Support act for Tiesto’s European leg of the “In Search Of Sunrise” tour.

Thus far, 2009 has seen much follow up to the success of previous years, with gigs at major events globally such as , “Crazy Summer Music Festival” (Shanghai), “Dance Planet Fort Edition” (St Petersberg), and “Tranceforlife Decibel” (Italy), and Many other highly successful performances at “Trance Energy” (Netherlands), “Global Gathering” (Poland) and “Serenity” (Netherlands).

It’s business as usual for Sander van Dien, who has always been the driving force behind First State, and is currently working on the follow-up to “TIME FRAME”.