You can tell a lot about a person by how they speak. And if, while absentmindedly nursing my Starbucks, I happen to also be reaching out via telephone and touching Paul van Dyk, the freshly anointed world's No. 1 DJ, at his home in Berlin, then words are all I have to go by. That and my copy of his most recent album, Politics of Dancing 2. Van Dyk embodies the same cross-cultural picture he paints of the music world. When he greets me, his somewhat clipped German accent is softened by hints of Her Majesty's English, and there's a slight guttural French purr when he says "genres."
"It's the only truly global musical culture, and it's worldwide," he says. "The first time I heard EM (electronic music) it was something like Tangerine Dream or Klaus Schulze. I also remember very well the very first of what we would call early house music."
It was around 1985 and a young van Dyk was just beginning to discover EM DJs such as Ron Allen and his EP, Trancendence. But growing up in East Berlin prior to the wall coming down meant that new vinyl was rare and the radio was his only opportunity to explore the new sound.
Years and albums later, van Dyk mans his own weekly radio show in Berlin, bringing electronic music to a whole new generation of enthusiasts. "I have the possibility of listening to all this brand-new music all the time. All the musical education about what's going on in the EM movement comes from my show in this area, and it's a big responsibility on one hand, but also it's a lot of fun."
Seven Random Paul van Dyk Quotes |
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For van Dyk, it's just as important to understand what's going on in the pop, rock and hip-hop worlds as in his own. "Electronic music was always about breaking the boundaries on the technology side, as well as on the creative side, and it was never about being pigeonholed into 'This is trance', 'This is house', 'This is techno', 'This is break-beats.' It's about doing something creative and interesting and having a unique style with the possibility of using all those elements within one piece of music."
Folding this philosophy into his own, van Dyk enjoys a wide range of music. "Linkin Park I love absolute to pieces because of the way they make their music. They don't really care about musical genres and boundaries. Their album is as much electronic as it is rock, punk, and drum and bass, hip-hop .... Those elements are all in there."
After his debut as No. 42 in Britain's DJ Magazine's first poll in 1997, he immediately jumped up to No. 6 in 1998 and then slowly crept up from fifth to first, the news of which he is accepting with a lot of grace. "For me it shows how diverse electronic music is, crossing all those genres. Every single style is represented in those polls. We're all a part of the same scene, and of course, it makes me proud to be on top of that list, but it makes me more thankful than anything else. I'm very passionate about what I do, and I always give 100 percent. I did that before and I will always do that."
On December 30, van Dyk will play a two-hour set at Ice Metaclub, a trip he's certainly looking forward to. "I love Vegas! It's great! It's this overload of impressions. It's definitely a great place to play. In a way, it's a 365-day Ibiza."
No longer using vinyl in his sets, van Dyk employs two computers to mix his tracks live. "Using the latest equipment for me is a must-do. You're never going to hear me playing the same thing twice because it's not possible."
Spontaneity aside, van Dyk sets an emotional goal for his performances. "A successful night for me is when I have the feeling at the end of the evening that people understood why I love that particular sort of music so much."
Van Dyk's current schedule has him loosely defining "weekend" as Thursday through Sunday, spending those days touring, while the rest of the week he can be found at his Berlin studio and office. Where hasn't van Dyk traveled? "Iceland, the polar caps, Indonesia. Whenever I was scheduled to play [Indonesia], something bad would happen."
Despite the hectic schedule and many accolades, it's clear ego will never be a problem: "In my head I'm just a little raving kid that jumps up and down and loves electronic music. If I wasn't on this side of the mixer, I would be on that side—dancing!"