|
Armin Van Buuren Interview
|
View this Thread in Original format
| Turbotrance |
Leader of A State of Trance - Armin van Buuren
By: Suzan Perin Eraslan
As Armin van Buuren approaches me in the lobby of the Buckhead Westin in Atlanta, I notice that his eyes and nose are a bit red. He sniffles as he shyly extends his hand. I’m not surprised. After all, he’s the number 3 DJ in the world, playing to huge crowds every night until early in the morning, he’s 27, tall, slender, and boyishly handsome—how could he avoid such things? Vodka tonic in hand, I offer the party boy a drink. And then he does something that does surprise me: he doesn’t ask for a shot of tequila or a pint of lager, but a glass of orange juice. Armin isn’t hungover from all night drug binges with supermodels; he’s got jet lag and a cold. This touch of the human in a rising trance demigod makes him instantly endearing. "Sorry about the cold,” he says, “It’s from the airplanes. I don't like airplanes."
While constant air travel may have stuffed up his nose, it hasn’t dampened his spirits. For an hour he talks candidly about the surreal experience of becoming a superstar at such a young age, of his unabashed passion for music, and his idealistic views on the future of electronic music. His youth and vigor make for a charming lack of pretension, even when comparing himself to Paul McCartney or talking about running into fellow flying Dutchman (and the #1 DJ in the world), Tiesto: “I ran into him this morning, by the way. He was on his way to Asia; I was on my way to America. I said ‘Hey how you doing?’ He says, ‘You know, on my way to work.’”
Just a few months have passed since Armin finished his tour to support his first artist album, 76, and already he’s back on tour supporting his newest release: a 2 CD compilation, A State of Trance 2004 named after his world famous radio show, A State of Trance. Armin started the show three years ago at the beginning of the dark ages of trance, as a way of getting good trance music out to the masses: an alternative to the vocal-heavy, cheesy pop trance and slow, chuggy progressive which dominated much of the club world at the time. “There was a lot of good music out there, so what I did is start this radio show, and here I am three years later, and the radio show is being broadcast all over the world. I think a lot of people, record companies, (and) DJs underestimate their audience. I think the audience in general has very good taste, though we have to challenge them.” Despite a huge following among trance fans, many of whom build their week around the Thursday internet broadcasts of the show, the show hasn’t just challenged its audience—its been a challenge for Armin, as well. “I’ll tell you a secret,” he says, leaning toward me conspiratorially, “A State of Trance was killed almost three times already, but survived. People wanted to throw it off the station. Its even more important for me to stress that I don't get paid for a State of Trance, I don't get money, nothing, I don't even get money for gas when I have to drive to Amsterdam. I really do it just out of love for the music and to give something back to the people who don't have money to buy all the vinyl, like me, like I was five, six years ago, seven years ago.”
Though the vibe of the compilation is similar to the distinctive progression of his radio show, don’t expect it to be a retrospective of the last few years. While the Rising Star remix of his own “Burned with Desire” and a few other frequently played records appear on the tracklisting, there are several A State of Trance staples which do not make an appearance. When I ask him about their absence (particularly the gorgeous “As the Rush Comes” by Motorcycle) he makes it clear that A State of Trance 2004 is representative of this year, not the last three. “For me, the track (“As the Rush Comes”) is over a year old now, and we need to move on, we need to move on and try and create some other things. I still play ‘As the Rush Comes’ in my mix, but not that often anymore. Only if it’s a good night, if the time is right, people really want to hear it-- OK, there you go!” In discussing whether he thinks the 2003 trend of reviving classic late nineties and early 21st century trance tunes with new remixes will continue into 2004, he replies “Let’s see.” Picking up the case of ASOT 2004 that is sitting on the table in front of him, he scans the tracklisting. “Uh… nope! I look at my tracklist and nope!”
