Armin van Buuren: "It's A Really Exciting Time For Electronic Music"

We caught up with Armin van Buuren at Ultra Music Festival and discussed what Ultra means to him, his Gryffin collab, where the scene is heading, and more!

Armin van Buuren has long been hailed as one of the world’s most influential DJs and producers since launching onto the scene three decades ago. Renowned for his euphoric trance anthems and infectious energy behind the decks, Armin has built a devoted following as he continues to push boundaries. He’s evolved from his early days as a trance pioneer to embracing modern trends, all while staying true to his identity as an artist.

Armin’s journey has been impressive to watch as he continues to captivate audiences worldwide. He ushered in 2024 with his ninth studio album, Breathe In, an homage to his roots that explores pop and newer sounds among classic trance. He remains at the helm of his radio show, A State of Trance, and of the Armada Music imprint. Amid a whirlwind of festival sets at Tomorrowland Winter, Ultra Australia, Ultra Music Festival, and others, he prioritizes his family and mental health above all.

Armin’s relentless dedication to his craft got him to where he is today, and he shows no signs of slowing down. With each performance, he reaffirms his status as not just a DJ, but a beacon of passion, innovation, and unity in the global dance music community.

We couldn’t think of a better time to catch up with this legend. Sitting down with him at Ultra Music Festival this year, we got the lowdown on his standout Ultra moments, his demanding schedule, his new collaboration with Gryffin, where he sees the scene heading, and much more. Check it out below!

Stream Armin van Buuren, Gryffin – “What Took You So Long” on Spotify

Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us today! We always look forward to your sets at Ultra; you’re no stranger to the festival. What is your favorite part about coming back?

I love Miami, but I particularly love the fact that this has always traditionally been the start of summer, and it has always been an ID fest. I just spoke to David Guetta, and he said this is where fans expect you to play your new tracks and really hype up the crowd with the sound of your year. A lot of DJs take time off in January/February because it’s winter, and they make a lot of new music, so this is the time to come out and premiere the new songs.

Do you have a favorite year of Ultra or a favorite set that comes to mind?

Oh, there are so many. Well, I’m very fortunate that I have my own stage here, A State of Trance, and I’ve had a lot of memorable moments. We’ve done a lot of live broadcasts from the Worldwide stage; I think we’ve done it for 11 or 12 years, so we’ve been a big part of the history of Ultra. We’ve had some amazing lineups, including Eric Prydz on stage, deadmau5 on stage. On the Mainstage, I remember premiering “Blah Blah Blah” in 2018; I literally had just finished it on my laptop. I played it here, and it became one of the big smashes for me. There are so many tracks I played here for the first time at Ultra Music Festival.

Oh wow! That really is an iconic track. We were a little bummed on Friday because two of your sets were unfortunately canceled because of the weather. Do you have any plans for a makeup set with Oliver Heldens or your ASOT set?

If there’s a promoter or anybody who wants to pick it up [laughs]. Oliver and I spent so many days in the studio making mashups. We have two new songs that we both wanted to play, but we couldn’t because of the weather and, trust me, I was really angry when I got back to my hotel room. Then, I thought, “I’m not going to do a rant on Twitter or on Instagram because it’s a higher power.” So, we cry, we move on, and fortunately, I have my Mainstage set, and I’m sure I’m going to do another back-to-back with Oliver, preferably at Ultra.

We’re keeping our fingers crossed for next year.

Exactly.

You are a very busy man – you just came from Tomorrowland Winter in France, you’re traveling to all these festivals, running your radio show, and releasing your latest album, among many other things. How do you find the time to recharge in between all of this?

I actually don’t DJ as much as I used to. I used to do 130 gigs a year, which is way too much for me. I spend a lot of time with my family now. I’m a dad, married happily with two kids, 12 and 10, who deserve a dad. My priority is my family. All the other time that I have, I spend with my studio mates. I’m in the studio, being creative, and making the radio show. I want to give a shout out to my team, because I have such a wonderful team of people helping me out everyday – helping me with the radio show, helping me with the productions, the planning, and everything. That makes my life so much easier.

You are constantly creating new sounds, and fans love seeing what you come up with next. Do you have any driving factors behind what you want to create?

I think there’s two things that are important. First of all is my own identity, so I have a sound that I’m super proud of. Everything has to fit in my sound – that’s rule number one. Rule number two is I want to see what’s going on; I don’t want to create music that doesn’t reflect with people. People have to like what I do. So, I try to follow the trends a little bit without losing my identity. It’s good to have an open mind to the new sounds that are happening.

Right now, high BPMs are in fashion again. My new single with Gryffin is 140 BPM, which is pretty crazy, and I’m super proud of that one. It’s so great to see the love from the fans for that. It feels like trance music is making a big comeback right now with the melodies. Honestly, for me, this is probably the best time because I’ve always been following trance music. For a long time it wasn’t the most popular sound, but it seems to be completely coming back right now.

It definitely feels like we’re entering another golden era of dance music.

Absolutely!

Speaking of the collab with Gryffin, I saw that he posted on social media about how it all came together, and I wanted to hear your side of the story.

I’ve actually known Gryffin. I follow him as an artist, I know his tracks, and he’s super popular in the US. Through mutual friends and publishers, we actually met at a writing session this past November in LA, and the magic happened.

We were in the studio with Toby Gad, who you may know from John Legend’s “All of Me.” We were with Jake Torrey, who is an amazing writer; he co-wrote a couple of the Calvin Harris hits. We were also with Madison Love, who is an amazing vocalist and writer. She did this demo vocal which was so great that we actually kept it on.

The magic happened, and I think during that session, which was about four or five hours, we recorded the entire thing. On my laptop, I had actually finished the production already; I went back to my studio in the Netherlands, bounced back and forth with Gryffin who did his share, and then we finished the master. The result is “What Took You So Long.”

Oh, wow! That came together so quickly. We’re loving the result. Circling back to trends in the scene, since you’ve been in this industry for a while now, where do you see the scene heading? Have you noticed any other emerging trends?

Well, in general, I think you can say dance music is here to stay. I remember when I started as a DJ, one of the most asked questions was, “how long do you think this house music thing will be around?” I think it’s now fair to say most of the popular music you hear on the radio today has an electronic background in production. Whether it’s in Pro Tools, LogicPro, Ableton or whatever, dance music is here to say.

What I love right now is that it’s possible to play various styles. If you hear the Mainstage, you hear people play everything from house to tech house, trance, and techno – everything is possible. A couple years ago, people were like, “oh I only like techno” or “I only like tech house” or melodic house, or whatever. Now, it seems that everything is possible. It feels like everyone is more receptive ever since COVID passed and higher BPMs are allowed.

It’s an exciting time because it feels like new genres are being born, because so many more people are receptive to it in a way. You kind of had dubstep for a little bit, and that was its own scene; you had drum and bass, that was its own scene. Now, you have this new sound called phonk, which basically combines all those sounds together, like ’90s Memphis hip-hop with trip-hop and drum and bass. It’s exciting. I think it’s a really exciting time for electronic music.

Coming down to our final question, you’re headlining Seismic Dance Event this May, a festival known for its house and techno. What does it mean to you to be taking the stage at an event where people may not have expected to see you, and potentially reaching a new audience there?

Well, I was just touching on what’s happening now with [evolving] sounds and genres, and this is another example of that. A lot of people may know me as a mainstream DJ, but you know I come from trance. So, for me, it’s very easy to adapt without losing my core sound to the more underground sound, because for years I’ve been playing smaller clubs in the US, playing nothing but 138 trance. I’m super excited to play that festival because it gives me the opportunity to show a different side of myself without alienating my fans.