Joven Grech and Cyprian Cassar, better known as the trance music duo Tenishia, have once again made it to the top 100 world DJs list of the influential UK-based DJ Magazine. An estimated 35,000 DJs from around the world compete to rank in this poll every year, and the Maltese duo made it to position number 65.

The poll has been organized every year since 1999, and has seen big names such as Carl Cox, Armin van Buuren, Tiesto, David Guetta and Sasha take the coveted number one spot on various occaions. It is based on public votes which were submitted over the summer.

Tenishia entered the list for the first time three years ago, ranking in the 91st position. This was Malta’s first ever mention on this list. Last year, the duo shot up to number 50, a feat that was aided by the international release of their album Memory of a Dream and their closing set on the Trance stage at the famous Tomorrowland festival in Belgium.

In comments to this newspaper, Joven and Cyprian said they felt satisfied with the position they achieved, particularly because the past year was a difficult one.

“Keeping a rank in the Top 100 this year, when other big names in Trance are either below us or have completely dropped out of the list, is actually a bigger achievement then last year. Also, this we had no album release this year, but we still maintained a certain momentum,” Joven said.

“Our genre of music – Trance – is not the most popular genre in the world right now, as commercial Electronic Dance Music is booming in the major territories especially in the USA, the country that had most votes coming in this year. Most Trance artist went down the list to make space for EDM DJs. We were expecting a lower ranking compared to last year, but we're happy with the result because 15 positions difference among 35,000 is almost like not moving down at all,” added Cyprian. 

One should also keep in mind that, according to the list, Tenishia rank as the 14th best in the world in the Trance genre.

We asked the duo what they have been doing in the last year.

“Our international diary exploded since last year’s listing was published,” enthused Joven. “We have played all around the world, from Australia to Argentina, Korea and the UK. Most of the events we played were massive festivals like Tomorrowland with over 200,000 people attending, the Ultra Music Festival and Global Gathering. We also played world-renowned clubs like Privilege in Ibiza, The Gallery in London and Zouk in Singapore.”

When asked about the future, Cyprian said that they will be releasing more music and playing many more gigs in the next few months.

“We are playing in Taiwan, Finland and at the famous Cream club in Liverpool for the first time on Boxing Day. Before all that, though, we are celebrating with our Maltese fans who, year after year, give us their incredible support in Paceville this weekend,” he said.