Interview: Armin Van Buuren at Creamfields 2017

Armin Van Buuren interview for Reyin App China at Creamfields 2017

Lanty:Hi Armin! So first of all, I noticed you’re going to China soon?

Armin: Yeh Ultra China – it’s gonna be very good

Lanty: Are we expecting something new from you?

Armin: Always, always. I have a lot of music out, just released a compilation called A State of Trance Ibiza 2017. CD1 is called on the beach, perfectly for when you’re on a beach chilling. CD2 is in the club, which you can also play it on the beach if you want. But you know it’s sort of like my sound for the summer.

My new single is called “Sunny Days”, there is a big remix package coming out of that. I always have a lot of new stuff and surprises for my set. It’s super excited ’cos it’s the first Ultra China and there is so much happening in China right now. Actually, I see a lot of Chinese people now coming to Ibiza as well and checking out my sets. I recently did an Armin Only Show in Shanghai and Macau, which both were amazing. Really great crowd response. I feel like Chinese market for me is growing a lot and I’m super happy because everybody was waiting for China to open up and it’s really opening up right now so that’s really great.

Lanty: Let’s talk about your new residency in Ibiza this year at Hï Ibiza. Tell us a bit more about your summer there?

Armin: After 15 year in the club of ibiza, it’s a new adventure and completely new night for me, new style and new art work. This year I’m teaming up with SJRM who are in the other room, we actually did a track together for this night try to combine our style, it’s called “You Are”. So when’re playing at Hï I’m keeping it more Trance in the main room and they’re playing their Sexy By Nature style in the other room. It really works. Because if Trance is not your thing then SJRM has got the other things going on so. Usually both rooms are packed and everybody is really high on energy.

Lanty: So what’s the story behind your new track?

Armin: The track “We Are” is slightly different from my usual style, that’s because its a new night and I wanna create a new track especially for this night. What I’ve been doing recently with a lot of collaborations is trying to find a middle ground between their style and my style, like “We Are” with SJRM. It’s really exciting. But there is no need to worry, I won’t be leaving the world of Trance. I’ve got a lot of trance releases lined up. In fact I’ve just released a new single with a big Trancy mix called “Sunny Days”. It’s actually a song written in the middle of winter (haha) ’cos we’re all looking forward to the summer. I think it will be cool to have a dedicated tune for my summer.

Lanty: I think you mentioned about your mobile studio last time when we were talking in Ibiza? How did it go?

Armin: My State of Trance studio? Well, I have a fixed studio now in Amsterdam, which you can check my radio show every week, not only in audio but also in the video now. And I also have a mobile studio like the one you’re referring to, which is the studio that we have when we do the big live events, which is a tent, called “The Dom”. I have so much in the road right now, and technology makes it possible now to have a mobile studio. I always finish the track in my own studio at home, but it’s great to get stuff going at different surroundings, can be anywhere.

That’s super exciting but yeh, definitely it’s 2017, everybody wants to hear not only the audio but also see the video. You actually see me mixing and everything. It’s really cool. I think the internet is changing the world as we know.

Lanty: Talking about the video, I know you’re doing vlogs too, how’s it going?

Armin: It’s happening now actually. Yeh the blogs are doing very well. The last one I had like 600,000 views, so it’s going up and up and up. Apparently people like the style of vlogging.

Lanty: You should try something like live stream ’cos it’s absolutely huge in China!

Armin: That’s what I do with State of Trance now which is going very well. But yes when I’m in China I think maybe it’s a good idea to go on live stream. I heard it’s very different from Instagram and Youtube Live.

Lanty: What have you got coming up?

Armin: I’m always working on a lot. I’ve actually planned a lot of studio days in LA, secretly working on lots of new music behind the scenes, a big bunch of singles planned. I just found out I’ve been writing music in a studio for about 20 years, and I feel the need to get out of the studio and look for more exotic collaborations. Again no point to stress I’m not leaving trance or anything like that, I’m just experimenting as I go, trying to find some interesting combinations. different recording techniques, stuff that keeps the excitement for myself as well. thats the idea behind it.

Lanty: One more question—the one we all wanted to know—why were you crying at Untold Festival?

Armin: Huh here we go again! I can’t answer the question. It was emotional for me. My wife is expecting a third… no I’m kidding! which everybody is saying that but it’s not the truth. I was just emotional at the moment you know. If you’re playing in front of 62,000 people, and they’re staying there, like after 4 hours which is emotional.

