Armin van Buuren played his marathon 6 hour solo DJ set Armin Only in Mumbai recently. He has won a number of accolades, including the number one spot on DJ Magazine's Top 100 DJs fan poll five times. We caught up with the 37 year old Dutch DJ and producer hours before he could set the floor on fire.

What is the Armin Only Show all about?

There are loads of special effects and surprises in an Armin Only show. It is all based around my last album Intense. So you are going to hear every track from the album, but in a completely different way. You might hear the original version or a remix, you might hear the vocalist live. I have brought six singers here with me to India. I have brought four dancers, two acrobats, a full band – that means a drummer, guitar player and bass player. I have brought a full team of visual specialists from the Netherlands who I think are the best in the world, because I haven’t seen visuals done like that anywhere else in the world.

Why then is the show called Armin Only when you have a large group performing with you?

(Laughs) The show is called Armin Only because van Buuren is the only DJ who will be performing during the show. The performers who back me are only my team of thirty and an arsenal of musicians who play different musical instruments.

Is your set similar to what you do abroad, or do you plan a show specially for each country?

Every Armin Only show that I do around the world is a unique set, it’s not pre-programmed. It’s always different, I look at the crowd and then I decide how to go. It makes it very interesting for me, because I have all these options. I did a lot of research with the Indian fans to see what they would want me to play tonight. I’m not going to play exactly what they expect me to play of course, I’m not a jukebox. But I like to please my fans a little bit. For now the easiest thing would be to grab my USB key and download the Beatport Top 20 and play all the main stages around the world. But that wouldn’t be very creatively inspiring now, would it? So that’s why I’m here and that’s why I’m doing the Armin Only show, it’s a next level thing for me.

How do you choose your vocalists for your show and also for your music videos?

We have a lot of auditions from time to time so I see what song can fit with a certain voice and that’s how I come to the conclusion that maybe this singer would fit this song.

Any unknown facts you’d like to share with us on your stage show?

There’s a lot actually. We’ve written specific software that makes it possible for the people in my team to see what track I’m playing. For example, I might look at the crowd and decide that this is a good moment to play This Is What It Feels Like. As soon as I select a track, the front of the house and backstage will see that I selected that track.

You have also been nominated (also nominated are Duke Dumont Featuring A*M*E & MNEK; Calvin Harris featuring Florence Welch; Kaskade and Zedd featuring Foxes) for a Grammy this year in the Best Dance Recording. What are your chances of winning a Grammy?

The plan to perform at Sunburn happened six months ago and then I got nominated for the Grammys which was quite unplanned. The nominations happened in December. I did not want to miss the Grammy award ceremony. I do hope to be in time for the Grammys award ceremony. John Lennon had once said – "Life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans." That is what it is. You think you have perfectly planned life and then suddenly you are nominated for the Grammys, and the same week you are in India too.

We asked if you had any chances of winning the Grammy award?

I am very excited about the Grammys but I do not have high hopes of winning. There are five great records nominated in the category. So I have a 20 per cent chance of winning, which is a very big chance and also barely a chance. It is a huge thing to get nominated. In America, Grammy nomination is given high regard. Music is not a competition, but a Grammy is the only thing that I am dreaming about I guess. The only award I really want to win.

Armin Only concert concert was held on January 24 at NSCI in Mumbai.

Interviewed by Verus Ferreira