A life in electronic music.
Vanessa Rose Marcussen Meier started composing at seven and named herself VTM at eleven. By July 2004, at sixteen, she counted six hundred and ninety-five songs and was starting her thirty-second album. Most of that music was made in her bedroom in Stafford, Virginia: FL Studio on the computer, a violin she had played for nine years, and a dad who helped her set up the studio equipment.
By the numbers
- Real name
- Vanessa Rose Marcussen Meier
- Maiden name
- Vanessa Rose Marcussen
- 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
- Siblings
- Two sisters
- Previous places
- California (birth), Florida (5 years)
- Favorite quote, 2004
- "IT'S ALL ALADDINS FAULT!"
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), once tried to start a group called Kaotic Worlds with friends (it stopped before it started, as she put it), 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
Both interviews below come from the fan site Todd ran for her in 2004, when the two of them were teenagers. The backups survive, so they're reproduced as they were typed: questions, answers, typos, and all.
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 inspiers 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 (which you will) 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 aswell(and even open my own label someday.)
Out of all the songs you have ever composed, which song 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,unfortunatly. But, my dad does help me out a whole lot with setting up studio equiptment.
Could you tell us a little about your former group?
Kaotic Worlds? Sure, Well. It was a group I tried to start up with a couple of friends. Unfortunatly,Things didn't work out in the group, so the group was stopped before it started really.
What is your favorite song, by another artist?
I can't stop raving(video mix) By Dune.
Thanks for spending time talking with us here at the Unofficial VTM Fansite!
lol you're welcome.
July 2004
So Nessa, since we last talked in February 2004, how many NEW songs/demos 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 currently working anywhere, or looking to work somewhere?
Looking into working somewhere,at the moment.
I last asked you what your all time favorite song was, is it still the same "I cant stop raving"?
Yep,indeed it is.
What is your height?
5'4"
This is my last question and Ill let you go make more music. Are you working on a new album? How many song(s) are DONE so far and is there a title?
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.
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's 2018 server migration wiped the tracks she had hosted there, but her music survived where people had kept it on purpose. Todd carried his own copies from computer to computer for twenty years. Amanda Miller filled a USB drive with her songs in 2007 and kept it safe (twenty-six tracks arrived from it in March 2026). John Alan Fessel went through CDs he'd burned when the two of them wrote together and sent every track the archive didn't have (nine tracks, plus lyrics). 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.
People are listening
When Vanessa was making this music, between 2004 and 2007, the streaming era hadn't quite arrived. Spotify, Bandcamp, and SoundCloud all launched in 2008. The way to put a song in front of someone, then, was a forum thread, a MySpace page, or a CD burned for a friend.
Every play counted above is a person, somewhere, putting one of her songs on and listening through. Most of them never knew her. They're hearing music that spent twenty years on shelves and in closets.
She would have loved this. The whole point of finishing a song was for somebody to hear it. Todd Hertzelle · her friend, who runs this archive
The counter is anonymous. No accounts, no IP addresses, no profiles. The site measures plays, not people.