A life in electronic music.
Vanessa Rose Marcussen Meier was an electronic music composer from Virginia who began her musical journey at seven and had already adopted her artist name by eleven. By July 2004, still a teenager, she had composed six hundred and ninety-five songs and was working on her thirty-second album. She was prolific, self-taught, and beloved.
By the numbers
- Real name
- Vanessa
- Also known as
- Nessa · Nellie · Nel
- Born
- August 14, 1987
- Passed
- August 31, 2007
- Location
- Stafford / Fredericksburg, Virginia
- Started composing
- Age 7
- Adopted "VTM"
- Age 11
- Also played
- Violin
- Previous places
- California (birth), Florida (5 years)
Musical influences
VTM named Dune as a major influence; "I Can't Stop Raving (Video Mix)" was her all-time favorite song. She compared her style to Blümchen ("my genre is VERY similar to hers") and called BT "one of THE best musician-producers in Europe."
Her listening range was wider than the usual happy-hardcore diet. Across hundreds of "what are you listening to" posts from 2003 through 2006 she kept coming back to the European dance canon (Gabry Ponte, Gigi D'Agostino, Eiffel 65, Scooter, Mark 'Oh, 4 Strings, Darude, Matt Darey, Mauro Picotto, Lustral, DJs @ Work, Sunbeam, Special D, Planet Funk), and the German-language trance she loved: Jasmin Wagner, Marusha, U96, Aquagen, E Nomine.
Alongside that she listened to Kraftwerk, Orbital ("Halcyon"), Fischerspooner, Cassius, William Orbit, Ayumi Hamasaki, Cat69, Aphex Twin and Autechre, and to pop and rock standards like Coldplay, Cherry Poppin' Daddies, Scott Brown, Lasgo, Charlie Lownoise & Mental Theo, Daniel Bedingfield, and Blaze!.
Her own catalogue spans happy hardcore, hardcore, trance, techno, rave, dance, Europop, ambient, sci-fi electronic, and dramatic/orchestral pieces. She worked in FL Studio (FruityLoops), named herself Kaotic Worlds briefly with friends (unreleased), and, by her own account, was inspired by other musicians, beautiful weather, friends, and dreams.
I'm always thinking of new ideas, and composing. I really enjoy what I do, and I hope to not only work as just an artist, but to work as a producer for other musicians as well, and even open my own label someday. VTM, February 2004 · age 16
Indeed, it's a wonderful violin. You could play one, have you ever tried? It takes time and a lot of patience of course. But once you get used to it, it's hard to put it down. lol I've been playing for 9 years now, and well, I've grown to love it. VTM, October 2004 · on her violin
Interviews
February 2004
What does VTM stand for?
"Vanessa The Musician". Cheesy, I know. But, I think it works. lol
How old were you when you first got into VTM?
I was 7 years old when I started composing, but I was 11 when I named myself VTM.
What inspires you to write music?
A lot actually. Other musicians I listen to, Beautiful weather, Friends, Even dreams.
If you were to become famous with VTM in the future, how long do you think you could take the ball and run with it?
Well, hopefully for a while. I'm always thinking of new ideas, and composing. I really enjoy what I do, and I hope to not only work as just an artist, but I hope to work as a producer for other musicians as well (and even open my own label someday.)
Out of all the songs you have ever composed, which is your favorite?
lol, That's really hard. Right now, I think my favorite happens to be "And I"
What do your parents think about your music?
Well, my parents aren't as into the style of music I compose, unfortunately. But, my dad does help me out a whole lot with setting up studio equipment.
What is your favorite song by another artist?
"I Can't Stop Raving (Video Mix)" by Dune.
July 2004
Since February, how many new songs have you created?
There are so many, it's hard to count. But, I have a total of 695 songs as of today.
Are you working on a new album?
Yes, I'm working on a new album. It'll be my 32nd album. There are currently 4 songs finished. The title isn't for sure yet.
Is your favorite song still "I Can't Stop Raving"?
Yep, indeed it is.
About this archive
This site preserves the recovered music of Vanessa Rose Marcussen Meier. It is maintained by Todd Hertzelle, a friend from the Eiffel 65 / Bliss Corporation forum where they met as teenagers in the early 2000s. It is a noncommercial memorial; every track here survives because somebody kept a copy.
MySpace erased her public profile during its 2018 server migration, which wiped out years of hosted tracks. The audio has been returned piece by piece from the hard drives of friends: Amanda Miller (twenty-six tracks, recovered March 2026), John Alan Fessel (nine tracks plus lyric transcriptions), and others. The goal is preservation, not curation.
If you knew her, had a CD she made you, or remember a track title that's not here, please reach out. The most recent recoveries arrived twenty years after she made the music. There is always more out there.