Before we move forward, however, let’s get a rewind back to the beginning of Armin’s intense and lightspeed journey toward superstar DJ status. “First of all, that wasn't the plan. There was no written book. I wish there would be, cause I'd like to read a few pages ahead. But it all started, I think with a passion for music.” Very humble about his first experiments with DJing and producing, he doesn’t see any difference between his beginnings and the average bedroom DJ. “I bought some equipment, started experimenting, I DJed at a local club, local student bar, nothing big, I had to clean the toilets afterward. Just like everybody. I played parties-when I was in elementary school, I played sets, whatever. I always fiddled around on my dad's turntables. But I think everybody does that, there's nothing special about it. And then I made a couple of hits.”
Here, truly, is what separates Armin from the rest of us. At the tender age of 19, while studying for his law degree, he released a little track called “Blue Fear.” At the time, uninvolved in the club scene and with his nose in the books, it wasn’t until the clerk at the local record store told him his track was being played during half time for a Manchester United soccer game that the reality of his popularity really struck home. While the track’s inclusion on the seminal second Northern Exposure happened at a time when Armin hardly knew the names Sasha and Digweed, he admits that he has a deep awe and respect for the fathers of trance. “They're the founders of this whole thing, I think, still. I mean, if I looked up today and Sasha and Digweed walked in, I'd be standing in the corner shivering.” It is statements like that where it is clear how quick Armin’s ascension has been: he is simultaneously one of the most revered DJs in the trance music and still, at times, an awestruck fan.
This dichotomy seems to have a major influence on his unparalleled ability to please a crowd. The crowd for the opening night of his ASOT 2004 tour at Atlanta’s eleven50 is there early, packed shoulder to shoulder more than an hour before he is scheduled to go on. Word has spread since his bewitching performance in October, and what seemed a large enough crowd a few months ago has more than doubled in size. Though Armin understands the spell he weaves over a crowd with his music, he finds it difficult to put into words. “I put a lot of thinking in my work, but then I don't. I don't know. Its really difficult to talk about, because its your instinct.” But while inspiration may play a huge part in crafting a set, there is an almost academic researcher that resides in the trance master, as well. “I don't want to educate my crowd, I try to follow my crowd, I try to see what's going on, I read the boards, I talk to people, I talk to you. I want to know what you think of the tracks, what your favorite tracks are. When you say you miss (“As the Rush Comes” by) Motorcycle on that CD that is important information to me. I mean, its all the little things. I mean, when I go to the club, I try to find out a little history of the club; I invest energy in that. That's my job. I don't want to educate and I don't want to just bang out hits-its somewhere in the middle, it's the right balance.” Finding out what the audience’s favorite tracks were last year guides him toward choosing their favorite tracks this year. He is frustrated by DJs who play simply for themselves or who go out of their way to impress audiences with their inaccessibility. “Is that what you're coming for? If you've worked your ass off the whole week at the factory or the office, and pay whatever dollar to get in, you're hanging out with your friends, you want to have a good time. So I'm not going to play boring progressive or build my ego around your night. Its your night for Christ's sake, you're paying 40 bucks or whatever to get in, I want to make you feel special, you shouldn't make me feel special.”
Later that evening, for two hours, he serves up a blend of tracks from 76 and A State of Trance 2004 with a few favorites thrown in for good measure. As he brings “As the Rush Comes” out of a 2003 remix of “Binary Finary,” during the last thirty minutes of his set, its clear that the vibe is thick enough, the energy high enough, and the demand strong enough to give the crowd a little bit of what they know and love. After talking with him just a few hours before, I see that he doesn’t just talk—he practices what he preaches. As his final encore (his own “Yet Another Day”) comes to a close, he is rushed by fans carrying vinyl, posters, and fliers to be autographed. Despite being under the weather, he cheerily obliges, even bashfully indulging a scantily dressed girl’s request for his signature across her chest.
