With Tiesto gaining the number one position in this years DJ Mag top 100 DJ poll and Armin Van Buuren moving up from number five to number three, it appears that Dutch trance is still very much a thriving component of the dance music scene. I was lucky to get the chance to chat to AVB from Holland before this particular flying Dutchman (who apparently actually hates planes) heads down our way in late December.
This up-and-coming superstar DJ first hit the scene almost ten years ago with the track “Blue Fear” (Remixed 2003) when he was just nineteen years old. Since then, gigs with Godskitchen worldwide including his first global residency with Godskitchen in 2004, the release of his debut artist album ‘76’ (nominated for best new artist album at the Dancestar Awards this year) and the number five placing in DJ Mags Top 100 DJs list has helped open new doors for him. Along with a weekly radio show ‘A State of Trance’, he also runs his own record label and management company called Armada.
We chatted about how he first became interested in the world of dance music and who his earliest influences were. “I never really had one artist that I followed, but Ben Liebrand was a big influence on me. I also used to listen to a lot of early electronic musicians like Jean Michel-Jarre and Vangelis” I congratulate him on earning the number three position in the DJ Mag poll and ask if we can expect him to knock Tiesto down next year for the number one position. There is a long pause down the telephone before he responds carefully; “I want to be number one. I have always wanted that. But I have a lot of respect for Tiesto as well, and I don’t really see it as ‘knocking him down’. But, of course, if that’s what people want that’s fine with me!”
So, what inspired you to create your own music?
I’ve always been a bit of a geek, a nerd if you will. As a kid I learned basic computer programming and became fascinated by that. I think the reason I am into this music is because I have two passions in my life – music and computers, software in particular”.
The computer geek, once revealed, goes on with real passion about something near and dear to his heart; his Apple Mac. Lists of reasons are cited for their obvious superiority as he proudly declares; “I hate PC’s. I’m just a big Mac fan!”
I hear you are working on another album release for 2005. How is that going?
The album is going really well actually I’m happy to say because I am so busy with the radio show, live shows… and trying to have a social life! I have also been working on a trance track for the trailer for a TV show called 24. You know, the one with Keifer Sutherland? I won’t get any credit for it though.
I assure Armin that I’ll mention it here so he gets some credit for it. I ask him what he thought about Tiesto playing at the Olympics and if he thought it would to lead to trance becoming more ‘mainstream’ or if it was an indication that it was already. “I think it proves how popular dance music is and how popular Tiesto is. I think he has been very lucky and it’s been good for me too because it means maybe more people get to listen to the kind of music I play, which is great!”
We talk a bit about the fine line between popularity and ‘mainstream’. I’m curious to know where the line is drawn where something appealing suddenly loses it’s appealing by being overly popular. Why is this? “I don’t know. But it’s not all good music. A lot of people complain that trance is too mainstream. There is some terrible music being called trance out there. I can tell you there is not one single record in the dance music charts that I like. This was different a few years ago”.
I read that you see trance as a kind of ‘global energy’ that can be felt wherever you play all over the world. Do you think that the appeal of trance lies in the universal desire towards some kind of primal ecstatic celebration of life through music, beats and dance?
I think this is true of any music show, not just trance. There is the energy of the crowd loving the music. I don’t like the way that drugs are associated with dance music. They have done studies that prove there are more drugs taken at Rock concerts than dance parties. Dance music is a form of art. I think it’s great the way we have this whole community of dance subculture. The Internet and the new technology have been great for that. It’s spreading the music so fast. I love that there might be people in Australia talking on, like, Inthemix about a record I played on my radio show in Holland that day.
Do you have any favourite places or gigs that you’ve played?
I loved doing the Armin-only tour this year. It gave me a chance to play six to seven hour sets, not jut play the hits, you know, and I had the opportunity to break into the US which was something I have wanted. And the Tuesday nights at Amnesia in Ibiza are always amazing. That place is crazy!
So if you can see the number three DJ in Ibiza on a Tuesday night, what’s the place like on the weekends?
Well actually it’s actually quieter on Friday and Saturday nights because a lot of the flights leave and arrive then so there is this overlap of people coming and going. But because it’s a party island anyway, the busiest nights are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights.
So, what makes a gig special for you?
Interaction, definitely. The crowd. I mean, I can play music here in my house and I enjoy it nearly as much, but it’s always the crowd. Being able to interact. This year especially has been incredible for that.
A typical AVB set consists of many cleanly layered and constructed sounds and samples, plenty of anticipation-increasing build-ups, consistently driving rhythmical beats, and a tendency towards upwards in the mood and energy enhancing qualities of each track with minimal use of vocals and lyrics. The kind of stuff with plenty of opportunity for those ‘hand-dancing breaks’ that allow for that essential breather needed in order to sustain the marathon sets that AVB is renowned for playing.
The opportunity for him to spread the music all over the world is something that gets him really excited. I ask him if there was any place in the world he’d like to play that he hadn’t yet. “South Africa. I was supposed to play there this year but it was cancelled. Fingers crossed, I’d like to play there soon”
To finish up our chat I ask about where Armin Van Buuren calls home and if he has any pets. “I live in a small town about fifteen minutes South of Amsterdam. I don’t really have any time for pets although I am considering getting a cat, because I am in love with cats, but I don’t think it would like being left in the house for days without food. In politeness to the animal world, we’ve decided not to get any animals at this point”.
You can catch Armin Van Buuren touring nationally through late December and early January:
Fri Dec 31, Sydney – Sublime NYE
Sat Jan 1, Melbourne – Summadayze (ITM SOLD OUT)
Thu Jan 6, Adelaide – Heaven
Sat Jan 8, Gold Coast – Summafieldayze (BUY TICKETS)
Sun Jan 9, Perth – Summadayze
