| When you
say Paul Van Dyk you´re
saying one of the most important names of electronic
music of all times, he don´t like that people
classify him as a trance Dj and producer
but he is one of the most important Djs and producers
of trance scene
of all the times, he is one person that he played
and produced trance when a lot of people
don´t know what trance
was.Today we bring you all the
biography of Paul Van Dyk.
Paul's Biography:
International DJ and producer Paul
van Dyk was voted "America's
Favorite DJ" for 2004
by BPM Magazine
and was the big winner at the
2004 Dancestar Awards, taking home 3
awards: Best International
DJ, Best Event
and Best Music in a Commercial
(Motorola). He also won the Mexican
Oscar for his soundtrack in the film Zurdo
in March 2004.
Paul partnered
with the "Rock the Vote" campaign
in order to encourage America's youth to exercise
their right to vote in the 2004
presidential election. Paul's
involvement marked the first time an electronic
artist became involved in the campaign and he
joined other artists such as Bono,
Mary J. Blige,
Lenny Kravitz
and the Black Eyed Peas.
Previously, Paul
was voted "Best Music Maker" by DJ
magazine, ahead of DJ legends
Fatboy Slim (2) and
Paul Oakenfold (3).
He then went on to receive the "Best International
DJ Award" at the 1999
Music Awards in London. Ministry
of Sound Magazine named him the "Best
international DJ", and his regular 6
hour set at "Gatecrasher"
was voted as the "second best club night ever"
by the readers of the English
magazine Muzik.
In 1999, Mixmag
elected him as "Man of the Year" and
Muzik Magazine
named him "Leader of
the Trance Nation."
 
Born in Eisenhuettenstadt, East Germany,
Paul grew up
in communist East Berlin. Prior to Germany's
reunification, he had an early window to the capitalist
world via the cross-border airwaves. Because his community
did not have a true club culture, Paul
listened to the radio where he discovered the music
of artists such as The Smiths
and New Order.
Then in 1989,
after the wall finally came down, a broad club culture
sprung up throughout all of Berlin and although
Techno music
emerged, Paul
was looking for a different, more unique sound.
That search would never leave him. Stemming from
two crusty old turntables, the first remix tapes of
his musical ideas were created. And in March
1991, his unique style of dance music was
played for the very first time to the public at the
embryonic Berlin club "Tresor".
Around this same period,
Paul also started writing his own original
compositions. His first production "Perfect
Day", produced together with Cosmic
Baby as "Visions
of Shiva", was released in
1992.
In 1993, Paul
created the club hit of the year with his remix of
Humate's "Love Stimulation".
The following year, his first album 45
RPM was recorded, while he was also regularly
spinning sets at the legendary Berlin club "E-Werk".
Over the next few years Paul
garnered further respect by remixing tracks
of many renowned artists such as
Inspiral Carpets,
Sven Väth, Curve
and New Order.
This was of course until the release of his second
album, Seven Ways,
which firmly established him as one of the world's
truly great electronic artists.
Seven Ways unleashed
a frenzy of national and international interviews,
and Paul was catapulted
into the Top 100. Even the English music
media, typically protective of their own homespun
DJ artists, unanimously praised the record.
Readers of DJ Magazine -
voted Seven Ways
as the Number 1 album of the year. Bellowing
singles such as "Beautiful
Place", "Forbidden
Fruit" and "Words",
featuring remixes of Salt
Tank, Quattara
and Curve, fully
secured him a place as a major player in the British
and European dancecharts.
Before the club closed, Paul
became an institution at Berlin's "E-Werk",
regularly spinning new musical magic, with guest appearances
by fellow superstar DJ's Nick
Warren, BT,
Dave Seaman and Sasha.
In 1998 his first
album 45 RPM was
released in the UK, and the new remix of the
single "For an Angel"
attacked dance floors worldwide. The album
buzzed for two weeks at number 1 in England
and four weeks at number 1 in the German
dance charts, and also achieved high positions
in the American, Australian, Dutch,
Belgian and Scandinavian dance charts.
Paul then became
a resident DJ at New York's legendary
dance club "Twilo"
and also at the acclaimed "Gatecrasher"
in Sheffield.
In 1999 Paul,
together with his team, created the new label Vandit
Records. This label presents both Paul's
releases, as well as other new and innovative dance/DJ
artists.
In England, Deviant
Records took care of Paul's
creative output, whose brainstorm was the
1998 Triple CD "Vorsprung
Dyk Technik". Combining 33 tracks,
it is the most exhaustive collection of Paul's
remixes to date, containing classics like
Humate's "Love Stimulation"
and Joe T. Vanelli 's "Playing
with the Voice in Germany" as well
as Binary Finary's clubhit
"1998" and Paul's
own chart single "For
an Angel". A year after its release
in Nov 1999,
"Vorsprung Dyk Technik" was officially
declared "Silver"
with over 60,000 sales in the UK, a
very rare feat indeed for a Triple
CD.
By the time Paul
released Out There &
Back in 2000,
it became clear that the Berlin-based musician
had far more to offer than his signature club sets
and remixes that had already defined him as one of
the most influential German DJs and producers
of all time. His first compilation mix CD Politics
of Dancing was released in 2001,
followed by Global
in 2003 - an original
CD/DVD which illustrates his own experiences
traveling the world.
 
Paul's current
album Reflections
illustrates little stories told by life and was released
last year. The magic of the album's thirteen tracks
is based on each song's potential to extravagate and
blow away clichés - and still be unbelievably
multi-faceted.
The first release from Reflections
was the hit single "Nothing
But You" with its yearning Norwegian
vocals and the impassionate lyric line "I
have nothing but I have got everything when I have
got you" and quickly made its way onto mainstream
radio stations worldwide.
The follow up single, "Time
Of Our Lives", is the result of Paul's
first collaboration with the rock band Vega
4 and was the first
"live in concert" track Paul
presented at his record release tour. "Time
of Our Lives" reached the first position
in German and English dance charts.
Shortly after the album's third single
"Crush" was released, Paul
collaborated with Peter
Heppner, singer of the band Wolfsheim,
which resulted in the hit single "Wir
sind Wir" (translation: This
is Us). Both artists were inspired by the
German TV documentary "Das
Wunder von Bern". The song illustrates
the spirit and history of Germany and although
lots of Germans in east and west lost their
self-esteem, they are united and unafraid of what
the future may bring.
Today, Paul's
touring diary is incredibly hectic with regular globetrotting
stops at major venues in London, Tel Aviv,
Mexico, New York and Singapore.
Between all that, Berlin is always there and
waiting -- if not for the interviews and local club
dates, then for looking after his own label Vandit,
recording studio and his radio show Soundgarden
which airs every Wednesday
2pm - 4pm (EST) on Fritz
radio and over the internet (www.fritz.de).
All the information
has been taken from Paul Van Dyk's official website
and the last two photos from the unofficial Paul´s
site www.pvd-clubworld.de
Solotrance
Group
|