Aaron Hibell is on a meteoric rise in 2026, hot off the release of his debut album and corresponding tour. During Tomorrowland 2026, Aaron played one of his biggest shows yet, taking the decks of the legendary Freedom Stage during Weekend 2. You can watch the set below. We caught up with Aaron right after his set to talk about it, his influences, the direction of his sound, and so much more. Read on below!
EDMTunes: This is Scott here with EDMTunes, and we are here with Aaron Hibell show just played the Freedom Stage at Tomorrowland 2026 Weekend 2. How does it feel?
Aaron Hibell: It feels great, man. It was a great stage. It’s good to be back at Tomorrowland again to test out some new tunes. I was pretty pleased with “Hotline.”
EDMTunes: Short story, my first time seeing you live was here last year, and it was one of the brightest points of the festival. You played at the Atmosphere stage and had a rip-roaring set that had everyone going crazy. What was it like going from the Atmosphere stage to one of the larger stages at the festival, the Freedom Stage, in 2026?
Aaron Hibell: It was great, man. It was so cool to see it so packed at 3:00 PM. That was a really cool thing to see—so many people showing up for the set who are curious to see the sound I’m bringing to my DJ sets.
EDMTunes: Awesome. One thing I want to ask you about is your very unique sound. There’s a combination of trance, techno, hard techno, and movie score-type sounds. Describe your sound to me.
Aaron Hibell: I’m a producer at heart, first and foremost. I love composing. For me, whatever I make doesn’t really depend on the genre; it matters more about the emotion and the feeling behind it. That’s the most important thing for me. Sometimes I like to take that emotion into a certain style of track. For example, if I do a hard techno track with Sarah Landry, or something a bit more downtempo and housey with Alex Wann like “Set Me Free.” I just think I’m inspired by music that makes you feel something.
EDMTunes: Excellent. How do you combine those different sounds between the atmospheric highs and the more emotional/cerebral lows? How do you mix it all together to create a set?
Aaron Hibell: I’d say having contrast is definitely one of the hardest parts about making the music I make. If you have the whole set just be super high and euphoric, after a while it won’t hit the same; you’ll get sick of it. You have to have the peaks and troughs—the troughs make the peaks even higher. It’s about balancing that in a full set and having an arc towards the end, which is really difficult to do in one hour. I was cut to one hour today, which was frustrating, but I still think I achieved that journey. I much prefer longer sets, though, because it allows me to really build a journey.
EDMTunes: Absolutely. As somebody who’s on the bleeding edge of the evolution of trance, techno, and those types of sounds, where do you think they are going? What do you think is happening in terms of those genres blending, merging, and how they play together?
Aaron Hibell: It’s a good question. I think we’re in a transition phase right now. In terms of trends, I’m not really too bothered about what feels trendy. I’m more bothered about what feels fresh to me. Obviously, the scene right now is going in a more minimal direction. For the most part, I’d say my sound is much more maximalist. I think just being unique and original is the one thing that will set you apart from everything. Granted, there are going to be people who jump on trends and follow them, but I prefer to just do my own thing.
EDMTunes: Another thing that I find unique about you is that you draw a lot of inspiration from movie soundtracks—Hans Zimmer’s Interstellar, for example. So, I have to ask you, have you seen The Odyssey? And did it give you any inspiration for something that might be coming next?
Aaron Hibell: I have seen The Odyssey. I saw it when it came out in 70mm, and it was fantastic. From a scoring point of view, it was interesting because they composed it from the perspective that the orchestra hadn’t been invented yet, so they used tribal instruments. It was really interesting how it was done. For me, the motif was pretty harrowing and somber in tone, which was really cool and fit the vibe and feeling of the movie. There were some points where there was a lot of emotion, and I feel like adding some more harmony to it could have really brought it out, but that’s just my opinion. I love harmony!
EDMTunes: Absolutely.
Aaron Hibell: I thought The Odyssey was great. Films of that nature are always very inspiring.
