Here is the full interview with some of the questions you guy asked.

Enjoy.

Some Pictures of the interview @ the hotel.







Brief Q&A with Armin Van Buuren in Puerto Rico
By: Is Cleveland (www.frecuenciaelectronica.com)

What happened to the show ASOT…?

Armin - The directors of the station decided to change the station and go more commercial and they kicked my show off. They promised me to my face they would keep the show but when I went on tour to Australia and came back they kicked me off the station and nobody told me. But the good news is there new options, s a lot of diff radio stations all over the world are interested, its pretty luxurious I have a lot of things to choose from. There’s dynamite FM in Russia, XM Radio in the US… there’s several good offers. I just have to make up my mind to see what I want with the show; with A State of Trance. Its been running for 3.5 years , takes a lot of time to do the show, I still love it and want to do it but I need to think of the future, what do I want with my dj career what do I want with the show . I’ve been having bad times with like forums and all the negative stuff about trance, and people are saying trances is dead. It keeps growing and it’s still good but when I started the radio show nobody had a radio show and now everybody has an internet radio show. So I don’t know if I want to consider going on with it. But I won’t leave fans of the show hanging

First time on PR
Armin- Yeah it’s the first time. I’ve been to the Dominican republic before but just on holiday. When I first arrived I thought it was a lot like America even though it’s not a state. I heard really good stories about PR

What do you see in store for trance in the future?
Armin- I think it will be more broad, for me trance is no longer about the breakdowns and cheesy vocals – it’s still that but it’s more than that, it has elements of progressive elements of techno and all sorts of genres. Trance is more like a journey now than just a simple genre. It’s like one word for a lot of diff styles.

Do you know BSE? Did you sign one of their tracks?
Armin-They are from Holland I think, and they signed a track under the name empirical labs about a year ago. It’s a really good track. A Shame they do drum n bass – no, I’m kidding.

Trance turning into prog- is it part of the evolution of the genre? And what do you think?
Armin- I find that question hard to answer because everyone seems to have a different definition of the word trance nowadays. What you think is trance, what he thinks is trance is really different. I can play a lot of records that you’ll be like “I think its trance…” or “that’s not trance…” its really tough. I think it’s really interesting, a lot of people expect trance to stay in that big epic, euphoric riff and to a certain extent that still works but you can’t play riffs and epic tunes for 6 hours you can’t do that. People will be like *yawn* yeah we heard that. So, trance is more like a journey.

Fav piece of equipment- toy
Armin- That’s really tough to answer, but I think Im really in love with my apple g5 at the moment and Ableton Live. I’m going to mix my new set of trance in Ableton Live as well. I’m doing a special version of almost every track on that CD.



Do we need drugs to enjoy your music?
Armin- I hope not… I make it and listen to it and play it to everybody without using drugs, so I hope not. But I mean if people like to use drugs, I’m from Holland so you know how they do it there. Drugs to me are not a big issue Ive never smoked pot and probably you have and Ive never used any drugs. And it’s very strange that Im in the top 3 djs in the world and I never have done it. I don’t mind people that use it… its y our choice , as long as you’re not bothering me, and as long as you’re happy with what you are and who you are I’m happy that you are happy. I just hope that a lot of people, when they do drugs think of themselves as responsible human beings, cause if people start to behave irresponsible it ruins the night for a lot of people. I think that’s the only thing I have against people that do drugs is when they behave inappropriately. And if they can control themselves who am I to say don’t use drugs.

Music, before hardware and now software… do you thinks that hurts the music?
Armin- No, I think its interesting cause the genre moves forward. We have an evolution in electronic equipment the music isn’t really evolving as much as the equipment is evolving. there’s a lot of potential in the software we use right now and it hasn’t yet been used to its full extent. Stuff like BT is one of the guys I have admired for a long for what he’s done. He was one of the first guys to use the software to its full extent and now there’s more guys going in that direction. I hope that in a few years from now people start to really appreciate the technological possibilities of the new machines, the new software and the new plugins. It’s really exciting, I wish I had more time in my studio, 24 hours is not enough.

File sharing?
Armin- I think if it wasn’t for file sharing I wouldn’t be here. I’m one of the first examples that downloading is a good thing for spreading music around the world. The only thing is that I also own a record company so I think it’s important for people to understand that it is illegal to download stuff. And they are ruining the scene if they don’t purchase CDs. Im not the holy pope Ive downloaded stuff myself, but nto on a daily basis and if I like the track I go out and buy the CD. I think its important for people to know that its not the labels and the artist that make the most money... if you see the statements of my record sales you would vbe surprised, its not the amount you would expect , all the money goes to the shops, the retailers … almost 50% of the sale. Internet gives people the chance to get a lot of new music which I think is good.

How do you maintain healthy ears?
Armin- Earplugs. I don’t wear them always but I always bring them... If I'm close to the sound system I will wear them. It is really important because it’s my income.

Is it true you are a lawyer?
Armin- Yea, well not a qualified lawyer at the moment but I studied law and I got my degree and my diploma. I’m a master in law. I was a student and I almost went through to be a lawyer but then the “DJ accident” happened. I was a dj at the time so when I went on trips I studied in the plane…

Do you plain working on that
Armin- I don’t know, never say never… could you see me in a suit in an office? *laugh*.

What other types of music do you listen to?
Armin- Recently I've been listening to the Keen album “hope and fears” it’s an English pop band, it’s really well produced. The blade runner sound track, not the classical version but the original score. Sasha’s Involver album… lee burridge. I’m still a big Sinatra fan, when I’m in a weird mood… when I’m cooking. I like to cook.

What can you make?
Armin- I’m good at traditional Dutch dishes. There’s this one called “@%@$%” - Its basically like potatoes mashed with these leaves … like a radish? I don’t know how to say it in English but it’s really nice the way I cook it. Or people keep lying to me telling me it’s good.

Tell me about your new CD coming out?
Armin- There are 2. One is ASOT 2005 which I’m currently compiling and mixing next week actually. I’m really excited about it because I got a lot of tracks cleared, except one that I really wanted but… every track I wanted I got, they all gave me permission. It comes out at the end of March

My new single will be out in April, and my new artist album will be out in august. It’s almost done and it will come out in America under Ultra Records. The album is something I'm really excited about, its totally different from “76” , a lot of breakbeat s a lot of songs, a lot collaborations, a lot of trance tracks… 2005 is going to be really nice, I’m really looking forward to see what happens.

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Next Events: Above & Beyond (April 13 & 14, 2007) San Juan, Puerto Rico
My WebSite www.georgemtz.co.nr

Last edited by Trance Effect on Feb-03-2005 at 17:11