We sat down for a quick chat with trance legend Armin van Buuren while he was broadcasting his A State of Trance radio show live from the grounds of Tomorrowland 2017 Weekend 2. Check out what he had to say below.
You’ve been at Tomorrowland for so many years now, how does it feel to be here for the 2017 edition?
Well to be honest, look around you. I really can’t lie. This is beyond a festival. I don’t think you can call this a festival anymore, its like a cultural movement almost. It’s like a festival combined with a theme park, cirque du soleil show, combined with theatre…I don’t know! It’s like an experience man, its hard to describe if you haven’t been here. Even from a glass window its really cool to be a part of what’s happening and being able to meet the fans and all that.
So since you’ve performed here numerous times, what would you say is your favorite moment out of ALL the years of Tomorrowland?
Well I have to say, it was torrential rain, and I had just announced the birth of my son. I had come straight from the hospital in 2013, Actually I was supposed to miss that gig. I only had one gig scheduled the entire summer and guess what day my son was born! The birth went really fast and after an hour and a half my son was on the planet and he was alive and well. So after that I quickly went to Belgium on a private jet. I remember being on stage and I couldn’t keep my eyes dry. It was a very special moment for me.
So you have a lot of performances planned for Tomorrowland this year, what can we expect to hear from Armin this weekend?
I’ve got the Unite special, basically I’m playing my main stage set tomorrow. Of course I’m playing my new track with Sunnery James and Ryan Marciano who will be there. My set at Unite will be broadcasted live at eight other festivals around the world: Dubai, Germany, Lebanon, Malta, Spain, South Korea, Taiwan, and Israel. Eight different countries are dancing to the same beat at the same time which I think is a very special thing. I’ve never played such a thing so that’s going to be very special. Of course we are doing the very first A State of Trance live broadcast from Tomorrowland. Right now you are actually sitting in the radio studio where I am. So we are live all around the world right now at ASOT.TV including a video stream so that’s super exciting. What you see on stage right now is David Gravell playing and he’s ripping it up. I’m playing an extended set 90 minutes which is rare for Tomorrowland and I’m super happy about that! I’ve got loads and loads of new tracks I can premiere!
On that Note, There were rumors floating around about a GAIA album coming out. Any news on that?
I’m working on it! You know, my schedule is really really busy right now. But I already finished a couple of new tracks for the album and I’m actually premiering one of the tracks on my new compilation which drops August 17th called A State of Trance: Ibiza 2017. There’s a new Gaia track on there called ‘Crossfire‘ which nobody has heard yet. I just finished that and I thought it was a great track to share with people already. This year there’s two Gaia tracks coming out and then I’m working on an album.
So in the trance scene, who would you say is one of the hottest new names right now?
There’s a lot. I think Davey Asprey. For me his track ‘Fallout‘ is by far my favorite track of the year at the moment. I just love the melody, its just stuck in my head for weeks. I think he has a bright future ahead of him. Lets just hope he keeps up with that quality of tunes.
Last question is a bit random, but what is your favorite animal?
My favorite animal is a cat since he sleeps the whole day. I like to do that as well!