Paul van Dyk

This article is about the DJ. For the American historian, see Paul Van Dyke.
Paul van Dyk
Background information
Birth name Matthias Paul[1]
Born 16 December 1971
Eisenhüttenstadt, East Germany
Genres Trance, techno, electronic music
Occupation(s) Musician, record producer, dj
Instruments Keyboards, mixer, synthesizer, turntables
Years active 1991–present
Labels Vandit Records
Armada Music
Ultra Records
Deviant Records
Mute Records
MFS (1992–1998)
Associated acts DJ's United, Dolfin', The Visions of Shiva[2]
Website paulvandyk.com

Matthias Paul (pronounced [maˈtiːas ˈpaʊ̯l]),[3][4] better known by his stage name Paul van Dyk (pronounced [fan ˈdʏk]; born 16 December 1971 in Eisenhüttenstadt, East Germany) is a German Grammy Award-winning electronic dance music DJ, musician and record producer. One of the first true superstar DJs, Paul van Dyk was the first artist to receive a Grammy nomination in the newly added category of Best Dance/Electronic album for his 2003 release Reflections. He was named the World's No. 1 DJ in both 2005 and 2006, something less than a handful of DJs have ever achieved.[5] He was the first ever DJ to be named No. 1 by Mixmag in 2005. By 2008, he had sold over 3 million albums worldwide.[6]

A trance producer starting in the early 1990s, Paul quickly achieved popularity with his remix of "Love Stimulation" by Humate on the record label MFS in 1993 and with his hit single "For an Angel" but, in recent times, he no longer likes to describe his music as trance, but rather simply as electronic music.

History

Early life and musical beginning

Paul van Dyk grew up in East Berlin in a single parent household;[7] his father left him and his mother when he was four years old.[7] While living there, he worked as a broadcast technician[8] and began training to become a carpenter.[7] Paul van Dyk claims his musical education came from radio.[9] Because where he grew up there were no record stores at which to buy music, 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 and copied among school friends.[10]

Shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall, van Dyk and his mother were given permission to leave East Germany and moved to Hamburg to live with his aunt.[10] In 1990, van Dyk moved back to Berlin. His first appearance as a DJ was in the Tresor in March 1991.[11] After several more dates, he was given the chance to perform at Juergen Kramer's Dubmission parties in the Turbine club, together with the young resident DJ Kid Paul. The shows were called Paul vs. Paul. With Cosmic Baby, he collaborated as The Visions of Shiva. Their single "Perfect Day" was released by the Berlin independent label MFS (Masterminded For Success) Records, run by English ex-patriat 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, performing for a nationwide audience on German 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 trance hymn "Love Stimulation".

1994–2007

In 1994, Paul van Dyk released The Green Valley EP, Pump This Party and Emergency 911. Meanwhile, MFS acquired many remixes for Paul. Paul's close friendship with artists such as New Order gave Paul the opportunity to mix the track "Spooky" from the Republic album. He recorded his debut LP 45 RPM with Johnny Klimek and VOOV.

Seven Ways established Paul van Dyk as a trance pioneer and was Paul van Dyk's first real success in Britain. Seven Ways was voted the No. 1 album by readers of DJ Magazine.

In early 1997, Paul van Dyk began collaborating with U.S. music producer BT. Together, they produced tracks such as "Flaming June", "Forbidden Fruit" and "Namistai". The singles "Forbidden Fruit" and "Beautiful Place" did not 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. Van Dyk also remixed a well known early-90s track, Age of Love, in 1997.[12]

In 1998, 45 RPM was re-released in the UK and in the US. 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". In 1998, Paul remixed British trance duo Binary Finary's famous "1998" single, which was a successful version that took Binary Finary to the top of the German Dance charts.[13]

In mid-1998, 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. It also included the European hit We Are Alive, a remixed version of the Jennifer Brown song Alive. 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 and won a Mexican Oscar for his work.

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 Hemstock & 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," featuring Wayne Jackson; a song dedicated to the victims, and their families, of the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake and the subsequent tsunami that struck Thailand on 26 December 2004. His original productions from Reflections have been synced into major motion pictures such as Into the Blue, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, television's Entertainment Tonight and MTV Cribs, and international ad campaigns for Motorola, HBO, Land Rover, Ski Vail and most recently for Jeep.

2007–2010: In Between

Paul van Dyk in El Salvador
Crowd at a Paul van Dyk rave in Atlanta

Paul van Dyk released his fifth studio album, In Between, worldwide on 14 August 2007. The album, which he created over a three-year period, debuted at number No. 115 on the Billboard 200 and No. 2 on the Billboard's Top Electronic Albums and No. 1 on the Top Heatseekers. The album also reached No. 16 on the Mexican Albums Chart and No. 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.[14]

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" to promote the album.[15]

His work with EA Games has resulted in multiple releases featuring his music on Mirror's Edge and Grand Slam Tennis out in 2009. Paul van Dyk has also remixed the song "Poor Choice of Words" from the film The Dark Knight, written by Hans Zimmer. The song was released on the film's soundtrack, and helped the album win a Grammy Award that Paul van Dyk shares with his fellow collaborators. He has also remixed Depeche Mode's "Martyr", Justin Timberlake's "What Goes Around... Comes Around" and Britney Spears' "Gimme More".

