In 2005, Sander van Dien and Ralphie B collaborated 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 BLACK HOLE RECORDINGS under their In Trance We Trust sub-label. The track had monumental support from 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.

The hit single , “FALLING” featuring Anita Kelsey, was Featured on Tiesto’s “In Search of Sunrise” compilation, and became FIRST STATE’s Prized single, and their first claim to fame, being supported by pretty much every Trance DJ on the planet.

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.

2009 has been a massive year for the productions of Sander van Dien (now Solo as FIRST STATE) , with hits like BRAVE being voted Fan’s All Time Favourite on A STATE OF TRANCE, and OFF THE RADAR making it to #1 on BEATPORT’s Trance Charts.
Apart from his own productions, FIRST STATE has been hard at work , Remixing some MASSIVE tracks, the likes of VIMANA (Ferry Corsten & Tiesto) , MAC & MAC’s “Solid Sessions” and Featured on Paul van Dyk’s VANDIT label – Filo & Peri “Ashley” (First State Remix)

Along with the amazing studio success, First State has also graced the decks of some truly honourable events , to name a few : Tiesto’s DVD Premiere, Gatecrasher, Global Gathering, Intuition Invites,4 repeated appearances in Russia, debut’s in Australia and the USA, and 2 tours to South Africa as well as 8 Time Support act for Tiesto’s European leg of the “In Search Of Sunrise” tour.

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