Armin van Buuren
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Armin van Buuren (born Leiden, December 25, 1976) is a trance music producer. He was born in Leiden, Netherlands, but who grew up in Koudekerk aan den Rijn. In 2007, he was voted number one DJ in DJ Mag's annual Top 100 vote.[1]

Biography
Armin van Buuren pursued his career as a professional musician despite the promise of a career in law in his native country, the Netherlands, where he completed his law degree in 2004. Armin started working as a DJ in a local night club called Nexus, finished high school in 1995 and went on to university to study law.[2] Meanwhile, he moved his studio equipment from his bedroom to a 'real' studio.[2] The first tracks he produced in his new studio were, among others, tracks like "Touch Me" and "Communication".[2] Van Buuren has been quoted as saying, "Don't be a prisoner of your own style."[2] He has described his musical style as "liberating, euphoric, uplifting, melodic and energetic."

He hosts a weekly radio show A State of Trance, which mostly consist of electro and other genres, rather than trance. The show completed its 350th episode in May 2008, running for over 7 years.

In October 2002, van Buuren was voted Number 5 in the DJ Magazine 100 top DJs. The following year, he jumped up to the #3 spot, and held 3rd place for the next 3 years. His work left him at the #2 spot, just below Paul van Dyk in the 2006 polls, and in 2007 Armin reached Number 1, heading the 2007 DJ Mag Top 100.

As a producer
Van Buuren has always had his own studio and works alone the majority of the time. He has never employed an engineer, claiming he does not want the music to be altered by an engineer.[2]

Since 1995, van Buuren has released many tracks on different labels with increasing success. His first big success was "Blue Fear" on Cyber Records at the tender age of 19. This 'Euro Trance blueprint' made it into the UK Chart. "Communication" was released on the same label, and had a huge impact on Ibiza, Spain in the summer of 1999. After being signed to AM PM Records, this track entered the UK Chart at #18 in 2000.

In the beginning of 1999, van Buuren started his label Armind together with United Recordings. The first release, Gig - "One", was well received. The second release "Touch Me", under the name Rising Star was signed to Ministry Of Sound in the UK, before the record was released.

By the time of his third release, Gimmick - "Free" was signed to R&S Records, van Buuren had managed to make his label popular very quickly. Under the surname Gaia he released "4 Elements" on Captivating Sounds, a sub-label of Warner Brothers. Teaming up with DJ Tiësto, two new projects were born: Major League - "Wonder Where You Are?" was released on Blackhole and Alibi - "Eternity" was released on Armind. "Eternity" received club and chart success and was signed to Paul van Dyk's imprint Vandit Records. Another major collaboration followed this. Together with Ferry Corsten, van Buuren recorded a riff-classic titled "Exhale" for the System F. album. Released as a single, this track reached gold status in less than a month.

In 2000 van Buuren started his own AVB compilation series. He managed to find a balance between progressive, techno and trance music styles. AVB001 - "A State of Trance" (not to be confused with his weekly ASOT radio shows) sold more than 10,000 copies and contains van Buuren's well known remix of Mogwai - "Viola." AVB002 "Basic Instinct" featured a new track: Perpetuous Dreamer - "The Sound Of Goodbye". This track entered the Dutch charts in June 2001 at number 26. Later in the year the track hit #1 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. AVB003 - "In Motion" was released August 6th 2001. This album contained the real trance sound and was very popular in the US. AVB004 - "Transparance" followed in 2002.

In March 2001 van Buuren started his own radio show on ID&T Radio. In this weekly two-hour show, entitled 'A State of Trance', he plays the latest popular trance music tracks. His show and the artists he features are popularized by publishing the artists and track titles on his website. This radio-show/website combination has proven popular internationally. When ID&T Radio changed genres in 2004, van Buuren left and took A State of Trance with him. The show then moved to Fresh FM, a Dutch radio station. It is now a weekly feature on SLAM!FM, another Dutch radio station, DI.FM, an online radio station, and on XM Satellite Radio channel 82 in the United States and Canada. A complete list of stations that broadcast ASOT can be found at the ASOT section of Armins website. Also in 2004, van Buuren remixed the 24 Theme into a trance hit. In June 2005, the 200th episode was celebrated in Amsterdam and subsequently aired on radio. The 250th (8 hour) anniversary episode was celebrated in Club Asta in The Hague, The Netherlands, featuring van Buuren, Jonas Steur, M.I.K.E., John Askew, Rank 1 and Menno De Jong.

