Having only recently wrapped up the A State Of Trance 550 tour, trance don Armin van Buuren isn’t looking at any downtime in the foreseeable future. Down the line from Mexico last week, the Dutchman told inthemix all about his full slate: a rapidly-evolving new album, a summer season at Privilege in Ibiza (he’s playing every week, except on his daughter’s birthday), a string of festivals in the months ahead, and of course his role at the helm of the A State Of Trance empire.
Already the petitions have started from fans hoping that the ASOT 600 celebrations will visit their hometown in 2013, and both Sydney and Melbourne are among the hopefuls. Naturally, we asked Armin if there’s any hope for the tour to make the long haul down here.
“At the moment, nothing’s decided, but I’ll have to give you a bit less hope, actually,” he said (cue the deflated sighs from his Australian followers). “I am a firm believer in not over-exposing myself. I will do less A State Of Trance gigs next year. I’ll tell you why: I think it’s essential that I actually do what I talk about. I always say I want to promote new talent, and with ASOT I am doing that. It’s essential that I reach crowds all over the world and get them to join a global trance family. I want to try new territories every year.”
The DJ admitted the barracking is already heading towards fever pitch. “With the campaigning that’s currently going on, it’s getting really ridiculous already,” he went on. “I have to be really careful with this responsibility to not just promote Armin van Buuren or Armada artists, but see it as a chance to bring trance to new people. It’s not about cashing in on a quick ticket sale. I want to make a statement with that. So to answer your question, I want to go to countries where I know the clubber can get value for money. Given all these festivals around and the ridiculous amounts of money that the promoters ask, this is something I want to work.” Well…he didn’t give a flat-out “no”, did he?