5. Your live sets and ASOT radio show has grown so diverse, all the genres of EDM can be found from minimal to house, why has this evolution occurred ?

Armin van Buuren: I DJ for the crowd, not for myself, if it was for me the music would be real ambient, weird sounding. These track lists are for the crowd. I want to make sure the people are dancing and into the music, sometimes you have to play a track that?s different, so the crowd doesn?t get bored and the energy level stays high. DJs have to take risks sometimes and that can mean playing new stuff, or different types like a minimal sound or a Dubfire track. It?s all about the energy in the club; I have to work for them. I read reviews on forums and people?s comments on the track lists and I don?t feel just by reading that list you can get a feel for what is was like to be there or why I played that track at that moment. That?s what people have to understand, a DJ has to do what?s right at that moment, to make the people dance. I?m very open-minded about music. The trance people on the forums have to understand that trance is not a static phenomenon, it?s something that moves and changes, it?s very dynamic. When I look at Beatport and they classify a song as electro or minimal, who decided that, why can?t it be trance. If the song rocks a crowd, if it make?s the dance floor move, then that?s what counts, not what style it is.

6. So did I catch you saying you check out the message boards ?

Armin van Buuren: No, (he says laughing), I have an assistant who looks at them, especially after the radios show, to see what tracks were well liked. I don?t mind the constructive criticism on the boards, on the radio show we are just testing out tracks, on the forums we find out which one?s people like. The best is when I play a track the first time and they don?t like it, but then by second and third they start to really get it and enjoy it. If the forums are used to discuss which tracks are good, then it can be really useful. The boards like trance.nu, tranceaddict, uktrancealliance, are great for music; they spread the word about the radio shows, the gigs, and releases.

7. It seems as if every trance DJ now has a radio show because of ASOT, what is that like ?

Armin van Buuren: I find it flattering, I don?t think club DJ?s always realized the importance of radio, When I was growing up I hated my parents, I had long hair, a typical kid, and I would ride my bicycle and listen to the radio. Dutch radio in the early 90?s had some shows that were playing EDM, or ?house? as it was called it then. I always said to myself when I was riding to school I want to start my own radio show if I ever get the chance one day. When the people at Radio 538 gave me the opportunity, I think ASOT 1 was on June 1st, I thought ok it would just be one show or something like that; it was just in Dutch at the beginning. I never realized it would get this big; something like over 3 million people or more come to listen. When it started some kids began to stream it over the internet, then I heard it was on this web site or that site and it just kept on spreading and getting bigger. I really knew it was big when I did the show, I think ASOT 30, on a Thursday and then on that Saturday I was playing a set in New Zealand and some kids were holding up signs with the names of tracks that I had just debut on that past radio show, it was crazy. The power of the internet to spread the show and with the DI.FM deal we just grew so much. That?s what this all about, right, sharing great tracks, making people happy, and if all these radio shows are sharing all this great music then everyone is happy. The competition keeps me fresh and makes the people get what they want.

8. Explain how Universal Religion Chapter 3 (or ?Universal Religion 2008? in the USA) Live from Armada at Ibiza came about.