It’s finally here: a whole month of A State of Trance parties to mark the 550thepisode of Armin van Buuren’s radio show! Throughout March, he’ll be putting on six events across the world, with the launch party on Thursday 1st March at Ministry of Sound in London. I chatted to him ahead of the event…
You’re about to start getting ready for the live broadcast of your radio show – how are you feeling?
I’m feeling really good, I’m looking forward to it.
Because you originally didn’t want to do an event for 550 did you? Are you glad you were persuaded?
You’re well informed! I only wanted to do events for 500 and 600 because it’s more special, but I decided to do 550 for the fans and it’s great for people to be able to listen to the music for free. This show and Den Bosch have both sold out and I hope the others do too. Things like DJ polls don’t really mean that much – it’s events like this that are important.
Above & Beyond’s Trance Around the World 400 event actually crashed Twitter. Are you hoping for the same tonight?
Well I don’t want to crash Twitter! But It would be nice to get that much interest. Above & Beyond played at A State of Trance last year and I’d play for a Trance Around the World show if they asked me too.
I’d love to see that! I saw your Tweet earlier reminiscing about Turnmills – some people say that because Ministry of Sound attracts lots of tourists who aren’t really into their music, it doesn’t always have a great atmosphere…
I disagree with that. There’s always something special about playing all the clubs in London because English people are really into their music – did you know that out of every country in the world, English people spend the most on music? Also, in Holland we’re spoilt for choice when it comes to trance events, but because the UK doesn’t have as many, they’re appreciated more over here.
What can we expect from your set tonight?
Some new stuff including music from other labels. I don’t just want the #trancefamily to enjoy it, but everyone else too.
I understand that artists want to have the freedom to be creative without any restrictions, but so many DJs and producers say they don’t want to be pigeon-holed or boxed into a certain genre…
Box me in! I love trance music and support it even if it’s the competition.
I love that you said that! Oakenfold is one of the most important people in trance music. Your labels merged last year and he’s obviously playing tonight – what’s it like working with him?
Paul Oakenfold is an inspiration. He plays what’s in his heart, which is good to see with so many DJs jumping on different band wagons at the moment.
And finally, do you have any plans for an Armin Only in the UK? There was aTwitter campaign for it last year, so there’s clearly a demand…
Yeah I saw that. I don’t want to do one anywhere more, but it’s a risk financially as we would have to sell more than 5000 tickets.Armin Only is my baby, but it’s really hard work and costs a lot of money. I would love to bring it to the UK, but we need promoters to sponsor it.
So hopefully we’ll see Armin Only in the UK sometime soon, but for now we’ve got a whole month of A State of Trance to enjoy…
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