When Darude created ‘Sandstorm’ in 2000 during the 90s trance vogue little did Toni-Ville Henrik Virtanen know he had stumbled upon one of the dance music's most iconic riffs.

The 16 note melody has since taken on mythical status in certain circles, and in more recent years has been played out by the likes of Dennis Sultra as an ironic homage to the early days of the trance movement.

Virtanen recently sat down with Vice Magazine to talk about the track’s origins and how he feels about creating one of dance music’s most recognisable melodies.

According to Virtanen, the spark of inspiration behind ‘Sandstorm’ came from his time spent in the clubs in his native Finland.

“There was many a night where I went to the club, come 3:30 when people started to be kicked out, I basically ran home, turned on my computer, and started making music, having just heard something I’d really liked.”

Virtanen recalls that the melody was actually written two years before the track was ever created on an Atari SD.

It wasn't until Darude presented the outline of ‘Sandstorm’ to record producer Jaakko Salovaara, that the track quickly began to take shape, requiring only two-days of studio-based brainstorming.

The video interview (below) offers an in-depth look at the production behind what would become one of dance music's most iconic tracks.

This year saw Darude head down under for a five-date tour of Australia where the DJ and producer no doubt played the classic quite a few times.