There’s little question that Armin van Buuren is a Dutch DJ powerhouse, having taken the number one spot in DJ Mag’s Top 100 Poll from multiple title holders countryman Tiesto and then-defending champ Paul van Dyk. But the 31-year-old, who had already been the youngest to break the top five, has big plans for going even bigger.
With hardly a trace of an accent, van Buuren is anxious to talk about his new album, Imagine, which was released in the U.S. on Ultra this month. “This is my idea of an artist’s album,” he says of the 11-track release, “I think it’s the best thing I’ve done. I’m very, very proud of it.”
Despite his confidence and quick answers, there are still some things that get lost in translation. But nevertheless, he spills the beans on his radio show (25 million-plus listen as he broadcasts beside the room service) and tells us who to keep an eye on, which trance movers and shakers the reigning king thinks will climb the ranks next.
Clubplanet: Let’s talk about your new album. Is there any significance to its name, Imagine?
Armin van Buuren: Trance, any music, is very personal. That’s what I wanted to stress with the title. When people hear music they have memories of the past. Trance, especially, is very filmic—how do you say that in English? You envision images with it, like classical music with movies. So it’s an encouragement and an acknowledgement of the personal taste.
CP: You’ve mentioned that the sound goes back to the “roots of early day trance,” but is also a “2008 sound.” What did you mean by that? How’s it new?
Armin van Buuren: Well it definitely has the sound of 2008: there’s a lot of sything, electro bass lines in there, it’s more techy in some ways. It’s a trance album produced in 2008, so I think it sounds very 2008. And it perfectly mixes with tracks from other artists I play in my sets.
CP: There’s also a heavy vocal element to it, what are your thoughts on going that way?
Armin van Buuren: It’s the way it came about. I finished about 20 tracks for the album, and I choose the ones that I played for my friends and they reacted the best to. It’s an artist’s album – it’s not a mixed compilation in any way – so it doesn’t mind if you have a few vocals on there. It’s something you can put on at home and relax to, even though there’s no down tempo.
CP: Were there any particular artists that you enjoyed working with either artistically or just personality-wise, that you had fun with?
Armin van Buuren: Anybody – it’s really important to click with any person you work with on an album.
CP: So what about this album, who is that person?
Armin van Buuren: Well, everybody. The funny thing is every track came about in a totally different way. I won’t tell you a story about every track—
CP: Tell us a story that you won’t tell anybody else or you haven’t told anybody else.
Armin van Buuren: Um, like with Jennifer Rene it was very funny. I’ve been in touch with Jennifer for two years. She’s from Indianapolis and we spoke about doing a track together one day. And I was like, I can fly you into Holland but we can also hire a studio and work in the states, and she really liked that idea. And so I had a few days off when I was in Washington DC and she flew in from Chicago. It was unbelievable because we didn’t have anything at nine in the morning and at five we had the whole song, basically done for the album.
CP: We’ve got to ask it: how does it feel to be number one [on DJ Mag’s Top 100 list]?
Armin van Buuren: I don’t know, it’s pretty bizarre. A lot of DJs on that list I really admire; I would start shivering if they were to enter into the room. And, to be honest, it didn’t really change a lot in the sense of bookings, because we were already working with the best promoters around the world. I’ve been very lucky with that.
CP: I guess from the top ten it isn’t that big of a change to clutch the number one spot.
Armin van Buuren: Well, every DJ dreams of that position. If you can hold it for one year, it’s great.
CP: So do you have any different plans or any unfulfilled ambitions that you’re going to go after now that you’ve checked that one off your list?
Armin van Buuren: Definitely. One big ambition is bringing a full night of entertainment to a larger crowd, like doing a nine-hour set and involving a lot of live acts. I did that two and a half weeks ago in the Jaarbeurs [convention center in] Utrecht with a show called Armin Only. It’s one of the biggest things you can do: it was 18,000 people completely sold out. There’s clips of it on YouTube; it was live on national TV as well. And I’ve done two other Armin Only shows, one in 2005 and one in 2006, and now this year we finally will bring the show on the road. It’s only been in Holland so far, but now we have shows planned in Romania, Australia, Belgium, Poland, Canada and a couple of other places.
CP: How is it going back in playing in Holland? Has the scene in Holland changed since you were 19 and coming up?
Armin van Buuren: The scene has—dance music goes really fast. It’s kind of unbelievable how fast it all goes. We quickly made a transition from playing vinyl to CD. Everything went from physical sales to digital sales. And the sound in general has changed a little bit as well.
