Gaia is the trance-purist side project of Armin van Buuren and longtime studio collaborator Benno de Goeij. The Gaia name first appeared on Armin's catalogue at the turn of the 2000s and has since served as the dedicated outlet for the duo's longer-form progressive and uplifting trance material — the kind of patient, breakdown-led architecture that sits a step away from the more pop-leaning singles released under the main Armin van Buuren name.
The signature Gaia tracks — "Tuvan" (2009), "Empire of Hearts" (2014), "Stellar" (2016) — became fixtures of the A State of Trance live circuit, and the project's first full-length studio album "Moons of Jupiter" arrived in 2019 with twenty-one tracks each named after a moon of Jupiter. Live Gaia performances place Armin and Benno on stage together, and the project remains an active editorial home within Armin's broader Armind / Armada output for material that prioritises trance craft over crossover format.
Sound Style
Long-form progressive and uplifting trance — extended breakdown architecture, slow-build melodic structure, and the kind of patient arrangement craft that distinguishes the Gaia catalogue from the more pop-leaning material released under the main Armin van Buuren name.