Ville Virtanen (born July 17, 1975), better known by his stage name Darude is a Trance music producer and DJ from Eura, Hinnerjoki, Finland. Debuting in 1999, he released in 2000 the smash single "Sandstorm" and subsequent album Before the Storm, Darude is known worldwide for his progressive/uplifting style. Biography Beginnings Virtanen started his career as an amateur musician while in high school, making music using his PC's tracker software. As his interest in music production rapidly grew (and his grades correspondingly dropped), he moved on to more serious production techniques. While at a classmate's party, Virtanen played the song "Rude Boy" (written by Swedish artist Leila K) four times. This earned him the nickname "Rude Boy", which gradually morphed into "Da Rude", which in turn inspired the name "Darude". Virtanen continued producing music while in technical schoo