Paul van Dyk
Paul van Dyk |
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Paul van Dyk (born Matthias Paul; December 16, 1971 in Eisenhüttenstadt, Brandenburg, East Germany) is one of the world's leading trance music DJs and producers. In 2007, he was voted number four DJ in DJ Mag's annual Top 100 vote.[1]
History
Early career
Van Dyk grew up in East Berlin, where he kept in touch with the world beyond the Berlin Wall by secretly listening to the popular but forbidden Western radio stations RIAS (Radio in the American Sector) and SFB and mixtapes occasionally smuggled into the country copied among school friends.
Shortly before the fall of the wall, van Dyk and his mother were given permission to leave East Germany and moved to Hamburg to live with his aunt. In 1990, van Dyk moved back to Berlin. His first appearance as a DJ was in the Tresor in March 1991. A couple more dates followed and he was soon given the chance to perform at Juergen Kramer's famous Dubmission parties in the Turbine club, together with the highly popular young resident DJ Kid Paul. The shows were called Paul vs. Paul. His mixing style drew the attention of Cosmic Baby and the two collaborated as The Visions of Shiva, on "Perfect Day" (1992) on the renowned Berlin independent label MFS (Masterminded For Success) Records, run by well known English ex-pat producer Mark Reeder and manager Torsten Jurk.
In February 1993, van Dyk and Kid Paul hosted an installment of the weekly three-hour HR3 Clubnight radio show perform for a nationwide audience on the radio. The second and final Visions of Shiva single "How Much Can You Take?" was released and van Dyk and Cosmic went their separate musical ways. By late summer, Paul released his first DJ-mix compilation "X-Mix-1 - the MFS Trip" and remixed Humate's classic trance hymn "Love Stimulation".
The growing popularity of the Dubmission parties forced a venues change, first to Cafe Moskau and then into the larger E-Werk where van Dyk began hosting regular MFS nights.
1994-2007
In 1994 Paul released "The Green Valley EP", "Pump This Party" and "Emergency 911". Meanwhile, MFS acquired many remixes for Paul and Reeder's close friendship with artists such as New Order gave Paul the opportunity to mix the track "Spooky" from the Republic album. After much persuasion by Reeder, he finally recorded his debut LP 45 RPM with Johnny Klimek and VOOV. Reeder also compiled the album's running order and design, and chose the album's title as a reflection of the 45 RPM speed typical for dance vinyl.
Reeder compiled Seven Ways which established van Dyk as a trance pioneer and was van Dyk's first real success in Britain. Reeder had successfully convinced his old friend Rob Deacon (formerly of Volume) to license the album for the UK and his new Deviant label.
The singles "Forbidden Fruit" and "Beautiful Place" didn't cause a great impact at first, but with the release of Seven Ways and "Words" appearing at the height of the British superclub phenomenon, van Dyk's own material began to attract attention. "By the time they realised I was a German, it was too late!" van Dyk said.
In 1998, 45RPM was re-released in the UK. To mark the event, and in homage to the defunct E-Werk, Paul released a remix of "For An Angel". Van Dyk took up a residency at Sheffield's Gatecrasher and declared himself anti-drugs, which led to home-made "No E, Pure PvD" T-shirts, also a sly note to journalists that his surname contained no "E".
Van Dyk left MFS Records and took a controlling share in the new label Vandit Records. In 2000, Paul flexed his skills with his melodic, dancefloor-friendly Out There And Back, which included the hit single "Tell Me Why (The Riddle)", a collaboration with Saint Etienne. His first mix album The Politics of Dancing (2001) was followed by a world tour and a DVD release Global (2003) and the Mexican film "Zurdo", for which van Dyk composed the soundtrack.
Reflections (2003) derived from van Dyk’s trips to India, was a more melancholy affair, and includes the single "Nothing But You", a collaboration with Hemmstock & Jennings. It was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Electronic Album. The mix album The Politics of Dancing 2 (2005) was preceded by a single "The Other Side," a song dedicated to the victims, and their families, of the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake and the subsequent tsunami that struck Thailand on December 26, 2004.
2007–present: 'In Between'
Paul van Dyk released his fifth studio album, In Between, worldwide on August 14 2007. The album, which he created in a three-years period, debuted at number #115 on the Billboard 200 and #2 on the Billboard's Top Electronic Albums and Top Heatseekers. The album also reached #16 on the Mexican Albums Chart and #5 on the Mexican International Chart. The album was released accompanied by a special edition limited to two thousand copies which included a mixed version of the full album, along with an eight-track bonus CD and an eight-page photo anthology [2].
The album was produced primarily by Paul van Dyk himself, and features a wide range of collaborators including David Byrne of Talking Heads, Jessica Sutta of the Pussycat Dolls, Ashley Tomberlin from Luminary, Alex M.O.R.P.H, Lo Fi Sugar, Rea Garvey of Reamonn, Ryan Merchant and Wayne Jackson. It also features a vocal sample from Ben Lost from Probspot's "Blows My Mind" on the song "Another Sunday".
