We Asked Ferry Corsten and Markus Schulz Questions From the Newlywed Game

Ferry Corsten and Markus Shulz, two heavyweights of the trance world, have gone into DGAF mode. For more than a decade, they've been orbiting around each other in the rarified world of superstar DJs—a vacuum-sealed bubble of summers in Ibiza, residencies in Vegas, six-figure paychecks, eight-hour sets, bloated passports, and the constant click-clack of your fans' stilettoes as they feed you champagne. (Not a bad gig, if you can get it.)

But now, having established themselves at the top of the heap, they've decided to team up under the name New World Punx, complete with anime-ified versions of themselves as mascots.

The name, New World Punx, is a testament to their success: it's a combination of Markus' "The New World" and Ferry's "Punk," two tracks that have become so ubiquitous, they're practically the ABCs of trance music.

But the name also points towards their goal: stepping away from trance's soaring ethereality and towards hard and driving "sonic storms" that "cater to the short attention spans of today's tech-savvy music consumers," as Schulz's official website puts it.

But what the fuck does that even mean? Full of cheesy melodies, breathy female vocals, and quasi-operatic climaxes, trance may already be the weird hippie cousin of the EDM family. But I still love it. And was therefore concerned about why these trance legends felt the need to distill the genre for the Adderall-popping masses.

When I met the guys before their show last weekend at New York City's soon-to-be-shuttered Roseland Ballroom, Ferry insisted on pouring me some Dom Perignon rosé before telling me a different story. "We've done all the political bullshit. We've done all the hard work to get somewhere. Now we're both at the same stage of our careers, where it's like, let's get back to the fun—the essential part."

"This [kind of trance] only happens when Ferry and I get together," Markus adds, "When we get together, we have fun. We want to party. And we want to represent that."

In other words, boys just want to have fun. They may come from different worlds—Ferry grew up in Rotterdam, studied electrical engineering, and like every good Dutch boy, dabbled in hardcore gabber in his teens; Markus moved from Germany to America at age 13 and cut his teeth making mixtapes for his breakdancing crew—but now, they're pals who happened to be seasoned EDM pros. Plus, they both really love saying "dude."

I decided to ask the new power couple of trance a couple questions straight out of The Newlywed Game—that gameshow that asks a newly-married couple questions about each other to test the limits to their love. As it turns out, Markus and Ferry's bromance is forever.

How long have you guys known each other?

F: [puts his arm around Markus] Oh, me and Markus have been together a very long time…

M: Actually, we met when I was a resident at Space. I don't know, easily ten years.

What is Markus' biggest guilty pleasure?

F: I know the answer so well. But I can't tell you.

M: I know Ferry's guiltiest pleasure. Jägermeister.

F: No more, no more! It's Café Patrón now.

What is the "punkest" thing about Markus?

F: He gets his katana out and kills all the unicorns.

Who are the unicorns? 

M: You don't see them flying around? If you listen to the breakdowns when some trance DJs play, just look up and you'll see the unicorns flying around.

F: That kind of trance with the endless breaks… you see the guys in the crowd, they're like, almost crying. Those guys get… [makes a slashing movement]

M: Out!

What is Ferris' favorite movie?

M: I'm going to say The Godfather. You can pretty much say that about any guy. Or maybe Sleepless in Seattle.

F: That's it! Damn it! [laughs] Actually no, it's Blade Runner. I'm a little more geeky than that.

M: Ah, now, what's my favorite movie? It's a real campy one.

F: The Wedding Crashers?

M: I like that one too. But it's Smoky and the Bandit. I want that Trans-Am!

What is the one thing that Ferry dislikes about you, in terms of your bad habits?

F: Ah, there's one thing. But I'm turning it around slowly…

M: That I don't drink at the beginning of the set! [laughs]

F: That's it!

M: He's always like, "Come on!" And I'm like, "Not until we get up on stage, and I know everything's running smoothly…"

F: And even then! He promises me like, "We have a four hour set, and the last hour—we're going to go down." And then when it's going-to-go-down time, he's like, "No no no, not yet. Water." I'm like, "Dude! You gotta do a shot man!"

M: Well, someone's got to carry you off the stage.

So you're kind of a steady drinker, and Markus waits till the very end?

F: Yeah, and when he does, I'm the one picking up the pieces of meat from the restaurant floor.

What's one of Ferry's bad habits?

M: When he gets drunk and gets on the microphone. He screams into my ear. We need to get a compressor on the microphone.

F: I'm trying to change the world, man.

If you could describe Markus in one word, what would it be?

F: For him, we need at least two. I would say "thrill-seeker"

M: And for him, "happy days."

When you watch TV, who controls the remote?

M: My picks would be very boring. I'm too much into history and Discovery Channel stuff.

F: Yeah, I'm cool with that.

M: We'll probably hold hands while doing it.

What's a special memory about Ferry that you will never forget?

F: Careful.

M: Probably the meat flying across the room incident, right?

F: Last summer, we played a party in Ibiza on a catamaran for maybe a hundred people. It was very cool. After that, Markus and I went for a nice dinner and Mr. Schulz starts drinking red wine. One of my guys in the office has a thing where he becomes really slow when he drinks.

M: I was super buzzed, and I said, "Holy shit, you talk really slow." And as I did that I was pointing and forgot a piece of meat was on my fork. It went flying across the room.

What would Markus save from his house if it was on fire?

F: He would lift a big shipping container that's outside his studio that contains all of his records, and actually has an air vent in it. Then he would take out his dog. Then his studio. And maybe, then, his wife.

What about Ferry?

M: His daughter, of course. That'd be the first thing.

F: Yep!

M: His dog. And probably his gold records. He'd make his daughter carry his records and his dog. [laughs]

Oh, you have gold records at your place? Which ones? 

F: Yeah, Out of the Blue and the old stuff.

They say the best way to know if a person is good in bed is to find out if they dance well. So, who's the better dancer? This is a real question. 

M: I am… until the last hour.

F: I have this video to give to you, against his objections. I filmed him and asked him to show me some of his breakdance moves. And he did.

M: I used to be a breakdancer. When I was a teenager.

F: And sometimes, if we're in the right vibe, you'll see us do our electric boogie moves.

Michelle Lhooq goes down when it's going-to-go-down time - @MichelleLHOOQ