I just think that it’s really ridiculous to find it normal that 62,000 people dancing to your music. Even after all these years I’ve been a top DJ and 5 times number 1 blah blah blah, its not normal. Its very very very special and i realise how lucky I am to be in front of those fans and that just got me really emotional. It’s just like I stood there and saw those people dancing and screaming my name with the T shirts on and flags. it’s not just 1,000 people its 62,000 people in front of you and its hard not to get emotional. I feel the love of Romanian trance family and I felt the love of Romanian fans, it’s just ridiculous really. People think that you’ve done it for so many years things will get normal, it’s not normal.

Lanty: Even for you? After you’ve been through everything?

Armin: It’s not normal and I just realise how lucky I am. I realise how lucky I am to be talking to you here right now and to be going to ultra china next week. It’s just awesome.

Armin，连续5年霸占DJ Mag Top100百大DJ榜首，乐迷眼中永远的“Trance之神”，荷兰DJ及音乐制作人Armin Van Buuren在粉丝心中的地位永远无人可撼动。

上周末在全英最大电子音乐节Creamfields，Armin与热音特派员Lanty坐下来畅谈了他对中国市场的憧憬，在罗马尼亚Untold音乐节舞台上潸然泪下的真实原因，以及最近发生的各类奇闻趣事。

Lanty：Armin你很快就要回中国演出了对吗？

Armin：没错 – Ultra China，好期待！

Lanty：有没有为中国的粉丝们准备一些特别的惊喜？

Armin：必须的，必须的！我最近发行了很多新音乐，上个星期推出了我的新合辑《A State of Trance Ibiza 2017》，CD1叫做《On The Beach》，当你在沙滩上双眼微闭斜躺着享受眼光的时候听再好不过。CD2叫做《In The Club》，当然如果你想在沙滩上听它也可以（笑）。它们就好像是我今年夏天主题曲一样，不仅有我自己的新音乐也有很多厂牌下艺人的作品。

我的新单曲《Sunny Days》也在全球热播，很快也会发一个remix合辑。我总是会想办法加入一些惊喜和新元素到我的set里。而且今年是Ultra首次登陆中国，现在中国的电子音乐市场发展的实在是太快啦！今年我还特别发现有很多中国乐迷来Ibiza看我的演出。前段时间我刚刚在上海和澳门举办了两场Armin Only，这两个城市给我的感觉都特别棒，台下观众们给我的反馈也是始料未及的。所以我觉得这两年中国市场对我来说壮大了很多，我觉得非常开心，因为其实私下里在我们荷兰电音圈乃至全球电音圈对中国的发起已经期待已久。而现在这个庞大的市场已经逐渐为我们打开。还有比这更好的吗？！

Lanty：跟我们聊聊你在Ibiza的驻场演出吧。今年是在全新装修过的Hï Ibiza对吗？

Armin：我已经在Ibiza当过15年的驻场DJ，但Hi对我来说是崭新的篇章。全新的风格，全新的制作，全新的art wrok。今年的两个舞台分别由我和Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano驻场，我们还特意为这次的合作写了一首叫做《We are》的新单曲。

当然我的主舞台就是比较偏Trance的风格，SJRM就是做他们擅长的Sexy By Nature风格。我觉得这样的搭配非常好。因为如果你不喜欢trance的话，可以去另一个舞台感受SJRM的音乐。不过基本上我们每场演出的两个舞台都是爆满，观众也充满热情。

Lanty：那来说说单曲背后的故事？

Armin：《We Are》跟我平时的风格有一些差距，因为Hï Ibiza对我来说是崭新的旅程，我想专门为它打造一首新歌。我和SJRM尝试着在我们之间的风格找到了一个中立点。这也和最近我与所有其他制作人的合作一样。Trance迷们不要担心，我绝对不会抛下你们，我有很多的Trance新单曲已经准备发行，新单《Sunny Days》就是其中之一。其实我是在大冬天里写的这首歌，因为实在是太期待夏天的艳阳高照啦！当时我就在想：“如果能给自己的夏天写一首主题曲应该挺酷的”。这首歌在世界各地的反响都挺不错，特别是在美国。其实知道自己在世界各地都有粉丝的感觉的确很棒！

