Good to see you once again at an ASOT gig! What surprises have you prepared for your fans tonight?
– Well, I played a lot of new music! So yeah, many surprises on my DJ set, absolutely. I hope they’ve liked it! It looked like they’ve liked it so I’m very happy.
You have been exploring the progressive side of Armada with your unique and trademark sound. How would you describe your distinctive style?
– It’s groovy, it’s still melodic but a little bit different from regular trance, to say it like that. It has trance elements in there, but it’s definitely not 138.
Be honest – do you prefer playing with Ruben (de Ronde) or on your own?
– When I play on my own I like that I can pick all the records myself, because if I play with Ruben, it’s like, yeah, I play one record, and then he plays a record, and then I play a record again, and then he tells me “Hey mate, why did you pick that one?” and I’m like “Dude, do you really have to play that?” I’m not sure about it, you know! (laughs). But, on the other hands, he gives me surprises when picking records, and then I’m like “Oh, man! That’s freaking genius!” and that’s great! And obviously traveling with Ruben is way more fun than traveling on your own. It’s like when you travel with your best friend, it’s just fun! I can’t say I prefer one or the other, it’s nice but it’s different.
Your new album ‘Fate’ is set to be released on April 19th. What was your favorite part on creating it? What’s your favorite track of the album?
– Well, this is like asking “What’s your favorite cat?” I like all cats! You know there are a couple of records on the album that I really like, that I get a good crowd reaction from. I’ve a record called ‘Signs’ it’s a really banging record with a super mesmerizing break and at the moment I created it, I was like “Yeah! This is going to work on a dance floor!” and it does. I also have collaborations with some amazing artists like, we’re together with Matt Fax, we’re together with Sarah de Warren, who’s a vocalist from the U.K. and she’s absolutely amazing, and I’ve 2 records with a guy called Dom Fricot, he’s from Canada, and his voice just fits my records really well so… especially with the collaborations, you just go for it and you see where you end up and I’m so happy with it! If I wasn’t happy then it wouldn’t be on the album so, of course!
Do you ever play longer sets? Is it something you enjoy?
– I prefer to play longer sets. I was in Moscow in December, I played a 2-hour set, and two hours is the minimum I would like to do! Tonight I played one hour, it was really short, but I like to take people on a journey and to do some experimental stuff to really take them into it, so yeah, two, three, four hours or the whole night, I’d love it, I like that! I could do that, it gets me into the flow, yeah!
This is the last question, and it’s a very important one: do you get a case of the Mondays like the rest of us?
– Hey, Monday is Monday! Monday is Monday for everyone, that’s what it’s called Monday, you know!
Thank you Rodg for talking to us! We look forward to the release of your new album!
