INTERVIEW

Armin van Buuren is a Dutch DJ who started with a radio show and landed on the largest global scale audience stages. Today, he is renowned for his formidable work in trance, which he professes he holds most dear to his heart. Having won many recognitions and accolades, he is now about to perform at the Sunburn festival, to take place in Kesnand District, Pune from 28-31 December.

In a conversation with Guardian 20, Buuren speaks about his own affection for trance music and gives quite a bit of insight into his own work as a DJ.

Q. You’ve had your shows across the global space. What about Sunburn India attracted you to it? A.

India. I love the culture; the food, the traditions, the people. It’s so different from the Netherlands. The allround vibe is just amazing and has me coming back every time. And at Sunburn I’ve always enjoyed simply because it’s got the complete package of music, crowd and atmosphere.

Q. Your work stretches across trance, house and electro. Which among these has amassed the biggest following? A.

The scale of trance music has changed a lot! It used to be a club thing and nowadays it’s more about festivals. Which I think is great because there’s new talent and room for it. It’s a fantastic time for trance music. What I also love is that there’s a style for everyone. It used to be one thing: house. Now it’s so many, like techno, trance and electro etc.

Q. How would you define trance music?

A. My problem is that nobody has a clear and right definition of what is “trance”, what is “techno” and what is “house”. Some guys on some download portals simply put music into categories but that doesn’t mean it is what it says. For me, trance has always been more than just one formulaic kind of thing. As much as I love all the uplifting stuff, which is something I will always support, trance for me has always been about a variety of sounds, as long as the melody is the key ingredient.

Q. When you’re engaging with the audiences as a DJ, what are you looking for? A.

I have sort of a golden rule for myself: to always premiere and experiment with new tracks and new sound. Usually, I start up my set with a big opener and then another big track and then I go a little bit deeper. You see, if there are a lot of girls, they usually like vocals a little bit. I’ll figure out what to play if there’s really a trance-y crowd or if people want to hear my big hits. I never play the same set twice. Ever.

Q. Does ASOT, your radio show, feel indispensable in the journey which has got you to this height globally? Ever imagined what it’d be like without this show? A.

Radio has become the home for fans of trance and people who want to be updated about everything that goes on in the world of Armin van Buuren. Whether it’s a new track I want to test out or a new remix, ASOT is the first place to test out new music. ASOT and Armin Only are my most important projects. I’ve always been a big fan of radio and I love being able to give new talent a stage to shine on. Don’t forget I had a lot of help in the early days from other artists and it feels great to be able to do something back. I’ve always said ASOT is not only a show for, but also a show by the fans. The show wouldn’t be where it is without the fans, so it feels amazing to see so many people celebrating along.

Q. With your stature in the EDM world and 180,000 fans chanting your name at your concerts, how do you stay normal? A.

You can’t really. Seal’s right: “We’re never gonna survive unless we’re a little bit crazy.” I have this gigantic Darth Vader in my game room. But I always thought, I better spend my money on that rather than putting it in my nose or in my arm. I see the dangers of being on stage to be honest. There’s a really great book about it by the Irish professor Ian Robertson. It’s called The Winner Effect: The Neuroscience of Success and Failure. What was interesting about the book is that he started to recognise certain patterns with people who have power or who are famous… You feel like you are on top of the world and you can do everything because everyone adores you. That drives you crazy. His theory is that the shape of the brain changes because the adulation is a drug.

Q. Does your own nurturing and growth have anything to do with you producing trance and house? How did you arrive at the choice? A.

You know I never officially made the decision to become a DJ. I wanted to be a doctor, because my dad was a general practitioner and I liked everything that had to do with medicine. But, in Holland, only 1,500 students can join the basic medical school each year to become a doctor, because it’s very expensive. So I opted for law. I wasn’t sure if I’d go into law. But then I was inspired by German techno pioneer Klaus Schulze as well as German producer Oliver Lieb’s 1999-released work Netherworld. I was into a Dutch master mixer, Ben Liebrand. He was one of the first guys in the Netherlands to mix two records together. But at that time, in 1977, mixing two records together was very new. He had In the Mix, a very popular radio show. I knew the original records and wanted to know how he did it. My parents listened to the Pink Floyd record The Dark Side of the Moon. To this day, it’s still the best sounding record I’ve ever heard. It was made in 1973 and if I compare it to a lot of other records it’s just the best sound. It was recorded on tape and then transferred to vinyl. Looking back, it was no surprise I’d be in music. Because one of the very first electronic works was the 1968 album, Walter Carlos’ Switched on Bach, and my dad was fanatical about that record. My dad was re-

“If you look at the history of music, it’s just repeating itself. I think what’s happening right now, there’s a diversification. You can no longer speak about just EDM or Trance music. You have to speak about all of the sub-styles. You have to speak about dubstep, deep house, trance.”