When you talk about trance music, among the names that immediately come to mind are Paul van Dyk and Armin van Buuren. For those who don’t know diddly squat about trance and electronic music, these guys are two of the most prominent DJs in that genre, and both with a solid following in the dance music crowd. Both DJs are in the top five of DJ Magazine’s Top 100 DJs list.
Armin van Buuren is a Netherlands-born trance music DJ and producer who grew up in a Dutch province in South Holland. He started out in the music industry by disc jockeying at a local night club in Leiden, Netherlands, where he learned to play long sets which usually lasted six to seven hours each. He had his own studio wherein he produced tracks like “Communication” and “Touch Me.”
Armin met Dave Lewis in 1999, and it was Lewis who introduced him as a DJ in the US and in England. He first got attention as a DJ when he made it to DJ Magazine’s Top 100 DJ’s list in November 2001, where he snagged the 27th spot. Buuren describes his music and style as euphoric, liberating, and energetic, and refuses to subscribe to one specific musical style. His experimental ways in creating and mixing music is perhaps what eventually earned him the number one spot in DJ Magazine’s Top 100 in 2007.
Paul Van Dyk was born in Brandenburg, East Germany, and was ranked fourth in DJ Magazine’s Top 100 list in 2007. Like Buuren, Dyk is also a DJ and producer. In 1991, he landed his first gig as a DJ in Tresor, an underground night club in Germany. Not long after, he scored a performance at a local club alongside a very popular local DJ named DJ Kid Paul. Van Dyk’s performances at the Paul vs. Paul shows caught the attention of electronic artist Cosmic Baby, and the two collaborated in making the single “Perfect Day” in 1992. Since then, Van Dyk has collaborated with artists like New Order and David Byrne. His 2003 album Reflections got a Grammy nomination for Best Electronic Album.