Armin interview about the current state of trance in 2014 and more

[Marco1979]

So how are you feeling about where trance is at in 2014 – are you picking up on any trends, new directions?
I think right now it’s a very good time for trance music, because you see a lot of new guys coming up and making fresh sounds. Guys like Andrew Rayel, Orjan Nilsen, Mark Sixma, David Gravell and also those making the 138 sound – guys like Photographer and Aly & Fila – are doing really well.
I was afraid at one point that with trance it might be a case of “how long is this going to last?” But with the A State of Trance radio show, I’m not just going to go to episode 1000 just for the sake of it. What I feel right now, what I see, is that there’s a lot of really, really good music coming out.
Trance is not the most popular sound right now. Let’s face it, the EDM sound is more popular. If I wanted another shot at #1 in DJ Mag poll I’d have to change my sound, I think. But I think things come in circles, what you see right now is a big resurgence of the sound of the early ‘90s – that’s coming back right now, the early dance music – so trance will come back in full force at one point too.
I feel right now with all these new guys bringing fresh sounds to trance music, I have a hard time selecting tracks for my show each week – not because I don’t have enough tracks, it’s the opposite! I have too many tracks and when I started the radio show it was hard to fill a two hour radio show every week. So there’s much more music around now, and a lot of it is very, very interesting. I have a lot of fun making the show and I’m still surprised by the amount of tunes every week.
For example, the new Cosmic Gate album is sounding fresh – it’s trance music, it’s very uplifting, it sounds amazing. The new Andrew Rayel album is coming out – I’ve just premiered some of his tracks on the show, they’re stunning! Stunning work, really. It’s still trance, but it has a few elements from EDM. Of course, trance music looks to the sounds that are popular, but Rayel decided to go more with the trance melodies, which work great in his music.
I did mention Photographer from Ukraine – he’s a great producer, he’s really updated the 138 sound and it sounds fresh to me. You’re not going to find it at #1 on Beatport, but it’s something that blows up on the internet.
The radio show still trends every week on Twitter, the show’s available now on Spotify for everyone to listen for free and you can see the amount of streams on there and the amount that previous episodes are being listened to again and again. It’s one of the most popular shows on Spotify right now. So it means that there’s still a lot of demand for it and I’m just really excited about it.
I’m not trying to keep trance alive for the sake of just keeping it alive. I feel that there’s a big future for it at the moment, because there’s so many great new sounds coming and great new producers taking sounds to the next level. My sound as well has evolved. I’d like to think that I’m still making trance music, especially with the Gaia sound and all that sort of stuff. So I’m really positive about it, it’s just the fact that it’s not as popular as EDM right now.

Full interview here:

http://www.inthemix.com.au/features/..._Buuren?page=1

[m8san]

I disagree with too much of this to go into specifics

[Gagi]

My god, does he really have to repeat everything over and over again in every goddamn interview?

[Rok]

Armin's interviews make me feel sick. The amount of bullsh*t is unbelievable.

The only thing I agree with is that there's indeed loads of good Trance out there. However, it's certainly not coming from the guys he's mentioned and he for some reason refuses to play/support it.

[Progrez]

Oh boy I don't know where to begin to pick on his statements.

[m8san]

[Marco1979]

However, it's certainly not coming from the guys he's mentioned and he for some reason refuses to play/support it.

But you can't say he's not consequent in it;-)

[KZM]

He is trying to redefine the genre. That is why he promotes the above mentioned guys. The problem is these guys are drifting away from trance towards progressive house, etc eg: Nilsen and his whole label, Rayel's recent releases. So for many people ASOT trance is what they know of the genre trance.

[Marco1979]

Carl Cox knows how it works

[J4mie]

Armin doesn't care about his career anymore is the way I feel. He just plays the tracks that are getting thrown at him by Ruben de Ronde, then he makes sure that every set contains at least 1 Andrew Rayel, W&W, Shogun and David Gravell track so that his marketing employees at Armada are happy, then he asks Benno how his tracks are coming along and lastly he spends time with his wife and family.

[Gagi]

@J4mie, it surely looks like that now that I think about it.

In one interview, he mentioned how he sent the vocals one singer sent him to his manager, so he could give an opinion. Wait, what?

[FJV]

Carl Cox knows how it works

The true is that we can apply that for basicly all the musicians in the world.

[Voci]

Armin doesn't care about his career anymore is the way I feel. He just plays the tracks that are getting thrown at him by Ruben de Ronde, then he makes sure that every set contains at least 1 Andrew Rayel, W&W, Shogun and David Gravell track so that his marketing employees at Armada are happy, then he asks Benno how his tracks are coming along and lastly he spends time with his wife and family.

Well that's sort of true, although Armin is really a music-lover I think, so he is defenitely into it.

However, there is no challenge for him. Whatever he plays, the crowd will like it and scream. I don't think Armin himself likes that, but it's the way the world works, it's how marketing works.

Armin doesn't need to change his sound because he has a big fanbase. If he didn't have it, he would change it too...

[Thijs]

For a lot of posts above here...

[N7pSTR]

Hello.

My name is Armin van Buuren and when I give an interview, I give the same fu*king answers over and over again.