EDMTunes: Speaking of melody—which is a big thing for you—a lot of people initially came to your music through “Set Me Free.” Most people’s first version of that was hearing it on the Ultra after-movie, which was the Afro House version with Alex Wann. Tell me about how you can live in that world of chill daytime vibes and then also have that sound evolve into an anthemic, atmospheric techno sound.
Aaron Hibell: I think for me, it’s pretty simple. People are attracted to my music for the atmospheric and emotional quality to it, and I think I can translate that onto different genres. Each genre has a way of being dark, moody, and aggressive, but also really uplifting as well. What I find interesting is exploring that in different genres.
EDMTunes: Awesome. I want to talk about your album, Synchronicity. You previewed it with this incredible performance at an abandoned power plant. Tell me about how that sense of place and beautiful nature inspires your music, and how that relates to the album.
Aaron Hibell: Synchronicity is kind of all about letting life flow from you rather than forcing a path which isn’t meant to be forced. It’s all about tuning into the world, and I tune into the world a lot with nature. That’s what really inspires my sound a lot, and that’s how it all links together, to be honest.
EDMTunes: How was it working in the world of Amelie Lens’ EXHALE? That’s where you played last year at the harder end of techno. How do you bring emotion and melody back into that? There’s definitely a school of thought where they just keep going harder and harder, and the emotion and melody get drowned out. Do you think it’s important to maintain that?
Aaron Hibell: I think there’s a time and place for every style of music. I thoroughly enjoy Amelie’s sets; I thoroughly enjoy Sarah’s sets. I just try to put my unique take on that sort of style, really. It’s as simple as that.
EDMTunes: When you took Synchronicity on tour, you debuted a brand new live show, which was outstanding. Tell me about the difference between doing a live show versus a DJ set.
Aaron Hibell: With DJing, I feel like the vibe is more like a party. The beat doesn’t stop as much, and you don’t really talk that much on the microphone. It’s more about the transitions and keeping the flow consistent. For me, a DJ set is really about curating a vibe. A live show, however, is more like a concert experience. There are ups and downs, and lots of performance moments where I slow it right down and then speed it back up. What’s cool about playing live is that I’m playing different instruments in the moment and coming up with new sections of tracks live, which is really cool. I like doing a live show because it’s very musical, and at heart, I’m a musician. Taking that into my performances and playing live as an electronic musician is the best way to do that.
EDMTunes: Incredible. Today you played more of a DJ set, right? Was there anything new that you played to try and tease it out?
Aaron Hibell: Yeah, definitely. I have a new intro that I actually debuted on the last show of my North American tour in Vancouver. This Vancouver-based artist did some vocals, and I literally whipped up this brand-new intro on the day. I started with that today, which is pretty epic. I also played a few new remixes and originals. I’ve got a track coming up with Phanto that has a trancey vibe to it, so I’m trying some new stuff out.
EDMTunes: What does Aaron Hibell have planned for the rest of 2026 and beyond?
Aaron Hibell: Well, I just finished a 24-city US tour, which was pretty intense, so I’m going to take a month off. I’ve got some festivals over the summer, of course, but really I just want to get back in the studio and make new music. I love working on new music when I’ve been inspired by lots of different things. I enjoy amalgamating all those influences, putting them through my kaleidoscope of taste, and seeing what comes up.
EDMTunes: Do you have something inspiring you currently that you’re working on, or are you waiting for the inspiration to hit?
Aaron Hibell: I have a few different things. I’m trying out loads of different styles, including some tracks with a hard, groovy style while bringing more emotion to that. I’m also experimenting with more indie vocals. It’s a whole range of different things, really. It’s all about getting in the studio, experimenting, and seeing where you want to go from there—seeing what’s really inspiring you. That’s what I’m going to do over the next few months.
EDMTunes: Absolutely. Thank you so much, it’s been a pleasure.
Aaron Hibell: Yeah, man. It was lovely to meet you. Thanks a lot, guys.