In a matter of hours he’ll be back at the airport, continuing the American leg of the tour, and while he could certainly use a rest, he is overflowing with plans for the future, fueled by his unfettered idealism for dance music. “I think dance music is a beautiful thing, it's a great thing, and that's what I want to show the world: dance music can really bring people together. We're living in a very tough time, and tough times have always been. Its just about showing people we should not be sitting at home being scared for whoever we should be scared for, its about going out, its about meeting people, having a great time with your friends-- that's what life is about. It’s not about bull or whatever. So I challenge people to come to my shows, see what happens, not to me, but to your friends, to all the people in the club.” He is working on a DVD, focusing on his record label, Armada, and wants to expand his sets beyond the borders of club walls and stereos—he’ll start with a boat party in Holland where he’ll play a 7 hour set for "all my friends and everybody who bought a ticket.” He’s even started work on his next artist album, a topic he approaches with the secretive delight of someone dying to tell you about your birthday present. “I would want to give you the exclusive, but there's a lot of tracks I'm not even sure will make the album. At the moment I'm just experimenting with them. Listening to them, debating about them. You're never 100% sure of what you want to release. At least, I wasn't. I remember Paul McCartney saying something like ‘Whenever I hear an old Beatles’ song, there's something I want to change.’ And I have that same feeling; it’s never perfect. We're going to release the first single in July, maybe August. I can't say anything more than that because my record company will shoot me.”
Though he can’t see what the distant future will bring, there’s one thing of which he’s certain: don’t expect him to stop making music. Ever. “I can't see myself without making music. As long as I know there's always a track, there's always a current track, there's always something in my mixer-- I'm always working on something. I don't know, I can't foresee the future, but I've got quite a few things I do right now that I love: first of all DJing, then producing. DJing is a bit of a tough one, cause as you can hear,” he gestures toward his stuffy nose, “it really drags a lot out of your body. I can't really see myself DJing at this level for the rest of my life. But I really want to have kids some day; when I get older I want to have a nice farm house with horses, cows, chickens-- I want to smell the when I wake up.” (Suddenly, I understand his frustration with breakneck travel and the sniffles that ensue—how can he “smell the ” if he can’t smell at all?)
Though he can’t know whether the father/farmer future will pan out, he is clear on what he is in the present. “I think I'm just a trance DJ, and I'd like to see myself as such. And I'll tell you why-- I think a lot of people these days are afraid to call themselves ‘trance.’ Why? I think trance nowadays is a dirty word. If you play trance, then you play predictable breaks, large drum rolls, cheesy vocals. And that is so ridiculous. Trance for me has a totally different definition. I'm not afraid to call my music trance-- its not cheesy, its not predictable, and it doesn't have vocal cheesy break downs. It’s just good music. I had a discussion about it with Pete Tong. I said ‘Pete, now be honest. I mean, we all agree that pure progressive tribal is boring. And trance is cheesy. But still, most of the people listen to either progressive or trance, and a little bit of techno. So what's the ideal music? Apparently a combination of the three!’ And that's what I want to do. I want to make a compilation that I will call trance, cause that's what I am, but will incorporate all three elements-progressive music, trance, and techno mixed together. I didn't need a lot of time to think about it-- I decided to say, I'm a trance DJ, here I am, bash me! But I'm not here to say I'm progressive cause progressive's a cool word-heck no! I'm trance and I'm proud to be trance.” It is this ability to see exactly what he is and to excel at it that will lead Armin van Buuren to conquer his future as easily as he’s conquered the world—and no head cold, no matter how strong, can hold him back.
http://jivemagazine.com/article.php?pid=1813
A good read imo with some pertinent points
Comments? |
|
|
| PartEgurl |
| I think it is very well written, and I enoyed the fact that the issue about trance being cheesy was brought up in the interview. I havn't read much about that coming from DJ's/Producers. |
|
|
| sandstorm03 |
| what a tool, someone plz kick him |
|
|
| DeeD |
| Somebody already posted this on here weeks ago, Nice interview. |
|
|
| trancebrat |
I always have been and most likely always will be an Armin fan. I don't care who flames me or bashes him...words from self proclaimed Armin haters will never change my opinion.
I had never read that interview before now. Thank you, Turbotrance, for posting it (again). |
|
|
| gabor3000gt |
| very well written, nice interview! Good job!!!:) |
|
|
|
|