In June 2007, Paul van Dyk embarked on the worldwide "In Between Tour" [3] to promote the album.
Paul van Dyk hosts a show on Radio Fritz every Wednesday at 20:00 GMT. In his latest gigs, he blurs the line between DJ'ing and live performance engineering by utilizing two MacBook Pro laptops sporting Serato Scratch Live and Ableton Live software, enabling a more fully-featured club experience more akin to a concert than a standard night out at a dance club. On-the-fly remixes and compositions are just some of the capabilities of this new performance method.
Personal life
He is married to Natascha van Dyk, who also appears on some of his releases(Vocals on Together We Will Conquer). The two were married in Cancún, Mexico.
Discography
Albums
- 1994: "45 RPM"
- 1996: "Seven Ways"
- 2000: "Out There and Back" - #12 UK, #19 Germany, #41 Australia
- 2003: "Reflections" - #8 Germny, #3 U.S. Top Electronic Albums
- 2007: "In Between" - #20 Germany, #63 UK, #88 Switzlerland, #115 Billboard 200, #2 Top Electronic Albums
Singles
- 2008: "Let Go" - #13 U.S. Hot Dance Club Play, #21 Germany, #45 Russia, #7 Netherlands, #14 Worldwide Airplay
- 2007: "White Lies" - - #3 U.S. Hot Dance Club Play, #73 Austria, #38 Germany,
- 2004: "Crush" - #48 Germany, #42 UK
- 2003: "Time of Our Lives/Connected" - #41 Ireland, #34 Eurochart, #28 UK, #14 Germany, #47 Austria, #70 Switzerland
- 2003: "Nothing But You" - #11 Germany, #6 Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play, #44 Eurochart, #34 Irish Singles Chart, #14 UK, #76 Switzerland, #2 Worldwide Airplay Chart
- 2000-2001: "We Are Alive" - #14 Germany, #15 UK, #29 Netherlands, #21 Brazil, #89 Global100.com - Singles
- 2000: "Tell Me Why (The Riddle)" - #7 UK, #45 Germany, #98 Global100.com Singles
- 1999: "Another Way/Avenue" - #13 UK, #26 Netherlands, #49 Eurochart, #52 Germany
- 1998: "For An Angel" - #28 UK Singles Chart, #44 Germany, #74 Eurochart
Awards
- 1999 DJ Mag Best Producer [citation needed]
- 1999 Best International DJ
- 1999 Best international Award
- 1999 man of the year by Mixmag
- 1999 Leader of the Trance Nation
- 2003 Best European DJ (Miami Winter Music Conference 2003)
- 2003 second best trance track Paul Van Dyk - Nothing But You
- 2004 America’s Favorite DJ
- 2004 Best International DJ
- 2004 Best Event
- 2004 Best Music in a Commercial (Motorola)
- 2004 Mexican Oscar for his soundtrack in the film “Zurdo”
- 2004 Best Music Maker" by DJ magazine
- 2004 big winner at the Dancestar Awards
- 2005 WMC 2005 best track house progressive/trance: Nothing but You (Paul Van Dyk)
- 2005 WMC 2005 best international dj
- 2005 America’s Favorite DJ
- 2005 best dj for Dance/Electronic Album for his original album Reflections
- 2005 the International Dance Music Award (IDMA) for Best Euro DJ.
- 2005 DJ Mag No 1 DJ
- 2005 Best Producer Trance Awards
- 2005 Best Global DJ Trance Awards
- 2006 Best Global DJ (Miami Winter Music Conference 2006)
- 2006 Best record label VANDIT>
- 2006 Best Producer (Miami Winter Music Conference 2006)
- 2006 Best Global DJ, Best NuNRG/Euro Track
- 2006 DJ Mag No 1 DJ
- 2006 Best Global DJ Trance Awards
- 2006 Best Producer
- 2006 Best Mix Compilation for The Politics of Dancing 2
- 2006 Cross Of Merit From The City Of Berlin
- 2006 Best HI NRG / Euro Track for "The Other Side" (Miami Winter Music Conference 2006)
- 2006 B.Z.-Kulturpreis 2006
- 2007 Best Ortofon European DJ (Miami Winter Music Conference 2007)
- 2007 Best dj by trance awards
- 2007 Best producer by trance awards
- 2007 Best label vandit by trance awards
- 2007 2nd Best Remixer by trance awards
- 2007 3rd Best live act by trance awards
- 2007 2nd best resident by trance awards
- 2007 Best club night CREAM,ibiza by trance awards
- 2007 Best album In Between by trance awards
- 2007 3rd Best radio show vonyc by trance awards
- 2007 5st Best website by trance awards
- his regular 6 hour set at “Gatecrasher” was voted as the "second best club night ever"
- Best international DJ by the ministry of sound
- Best international DJ by Musik Berlin, Zürich, Amsterdam, Londres, Paris, Milan, New-York, Mexico, Singapore