Armin Van Buuren was the man who started my obsession with this kind of music back in the summer of 2002, at the ripe old age of 14. I was merely a kid having just discovered a "Total Trance" album which cost me $29.95 from Sanity. It was an overpriced CD containing a bunch of untalented "trance" artists who wanted to show the world of 14 year olds, how commercial trance is done. Like any youngster, starting into a musical phenomenon such as this, I was learning, I thought so highly of this CD. I used to ride around town on my bike (without my helmet) with CD one on repeat loaded in my disc-man. I would ride passed the beaches and take a deep breath as another terribly commercial dub beat played through my earphones.

A lot of girls my age would have preferred to go shopping or go to the movies. All I ever felt like doing was listening to my "Total Trance" CD by the beach, watching a seemingly silent world pass by as I elapsed further and further into a song. My parents would complain "Turn your doof doof off" and all I remember is being extremely offended by that. I would turn around and start an argument with them about how every individual is entitled to their music interest of choice. Then I would run back to my room and look at my CD collection, my disc-man and my CD player and thank god I had those things. No one else in my world understood my crush on trance.

When my mother first presented me with an ipod I realised this was a mere attempt for her to conceal the noise of my music on a daily basis. Eventually those white earphones were never out of my ears. On my way to school, on the bus, after class, during lunch breaks. You name it, I became increasingly obsessed with my music. By this stage I was about 16 or 17 and trance had reached its peak. The years of 2004 and 2005 were some of the best creative times of trance. I had become the ‘Doof Girl’ at school and everybody it seemed, either older or younger recognised me as that. If anybody had something to say about my music, then I would simply laugh at them and say, "If your music made you as happy as mine makes me, you wouldn't even dare say that" or "You will be apologising for that when your about 20 and going clubbing and listening to this music." I never let it upset me I mean why would it? We are all entitled to our own music choice.

So as school neared the finish I got my first car and my birthday was nearing. The only reasonable present my friends could think of was to equip my newly acquired car with a sound system. I spent way too many hours driving around for no reason with my windows up jamming the sound of these songs while forcing all passengers to endure my passion for trance.

Everything in life seemed fairly simple I had just finished school but there was one thing missing. I had been dreaming about the day I turned 18 so I could go to the Family night club in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley. I had been on their website probably more than a thousand times and bragged to everyone about how one day I would be there non-stop every week. I used to read the reviews, bulletins, articles, look at the pictures of DJ’s playing there and enviously I sat and waited until June the first, my birthday. When the time finally came to go for the first time with my friends it was more than I had imagined. The entire place seemed to encompass everything which was me, my music taste with fun and happy people including a vibe which was downright amazing. As I promised myself I became devoted to that club. I was a regular attendee on Friday nights, I don’t think I missed a weekend for an entire year. I supported the resident DJ’s there and made friends with everyone who loved that place.

I am now nearly 20 and I still love that place as much as I did the first night I went there and resident DJ tyDi played Motorcycle's "As the Rush Comes." I still go almost every week and now I do a bit of promo work for them which means I have my own guest list that I can put friends on. The time has come for me to examine where my love for music has taken me. I am writing reviews for DanceNode, doing promotions work for Family and I’m madly in love with my boyfriend Dominik who is half of the German DJ duo, “Kamui.” One day I hope to move overseas to study the art of this music. I'm not sure exactly what I want to do in this industry but one thing I do know is that I was born for this music. It makes me so unbelievably happy to just sit in peace and listen to a really good trance song.

I still have my "Total Trance" CD which is fairly outdated and wasn’t really good to start with and I have to thank the Sanity CD shop for providing me with this bad piece of musical work. Nowadays I am a walking trance library with knowledge of thousands of artists, albums and songs all in my head. I have every episode of ASOT on my new iPod, over 200 trance CD’s and a passion for this, which I know will inspire me to move as far into this world as I can. Whether it be supporting my boyfriend, or taking on more writing, or making music, I don't care as long as dance music is in my life, I'm happy.

So for those who have goals and dreams, even if not music related maybe this is a time to realise that people may put you down in the beginning and criticise your passions, but never give up. If you know you love something never let anyone stand in your way. I know that in the beginning I was an annoying little 14 year old pissing off my parents with my music, but now it means more to me than they once thought. I have met some amazing DJ’s, one being my own boyfriend, I've met some great friends and I’ve started down the path to a career in dance music and I can’t wait to see where that takes me.

I love trance.