With his radio program on Holland’s ID&T Radio, A State of Trance, celebrating 3-years, Armin has taken the tried and tested tracks off his program and put them into his recently released double cd of the same name. “The cd is a photograph of my current DJ set and my radio show,” he said.

A State of Trance 2004’s first cd is a mix between progressive techno and euphoric trance while the second is more progressive and definitely not cheesy, according to Armin. “I really tried to make a cross section of what people like, it isn’t cheesy. There’s a lot of great music out there, it was hard to select only two cd’s. I could have filled 6 cd’s,” he said.

After his recent world tour he realised that trance music has really taken off everywhere, which is why the album has 15 different covers for 15 different countries. “Trance music all around the world has become a global phenomenon right now,” he said.

But he uses the term “trance” loosely. “The word trance is a difficult word these days because people automatically attach the word trance to cheesiness or commercialism, but for me it’s when the music takes you to another world. For me that is trance. It’s not so much a formulaic music, it’s more of a feeling, a euphoric state,” he said.

Anyone who has experienced an Armin set should understand this. It is just as much about the feeling as it is the music. “For me as a DJ, I’m only interested in getting all those hands in the air, getting the vibe going on the dance floor,” he says.

He aims to please, which is why he spends more time behind the decks than most DJ’s. On his recent tour of Oz he played up to 6-hour sets, but his record is a 12-and-a-half hour solo set at The Hague in Holland in 2002. “It sort of really broke my career. It was live on the radio, just a great, great night,” he said. And if you’re wondering how a DJ pulls off a set that long Armin says it has a lot to do with the energy of the crowd. “When I think back I still get shivers you know. People standing in line until 8 in the morning to get in, it was phenomenal.”

But with the marathon sets, Armin is careful not to overdo the euphoric trance. “You can’t just play hours of euphorism, it would kill people,” he said. And he says the same of cd’s, which is why A State of Trance 2004 is more chilled. “When you make a compilation cd you are playing a DJ set for a really great audience. People won’t just listen to it at afterparties, they listen in their car, at work and on the beach, which is why I tried to make it nice to listen to on the beach too, more chilled.”

Armin also released an artist album in November last year titled 76, which has been nominated for a Dancestar Award. “I was really shy when I heard it, I was like me and my music? But I have been producing since ‘92 so being nominated for a Dancestar Award was a phenomenal moment for me,” he said.

Armin is already working on his second artist album, due for release in 2005 and justifies his heavy workload by saying DJ’s are like sports-stars. “You’re like a football player, you have to pick your moment of fame in one or two years and then you’re over, your done,” he said. But he doesn’t really believe that, saying he will happily produce music as long as he can.

“I’m really enthusiastic about what I do, I love my job, I’m really passionate about what I do. Music for me is more than a hobby, people that collect stamps, they have a hobby, they collect stamps, but for me music is a passion, it goes far beyond any hobby,” he said.

Holland’s liberal attitude towards music has a lot to do with Armin’s musical passion, he admits. “There’s a lot of good trance music coming from Holland. With festivals like Dance Valley you will find so many different kinds of music. There’s a great techno scene and a great drum and bass scene in Holland,” he said. “It has a lot to do with the government here in Holland being very tolerant towards dance music and all sorts of music. A lot of money is invested in dance parties by the government. And I think that helps create guys like myself and Tiesto.”

While on the topic of Dance Valley, Armin said this year they are giving him his own tent, the Armada tent, named after his record label. It is the tenth anniversary of the huge outdoor party, but he says you can never get used to playing to such a massive crowd, even though he regularly plays events across Europe and the States and has scored a global residency with Godskitchen guaranteeing huge crowds worldwide.

Without a doubt his extensive touring schedule would have helped him receive his 3rd placing, behind Tiesto and Paul Van Dyk, in DJ Mag’s top 100 poll 2003, but he finds the whole thing quite frustrating. “I want to focus on what I want to do with my music, not coming number one, although it is a dream of mine one day,” he said.

Other dreams for Armin include making the music for a movie, which might not be so far from reality. He has been approached with the script for a Dutch movie and although no one has signed on the dotted line yet, it is looking hopeful. “With music I can imagine things, I’d much rather be blind than deaf because music is very visual for me. There are certain tracks I can imagine movie images with,” he said.

Armin is currently working on a techno project with Belgium producer Mike, which is due for release before summer and his Fusion project with famous Dutch pianist, Vayne, has just been released. “It is a project between trance, chill-out and classical music,” he said. His record label, Armada, is doing as well as can be expected “considering the market is only 20 per cent of what it used to be,” according to Armin. So could life really be any better for 27-year old Armin?

“This life that I have is the best life you could possibly imagine. I wouldn’t want to be the President of the United States or the Queen of Holland. Being a DJ at this level and playing for such great crowds and doing what you like best, and making people happy with the music that you make is great. I try to enjoy every moment. I don’t see the world to conquer, I just hope I can play many more great parties in Australia and all over the world,” he said. And a great party is in the pipeline for Australia in the not too distant future. According to Armin there is a big possibility he will be playing a gig here on New Years Eve, but as yet nothing has been confirmed.

He refuses to think of himself as a star but you must know you have made it when you find yourself sitting across a dinner table form Marco V and Ferry Corsten, as Armin did a few days ago at an event in Madrid.

He seems the happiest man on earth, producing quality trance tracks at the rate of a machine, and mixing his melodic trance to the masses worldwide. Armin is without a doubt one of Holland’s finest exports, but the way he sees it, he is just a law school student who happened to produce a few hits and become a DJ.