But as far as countries like America and Europe, for example, I don’t think there’s much of a difference to be honest – not anymore. There used to be, because dance music was received later in the US than it was in Europe. But the US has caught up big time over the last couple of years. In fact I think the parties at the moment in America might be better because there’s not so much going on here as in Europe where they have a festival almost every week. People maybe appreciate it more because it’s still kind of special.
CP: Some other big Dutch DJs have said that they’re bigger here than over there, do you find that as well? They expect it of you there, maybe?
Armin van Buuren: Well yeah. There are so many DJs in Europe. And a lot of us travel to the US now; it’s still kind of an open market here.
CP: Aside from being number one and releasing the album, congratulations on the award for your radio show! You’ve been doing it for seven years, but now there’s a lot of up-and-coming shows, do you think you’ll have to change how you do it at all?
Armin van Buuren: Yeah. Change is always good. But at the moment the formula of the show really works for a lot of people. In fact we just signed a major deal with a really big network in Brazil, Jovan Pan, for 20 million extra listeners every week. So there are 27 million people listening to that show every week. It’s kind of bizarre if you think that I’m doing most of it on my laptop in my hotel room.
CP: And you use Ableton in your radio shows, right?
Armin van Buuren: Yes. I was one of the first to really do a two-hour radio show in Ableton. I do it in two languages and I do it on 40 FM stations, so I need to be flexible with the mix.
CP: But you still use CDs when DJing, right?
Armin van Buuren: Yeah, because, honestly, I feel it’s not really nice for the crowd if you DJ from a laptop. They can’t really see if what you’re actually doing is actually live.
CP: Do you think you’ll ever do that, make the switch? No?
Armin van Buuren: Well, never say never. I mean I never thought I’d see myself playing with CDs and now I am. DJing with CDs is much easier than it was with vinyl. But every DJ has to switch to CDs now because a lot of records aren’t even being released on vinyl anymore. It’s kind of sad. As long as the music lasts, that’s the most important thing.
CP: We see synergism in the legal and club realms, but plenty think it odd that you earned a law degree while climbing to the top of the DJ world. Has that legal background affected how you DJ? Or how you sign contracts, maybe?
Armin van Buuren: Well I’m not sitting in a law office at the moment, but I do co-own two record companies. It’s really, really good that I know something about law, taxes, copyrights, contracts, about how to set up a business. That really helped my career a lot.
CP: Do you think you’ll go into law when you retire from DJing?
Armin van Buuren: I don’t think I’ll ever retire. Honestly, do you know a single DJ that has really retired?
CP: No, not one. So what are you looking forward to this next year?
Armin van Buuren: I’ll be touring for the next two years to promote this album, and hopefully doing an Armin Only show in the United States.
CP: You’re touring for two years?
Armin van Buuren: Yeah, two years. Two years to promote this album, because it’s being released in over 30 countries.
CP: Anything else you’re excited about in the future? What’s coming next?
Armin van Buuren: First of all Armin Onlys throughout the world. And continue with my radio show, State of Trance. Then focusing on another artist album, I really enjoy making music.
CP: Are there any other artists that you’re excited about? Those you’d like to see follow in your footsteps maybe?
Armin van Buuren: Blake Jarrell, he’s doing really well at the moment. Jennifer Rene as a DJ is really, really good. I have high hopes for them. Yeah, there’s a lot of good sound out there at the moment. Guys like Sean Tyas and John O'Callaghan, and there’s a lot of good trance—Aly & Fila doing really well, Nic Chagall [of] Cosmic Gate is an amazing DJ.
To hear more from Armin van Buuren, check out arminvanbuuren.com.
See tour dates below:
05-15-2008 Denver @ Beta www.Betanightclub.com
05-16-2008 San Diego @ Giant www.giantclub.com
05-17-2008 Los Angeles Giant www.giantclub.com
05-19-2008 Orlando @ Tabu www.tabunightclub.com
05-20-2008 St. Louis @ Dantes www.dantesstl.com
05-21-2008 Niagra Falls @ DragonFly www.dragonflynightclub.com
05-22-2008 Detroit @ Bleu www.bleudetroit.com
05-23-2008 Boston @ The Estate www.theestateboston.com
05-24-2008 Chicago @ Vision www.visionnightclub.com
07-05-2008 Brooklyn @ McCarren Pool www.made-event.com
Want Tickets are availble for the Brooklyn July 5th show here.