The Stereosonic line-up runs deep in 2011, and holding fort at the top of the list is trance ambassador Armin van Buuren. It’ll be Armin who’s tasked with setting the mainstage alight, and the DJ is certainly in good practice.

We got on the phone to the Stereo headliner at the crack of dawn today to hear what he’s planning, and top of mind was his new release under the Gaia alias, Stellar. Out this week, the track will also appear on the Universal Religion Chapter Five compilation, recorded live at Armin’s Space Ibiza residency this season. He tells inthemix Stellar is a good indication of where his sets are at.

“I am still true to my original trance sound, which comes out in my side-project Gaia,” he told us. “Back in 2002 I had people saying that trance was dead, but it’s still going strong as an essential force of EDM. I feel like the fun is coming back to trance as well.

“I played after Afrojack at the Electric Zoo festival in New York last month and he was really rocking it, but I was surprised that when I played after him the crowd was also going nuts to a completely different sound. It means there’s still a strong following for trance.”

As for Stereosonic, he’s looking forward to the challenge of huge stages and to-the-point sets. “I haven’t been to Australia for a while just playing a festival set. How I play will depend on who’s before me, whether the sun is out or it’s raining; if there’s a high-energy set before me, I’ll bring it down and build up again from there or I might just play all my big hits. It just depends on the people. I do what feels right in the moment. That’s what you pay me for,” he laughed.

Universal Religion Chapter 5 is out now through Armada, bringing together a fleet of the DJ’s favourite producers on two discs. It features two new Armin remixes and his 2011 collaboration with Ferry Corsten Brute, alongside the likes of Orjan Nilsen, John O’Callaghan, Andy Moor and Markus Schulz’s Dakota project. These two sets obviously did the job in Space, so expect to hear some of these anthems booming across Stereosonic.

Universal Religion Chapter 5 tracklist

CD1
01 Ashley Wallbridge – Vision (Intro Edit)
02 BT & Adam K – Tomahawk
03 Gofman & Tsukerman – Darko
04 Shogun – Space Odyssey
05 Hannah – Falling Away (Armin van Buuren Remix)
06 Andy Moor feat. Sue McLaren – Fight The Fire (Stoneface & Terminal Remix)
07 Protoculture – Liquid Logic
08 Dennis Sheperd & Cold Blue feat. Ana Criado – Fallen Angel (Dennis Sheperd Club Mix)
09 Markus Schulz presents Dakota – Terrace 5 a.m.
10 Gaia – Stellar
11 Susana – Home (Daniel Kandi Retrofit Remix)
12 Mike Koglin vs Genix – Helion
13 Jorn van Deynhoven – Spotlight
14 Ferry Corsten vs. Armin van Buuren – Brute

CD2
01 Andrew Bayer – Counting The Points
02 Kid Alien – The Atmosphere (Klauss Goulart’s & Mark Sixma Deep Universe Remix)
03 Space RockerZ & Tania Zygar – Puzzle Piece (Daniel Heatcliff’s Farewell Remix)
04 Alexander Popov – Elegia
05 Emma Hewitt – Colours (Armin van Buuren Remix)
06 Gareth Emery & Ashley Wallbridge – Mansion
07 DNS Project – Exclusive (Bigroom Edit)
08 John O’Callaghan & Giuseppe Ottaviani – Ride The Wave (Giuseppe Ottaviani Remix)
09 James Dymond – Gundam
10 Daniel Kandi – Sagittarius
11 Alex M.O.R.P.H. feat. Sylvia Tosun – An Angel’s Love (Vocal Mix)
12 Paul Oakenfold – Full Moon Party
13 Re:Locate vs Robert Nickson – Resource
14 Ørjan Nilsen – Viking