A few weeks ago a new king was crowned as DJ Armin Van Buuren took the title of the worlds #1 DJ from reigning champ Paul Van Dyk. Last week Armin released a new live album from Club Amnesia in Ibiza called Universal Religion which focuses on the Balearic trance sound that has made him so famous. MetroWize was lucky enough to be able to catch up with this incredibly busy DJ for an interview about his new album, being crowned as the new #1, his relationship with the other top jocks and his new year’s resolutions.

MW: First off, thanks for being with us. Can you tell us a little bit about the new album Universal Religion and what went in to the making of that?
Armin: Universal Religion is a live CD. It was recorded live from Amnesia in Ibiza in August. The idea behind it was to focus on the Balearic sound which really has inspired me. That Balearic sound is really missing in dance music a lot these days and it really creates a universal feeling because we all want to be at a party on the beach in Ibiza.
I actually hadn’t planned to record this CD… I was tired of hiring guys that were unprofessional who were recording my sets and asking for lots of money for it so I bought a set of microphones and a sound card and recorded my set and I broadcasted it on my radio show State of Trance. People were really excited about this set so we decided to make it into a CD release. It really is a live set. I knew the first 3 records but I didn’t know what was going to happen after that. We really made the decision to make it an album based on the success of the mix. The result was Universal Religion so there you have it.

MW: Congratulations on being voted the #1 dj in the world from DJ Mag. I know you have been in the top 10 now for the last 6 years running but how does it feel to be # 1 now?
Armin: Well you know it feels kind of surreal. It hasn’t really gotten through to me yet. It’s always been a dream to become #1 but it has never been a goal in and of itself. My goal is to just always play the music that I love, tour world and do what I like, but the fact that the people have voted me #1 means a lot to me.

MW: Do you have a personal relationship with the Tiesto’s and the Paul Van Dyk’s of the world and how do you guys interact with each other when it comes to that coveted top 10 list?
Armin: I wouldn’t say they are friends necessarily, I mean they are not coming over to dinner or anything but we are definitely all colleagues and there is a lot of mutual respect there. When we see each other we always hang out and have a beer but they are very busy like myself with their own careers. If you look at it from our perspective, I don’t speak for Tice (Tiesto) and Paul but I think we all want dance music to become bigger because it will draw more people and that’s good for the scene in general. Of course for the outside world there may be a little rivalry but that’s only in the ring if you compare it to like a boxing match. Outside of the ring were all just good friends and were all big fans of dance music and trying to make that bigger.

MW: Your radio show State of Trance goes out every week on over 40 different channels in 20 different countries to 2.5 million listeners and you DJ on it every week. How does that play in to who you are as a dj?
Armin: I have been doing it myself for 7 years and my radio show I think in many aspects is the center of what I do right now. Everything I do starts from my radio show. 7 Years ago this kind of thing did not exist and I always had a dream of having my own radio show because I have always been fascinated with the radio as a medium... I never expected that my show would get this big, but now the show gets so much attention, I just think it is great for the scene and I can’t imagine not doing it.

MW: Any New Years Resolutions for 2008?
Armin: Finish my album! (chuckles). Seriously though I have been working so hard with my music and touring that I haven’t had a chance to just enjoy life. I think my news resolution is to give my self some time off and relax.

MW: Do you have a favorite city to play in?
Armin: No, actually I don’t. There are so many great places to play. Trance is a universal sound and I have as much fun playing to the Jews in Israel as I do playing for the Arabs in Lebanon. It’s the same music man and this is a Universal Religion.

Click here to listen and/or buy to Universal Religion from Ultra Records.