The Dutch DJ reveals the risks he took to deliver the majestic spectacle at his “Embrace” World Tour in Singapore
By Cassandra Lim and Pamela Chow. Photos: Colossal Photos
They say the universe has a wicked sense of humour, and the weather reeled its mischievous head on April Fools’ Day. The rain poured outside as we met with Armin van Buuren minutes before his show.
“I’m super excited to bring the show to Singapore, although the weather is not really helping us,” the Dutch DJ remarked candidly. Mere moments before the curtains opened, the clouds decided to call it a day, leaving him a muddy concert floor at the Gardens by the Bay.
But the trance musician turned it around with a grand spectacle of stunts, theatrics and action that blew some 7,500 fans away, showing up his previous smaller sets at local clubs here.
We learned what it took for Armin to unplug his set and turn it into a dramatic five hour-long parade.
How did this experimentation influence “Embrace”, your album?
The idea behind the album “Embrace” was to literally embrace different styles of music into my trance style.
I did it quite literally, for example, by involving Kensington in the track, “Heading Up High”. The ambition was to involve the entire band in a song.
Working with Kensington was a life-changing experience, because they use so many different techniques to record their sounds. I felt inspired by these people.
It’s really funny how after 20 years being a producer, I found out that I actually know so little about producing music.
What were some difficulties you’ve faced along this path?
I know I will lose some fans along the way — this is a difficult process for me, but I have to [do it].
I’m not saying you have to like everything I do; I’m just saying that, from a personal point of view, I feel the need to go that way because I need to do other stuff to make it exciting for myself.
To you, what have been some of the biggest changes in the trance music scene?
Trance is not just one genre anymore. Some of the new producer guys are really moving forward with their unique sounds, and hate them or love them, you cannot deny they bring something new to the table.
I think some of the trance scenes went through a bit of an identity crisis because people felt the need to say, “We are trance” or “This is trance”. We should be talking about, “This music touches me emotionally” or “I love the energy in this track”.
I think the scene needs a little more love in that way. At the end of the day, you are dancing to the beat, and that’s what we want.
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