On May 17, 2007, van Buuren began broadcasting the first of a two part series of what would become his 300th episode of A State of Trance.

He has also worked on remix projects involving tracks by Japanese superstar Ayumi Hamasaki.

Aliases: Amsterdance, Armania, Darkstar, E=mc², Electrix, El Guitaro, Gaia, Gimmick, Hyperdrive Inc., Major League, Misteri A, Perpetuous Dreamer, Problem Boy, Rising Star, The Shoeshine Factory.

As a performer

Van Buuren began his DJ career at club Nexus in Leiden, where he learned to play long DJ sets, which were regularly six to seven hours per set.[2] During school holidays he played more than four times a week. In 1999, he met Dave Lewis who introduced him as a DJ in England and the United States.[2] His DJ career accelerated, entering the DJ magazine Top-100 in November of 2001 at Number 27.[2] He has played in more than 25 different countries and can often be found on the main stage at big summer festivals. Van Buuren has played a record-breaking nine-hour set for Dancetheater in The Hague (Holland). In the United Kingdom one can see him perform regularly at Passion (resident 2002), Godskitchen, Gatecrasher, Slinky, Peach and Golden.

In 2002 he had a residency at Glow in Washington D.C.,[2] and he has played in Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, Austin, Denver, New York City, Los Angeles, Istanbul, and St. Louis. He has also regularly appeared at Amnesia on the island of Ibiza.

According to van Buuren, "The fans and the public are the most important thing for a DJ."[2]

On April 12th of 2006, van Buuren began a Canadian tour with a performance in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Despite a Wednesday booking, the venue was filled to capacity. Throughout his set, van Buuren could be seen signing autographs for his fans.

On November 11, 2006 he had a live performance called Armin Only in Ahoy Rotterdam for the second time (after Nov 12, 2005) with a 9 hour solo set, where he performed to over 11,000 fans.

In the summer of 2007, van Buuren recorded and released a live set at Amnesia, Ibiza. "Universal Religion 2008" was released as a mix compilation on Ultra Records on December 4th 2007.

On January 12th, 2008, van Buuren was given the “Buma Cultuur Pop Award”, the most prestigious Dutch music award.

Tracklist

Hour 1 - DJ Shah
08. Motorcycle - As The Rush Comes (Gabriel & Dresden Sweeping Strings Remix)

Hour 2 - M.I.K.E.
01. Delirium - Silence (Niels Van Gogh vs. Thomas Gold Mix)
03. Andrew Bennett pres. Memento - No Escape
10. Push - Trance Indicator

Hour 3 - John O'Callaghan
02. Ronski Speed feat. Aruna - All The Way
04. Mr Sam vs. Human Resource - Dominator
07. Veracocha - Carte Blanche (Cosmic Gate Remix)
09. Inertia - The System
10. Sia - The Girl You Lost To Cocaine (John O'Callaghan Rework)

Hour 4 - Aly & Fila
10. Rapid Eye - Circa Forever (Aly & Fila Rework)

Hour 5 - Nic Chagall
09. Vincent De Moor - Fly Away (Cosmic Gate Remix)

Hour 6 & 7 - Armin van Buuren
02. Saltwater - The Legacy (Inpetto Remix)
16. Binary Finary - 1998 (Binary's Finality Mix)
19. Signum - The Timelord [Classic Of The Week]
20. Push - Universal Nation

Hour 8 - Markus Schulz
02. Three Drives - Greece 2000 (Remix)
07. Cressida - 6am (Kyau & Albert Remix)