Lanty：上次我们在Ibiza聊天的时候你告诉我了一个你的“秘密计划”——移动工作室。现在进行的怎样了？

Armin：我的A State of Trance（ASOT）工作室吗？我现在在阿姆斯特丹有一个固定的工作室，就是你每周能在我的ASOT电台节目上看到的那个。现在我们不光是有音频，还加入了live视频。然后我还有一个移动工作室，就是你之前和你提到的那个，在每一场大型现场演出的时候都会搭建起来。它还有个小名叫“The Dom”（笑）。现在是2017年，大家已经不满足于仅仅是“听”而更想同时“看”。现在你在每个星期的节目可以看到我mixing所有细节。这给我一个很大的震撼就是网络现在，就是我们现在正在对话的现在，正改变着全世界。

（秀后Marije de Konink（Armada厂牌）、Armin、Lanty与Nicole Hofman（Armada厂牌）。照片：Warren Simmens）

Lanty：聊到视频，我知道你现在每周也在做播客小视频对吗？

Armin：哈哈是的，你现在就在播客上呢！（指向相机）
我的播客现在做的挺不错的，上一集#11有大概60万左右的浏览吧，每一集点击率都在增加。感觉观众都听喜欢这种纪实性的播客，想要看看我每天不在舞台上的时候都在做些什么，有种窥视幕后的感觉吧。不过做网红的感觉也很不错呢！（笑）

Lanty：我觉得你下星期来中国的时候应该尝试一下直播，这才是中国当下最火的！

Armin：对，我的ASOT秀就是面向所有观众直播的。可能下周来Ultra China的时候我也会尝试一下在中国直播。听说跟Youtube和Instagram Live很不一样！

（Armin Vlog第12集有我们的访谈画面哦）

Lanty：接下来有什么计划呢？

Armin：其实我是一个100%工作狂，永远都有很多projects在进行着。我划出了很多时间准备呆在LA的录音棚进行制作，大把新音乐也在幕后秘密筹备中，好几支新单曲准备发行……然后就是之前提到的移动录音棚。我现在大部分时间都在路上巡演，现在的科技总算能够让我实现移动工作室的想法。以前我大部分时间都在家完成单曲的制作，但其实能在不同的环境下创造音乐其实是一件很有意思的事，而现在这可以是在世界各地任何一个角落。我发现我在过去的20年我都是在同一个封闭的小空间写歌，制作，现在我强烈的感觉到自己需要走出那个工作室，在世界各地寻找更富有异域风情的音乐人合作。上个月我在意大利和好几位鼎鼎有名的作曲人制作人一起“头脑风暴”，我们大概写出了8首单曲，有一些我觉得特别的棒。可能我们现在聊天的当下他们正在完成制作。

但是各位Trance迷们，真的不用紧张。我永远不会抛弃Trance！我只是制作音乐的旅程中不断实验，发掘一些有趣的元素将他们融合在一起，尝试更多不同的录音技巧，寻求一些能让我自己觉得兴奋新奇的东西。这才是我的初衷。

Lanty：最后一个问题，也是最近Trance迷们探讨最多的一个——为什么你在罗马尼亚Untold音乐节演出时会落泪？Alone

Armin：啊这个问题又来了（捂脸）。其实我没有办法好好回答这个问题，那是一个非常非常感性的瞬间。因为我和我老婆很快要生第三个孩子了！

（…………3秒钟后）

跟你开玩笑的！不过好像所有人都在报道这个消息，所以在这里我要澄清一下，这不是真的！

我觉得当时在舞台上那个瞬间就是特别让人特别感动吧。你为6万2千个乐迷放着音乐，而他们在你面前站着跳着足足4个小时……尽管这么多年来，大家说我是顶尖DJ，5年世界第一云云，但这一幕对我来说绝对不寻常。那一瞬间让我觉得自己非常幸运，看见自己的粉丝们跟着我挑选的曲目跳着舞，叫着我的名字，挥舞着手上的T恤和国旗。这可不是1000人，而是6万2000人呀！我是一个非常感性的人，让我看见这一幕还能噙住眼泪实在是太难了。我能强烈感受到我的罗马尼亚粉丝们和Trance Family对我的爱。可能很多人觉得这对我来说已经很寻常，但我告诉你，绝对不是。

Lanty：真的对你也不是吗？在你经历了这么多之后？

Armin：绝！对！不！是！那时我才感觉到自己有多幸运。就像现在，能再坐在这里和你聊天，下周还可以参演Ultra China，这该有多幸运？！简直太棒了！

2017年9月9-10日 Ultra China
Shanghai Expo Park

AMF Hardwell与Armin强强联手B2B
2017年10月21日 Amsterdam Arena

文字+访谈：Lanty
图片：Creamfields官方

The Chinese version of the interview can be found on Reyin App.