Can Armin van Buuren get any bigger? After years of rising to fame in Europe, Armin now takes the US by storm. From playing arenas for his Armin Only tour to being nominated for Grammys, his career does not seem to be slowing down. In a recent interview with Digital Spy, the now #2 DJ in the world (according to DJ Mag) delved into recent developments and opinions.
Armin recently partnered with Heineken for a campaign titled “Dance More, Drink Slow.” This effort emphasizes responsible drinking in order to not only promote safety but to also encourage people to enjoy themselves and drink less (which may seem a bit odd coming from a beer company). An experiment conducted by Heineken compared two nights in the same Miami club, with the independent factor being the DJ. The experiment shows that club-goers bought 632 drinks on the night Armin played compared to the 1078 drinks purchased on the night of the unnamed DJ. To endorse the effort, Armin has reintroduced his appropriately titled “Save My Night” single.
In a more revealing piece of the interview, Armin stated his criticisms of pop edm:
On a very personal level I don’t know if I’m happy with every commercial collaboration between electronic dance music acts and hip-hop and R&B. It’s not something I would put on for my enjoyment. It’s not going to go away, whether I like it or not. It opens a lot of doors. For example, you can love or hate David Guetta, but the fact is that he has opened a lot of doors for all of us.
Armin balances his critique by citing the success of pop edm in exposing electronic music to more people. Nonetheless, Armin seems to align with many people in his dislike of commercial edm. Numerous trance purists denounced Armin after releasing “This Is What It Feels Like” and joining the Jingle Ball tour. Given his other releases and efforts, it is apparent Armin aims to find a middle-ground between experimenting, “selling-out,” and remaining the same artist. Armin clearly wishes for more forms of edm to become popular; he even compares the rise of the genre to the British Invasion of the 60’s:
I think when we look back at history, at this time, I think we will see that it is like what happened with The Beatles in the ’60s. It’s happening again with electronic music
While some of his newer material may not be purely trance, the dutch producer definitely intends to remain dynamic. Armin represents a very beneficial force in the edm world. By easing the transition of listeners from pop edm to trance, Armin accomplishes more than what most artists only dream to achieve.
Check out his new single below:
Interview source: Digital Spy
Photo Credit: The Heineken Company
This article was written by: Follow @codethsmithy
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