Exclusive Interview with Paul Van Dyk!
For more than two decades, the world has known Paul van Dyk as one of Germany’s most noted musicians and as one of the ultimate superstars of electronic music. As an artist, DJ and producer, he has surpassed numerous milestones throughout his career, including having sold more than 3.5 million albums and being twice voted the world’s No.1 DJ. His sensational DJ sets also known to attract expansive crowds across each continent. Apart from the world of music, Paul’s extracurricular exploits are unmatched and during his extensive travels, Paul has been both an established figure for the youth and also a musical ambassador for re-united Germany. Closer to home – both geographically and personally – his social enterprise work in Berlin includes his charity Rückenwind, which has led to regular dialogue with Germany’s politicians and policy makers on diverse issues. Truly an exceptional figure, he is Paul van Dyk.
Interestingly, Paul is also the ‘Beta Tester’ for an entirely new mobile app brought forth by Smirnoff called, ‘Mixhibit‘ which has already begun making waves all across. He shall also be touring India starting tomorrow for ‘Sunburn B2B – Mumbai & Bengaluru‘ much to the joy of a number of fans attending the festival.
We had the pleasure of interviewing the globally renowned producer/DJ prior to his tour of India. Hit past the break now, to know what Paul Van Dyk had to tell us about his thoughts on his upcoming visit to India, his interesting new project with Smirnoff, sharing a Grammy with Hans Zimmer for his work on ‘The Dark Knight’ soundtrack & more!
TBB: Hi Paul! Welcome to http://thebanginbeats.com, thank you for taking time out to speak with us. To begin, could you tell us a little about how and when you decided to take up production and DJing as a full-time career? Any experiences you’d like to share with us, which influenced your decision?
Paul Van Dyk: I grew up in East Berlin so I couldn’t really go to any clubs or buy any records and I listened to music through the radio and when the Berlin Wall went down, it was the first time that I went to clubs and actually started going to the clubs and also started to DJ for my friend and for myself and that’s how I got into DJing and how I was able to have my very first show.
For me this is when I realized that this what I wanted to do and that’s when I started working on learning how to make this music. I also always had a clear idea on the music I enjoyed and how I would like to play music.
TBB: Looking back on a remarkable career like yours, it would surely be very intriguing to know about your first gig ever. What was the experience like? Additionally, how many people were you playing to?
Paul Van Dyk: The very gig was at a club in Berlin called Tresor and it was scary because when you started DJing at home you can never imagine the acoustics, you keep the volume low and you don’t put the bass in and suddenly it was really loud and had a lot of bass and there was a lot of stuff in the music that I didn’t have any idea about, because I had never hear it and it was in my bedroom. But it was crazy and I really enjoyed it. And I was the opening DJ that night and then people came in and nobody left, so I thought I did a good job.
TBB: Being a name synonymous with trance, could you share with us your thoughts and feelings in reference to a number of trance artists nowadays adopting a sound which is influenced to a marked extent by house music?
Paul Van Dyk: I do not really look into music that is trendy or fashionable sound at the moment. I am an artist and my favorite music is electronic music and I ensure that the tracks that I produce have the idea and feeling that I want to communicate in it. I cannot really speak for other artists as to why they become cheesy. My way of making music is that my intended ideas coming across in the final production. Then my track is complete according to me.
TBB: Having been awarded the #1 DJ position twice on the DJ Mag polls, we would be keen to know your opinion on them considering their controversial nature?
Paul Van Dyk: I have always maintained that it is great to be appreciated but at the end of day it’s just one magazine that is creating one list and as you said there are lot of controversial issues surrounding it. For me it’s more important to connect with my audience when I am playing for them and to interact with them. That is what ultimately counts in the end. I want to be their favorite DJ and I want to take my audience where I play on a musical journey. This is my aim.
TBB: In the past, you’ve said that you’re musical education comes mainly from the radio. Could you elaborate a little on the statement?
Paul Van Dyk: As I said, I grew up in East Germany, we did not have any record stores or any clubs. So the only way for me to listen to music the only way for me to learn about what’s going on in the Western world, was to listen to West Berlin Radio Station. So this is what I mean by that statement. I always knew what was going on, but I never knew how my favorite artists looked like and I didn’t know what they have to say because I didn’t speak English, so it was purely the music.
TBB: Not too many people know about this, but you shared a Grammy award for your work on ‘The Dark Knight’ soundtrack. Could you tell us a little about how it felt to win the Grammy and how you came about to be working on the soundtrack?
Paul Van Dyk: I was introduced by a friend that we both had in common with Hans Zimmer and I was invited to his studios and we started working together on something and I took all the files that I was working on back to my studio in Berlin and I finished it and it ended up being in the movie. It was a great honor to win the Grammy and it doesn’t matter if there was a prize connected to it or not, Hans Zimmer is one of the most amazing composers in Hollywood and in the world. For me it was a massive thing to just sit down and work with him and for me that is the more important part of the collaboration.
TBB: With Deadmau5 announcing that he is going off Twitter and handing over control to his team, how do you feel social media impact’s the lives of DJ’s & producers nowadays?
Paul Van Dyk: Well again, I am not commenting on what other people do. It’s their choice. For me the social media outlets that DJs have are very vital to us. For example a lot of Twitter and Facebook requests of a lot of fans are for them to play my older tracks in my sets as well and this is what I am going to do. When I am coming to play in India, I am playing a lot of new music but I am also playing a lot of classics as well as requested by my fans through my multimedia outlets. And of course, I am taking care of entering the twitter messages myself and it is a great way to update fans on the latest music that’s available or my latest projects. Also fans ask a lot of personal questions and I will be the only one who will be able to answer them.
TBB: Apart from being a globally renowned artist, you have also indulged in great amounts of charity work throughout your career. Are there any specific causes you look to support?
Paul Van Dyk: I think what’s really important is that the younger generations have the possibility of a way into education because that’s what actually provides them with a future. There are two project that I support and there is one in Germany and one in Mumbai that I support as well. But now we just hit a massive tragedy in Philippines, there was a big storm and I think we should really pay attention to that and make sure that people there have a possibility of creating a future there. Just like their lives have been destroyed by the storm we need to make sure, as a world and as all those nations actually come together in the UN we do something to help them.
TBB: You shall be visiting India in less than a week to tour in, Mumbai & Bengaluru. Tell us how do you feel about visiting India once again? In your view, how are the crowds in India different to those in other parts of the world?
Paul Van Dyk: First of all the crowd in India is really really passionate about it and that’s something that I really enjoy. But at the same time I never really compare places because for me when I play I have a really clear idea of what I would like to do and everything else is down to the impact with my audience. Not having a preconception helps a lot because it keeps me completely open to them and interact with them well. I am looking forward to a very energetic passionate crowd again.
TBB: Speaking about dance music festivals, how was your experience of organizing a festival of the magnitude of the ‘We Are One’ festival?
Paul Van Dyk: It was a great it was a lot of fun because we invited artists that are up and coming and whom we believe in and have the artist play alongside myself and my team and me put together the tactics of this and not to forget it is in a fantastic venue it is in an old fortress in the middle of Berlin and it’s a great site and a great vibe at the festival.
TBB: India has for a while now been an emerging market for dance music. Do you reckon as a country there is potential in India to grow into a leading global player on the dance music circuit? Any dance music artists you’ve heard of coming from our country?
Paul Van Dyk: The thing is electronic music is a global phenomenon doesn’t really matter so much if you live in London, Berlin or in Mumbai, New Delhi or Bengaluru. Itreally is about the music itself. I am pretty sure I will be playing music produced by someone originated from India but I wouldn’t really know because all I get is the audio file, so I don’t know where the record is coming from. It really is a global phenomenon and it is not about one country overruling another it is a global society, it is a global network of people who love this music.
TBB: We also heard that you are going to be taking up an interesting & exciting new project with Smirnoff involving a new mobile app called ‘Mixhibit’. Could you give us a brief idea about the project and the app?
Paul Van Dyk: As I explained before, I am using the multimedia outlet Twitter, Instagram and Facebook and so on to communicate with my fans and let people know what I am upto and what the Smirnoff Mixhibit app actually does it combines all those things and create like a mood movie and put music to it and which makes it even more emotional. So as an example when I am coming to India I am always taking pictures and they end up on social media and this app actually makes it easier and combines it all together. It is like a mood movie which I can then share with people and with my friends and fans and let them know what I am doing. This is also a cool way to let them know what I experienced in India and this is what I really enjoy about the app.
TBB: Being big fans of your craft, we’d be extremely keen to know about any of your upcoming releases, remixes or collaborations. Could you tell us about any of your projects which may be in the works and be set for release in the near future? Do you have any surprises in store for your fans?
Paul Van Dyk: Absolutely. I am just about to finish the ‘The Politics of Dancing’ project that’s a whole lot of music for my fans and it’s what I am going to play as well. As I said I had a lot requests from fans on Twitter and Facebook like one of my classics like “For an Angel” “Time of Our Lives” and the way I play and even the technology I use is different from everyone else. I have a keyboard on stage, I have computers to custom make the mixes which allows me to really interact and really play live and it makes the whole experience even more intense and even more energetic.
TBB: As we are http://thebanginbeats.com, we have to ask you our traditional question; what are the top #bangin tracks at the top of your head as of now?
Paul Van Dyk: It’s a track which we just released and I love it a lot its called “It’s a Shark” by Woody Van Eyden & Maarten De Jong. I am really bad with names, but that track is amazing you have to check it out.
TBB: To conclude, any final words for your fans here in India eagerly waiting to catch you live in Mumbai & Bengaluru?
Paul Van Dyk: I am really really excited to come back to India and whenever I am here I always feel very welcome and really energetic and I am really looking forward to a bangin weekend. So see you all there.
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We would like to extend a special thanks to Smirnoff!
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Hat dies auf Fatalgroove rebloggt.