Paul van Dyk hosts a show on Radio Fritz every Saturday at 20:00 GMT.

In May 2008, Paul van Dyk set up a remix competition with digital download network Beatport, inviting aspiring producers to remix his single 'Far Away' which appeared on his album In Between. Paul has appeared as one of the DJs at Trance Energy 2009.

On 9 November 2009, Paul van Dyk performed alongside Northern Ireland vocalist Johnny McDaid at the Berlin Wall 20th Anniversary Memorial. They recorded and performed a song for the event called 'We Are One'.;[16]

Paul van Dyk organised a dance music event at the O2 World Berlin called 'We Are One Festival' named after the song he collaborated with Johnny McDaid on for the Berlin Wall Anniversary. Some artists who performed included Armin van Buuren, Underworld and Blueman Group.;[17]

It was revealed by Paul van Dyk that his record label Vandit would be merging with Armin van Buuren's Armada Music.;[18]

2012–present: Evolution

The sixth studio album by Paul van Dyk, titled Evolution was released on 3 April 2012. The track "Eternity" was made in collaboration with Adam Young, known for Owl City.[19][20] Evolution also features producers Arty, Austin Leeds, Giuseppe Ottaviani, Tyler Michaud, and Ummet Ozcan. The album features vocals from Johnny McDaid of Fieldwork, Sarah Howells and various other artists.[21]

Politics

Since 2001, Paul van Dyk has taken an interest in politics. His creation of The Politics of Dancing compilation was inspired by electronic dance music's universal acclaim by different people around the world. "Palestinians are dancing with Israelis. Lebanese people are dancing with Israelis – without war, without anything in their minds other than treating each other respectfully", said van Dyk in 2006.[22] He also has called EDM "...a political and diplomatic tool that could be used."[22] Having grown up with little freedom, his musical career has helped him voice his opinions about politics. He opposes the Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan. He describes himself as anti-war and has advertised this while performing, by wearing a shirt reading "Make peace, not war".[22]

He has helped fight poverty by supporting social programs to help disadvantaged people in India, New York, and Berlin.[23] He also participated in Rock the Vote in 2004 and 2008; he and Bono being the only non-American artists to join the campaign encouraging young people to vote.[23]

Paul van Dyk at the Lizard Lounge in Dallas on February 14, 2015.

Discography

Studio albums

Remix albums

Video albums

TV shows

Soundtracks

Video games

Awards

References

  1. ↑ "Paul's entry on the ASCAP database". The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Retrieved 17 December 2008.
  2. ↑
  3. ↑ Krech, Eva-Maria; Stock, Eberhard; Hirschfeld, Ursula; Anders, Lutz Christian (2009). Deutsches Aussprachewörterbuch (in German). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. pp. 731 and 810. ISBN 978-3-11-018202-6.
  4. ↑ Mangold, Max (2005). Das Aussprachewörterbuch (in German) (6th ed.). Mannheim: Dudenverlag. pp. 540 and 617. ISBN 9783411040667.
  5. ↑ "Top 100 DJ's – 5. Paul van Dyl". djmag.com. Retrieved 20 July 2010.
  6. ↑ Dose.Clubzone.com.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "Paul Van Dyk Biography.". musicianguide. 2000. Retrieved 16 March 2009.
  8. ↑ Club4it.com
  9. ↑ Beat Factor – In Between Paul van Dyk.30 November 2007 Beat Factor: Your history is pretty similar to the Romanians history, before the fall of the communist regime. Do you have any memories that marked you from that time? (He makes best party ever in 2007 in Macedonia) Paul Van Dyk: Yes, of course, there are a lot of memories that I still have; probably in respect with music. It was probably the same in Romania, we didn't have any record stores, we couldn't actually buy any magazines and read anything about our favorite artists. So my musical education came from the radio, so that's something special, I believe.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Ministry of Sound London – Paul van Dyk.". ministryofsoundlondon. 21 January 2009. Retrieved 16 March 2009.
  11. ↑ "The DJ list – PVD.". thedjlist. 2005. Retrieved 16 March 2009.
  12. ↑ Age of Love
  13. ↑ Binary Finary.thedjlist.com.
  14. ↑ "Special limited edition of Paul van Dyk's 'In Between' at Central Park performances". side-line.com. Retrieved 20 March 2008.
  15. ↑ "Paul's next Gigs:". paulvandyk.com. Retrieved 20 March 2008.
  16. ↑ "Paul van Dyk ft. Johnny McDaid – We Are One LIVE". YouTube. 10 November 2009. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  17. ↑ http://www.o2world.com/Event/758/WE-ARE-ONE-presented-by-Paul-van-Dyk.html
  18. ↑ "Paul van Dyk's VANDIT Records joins forces with". Armada Music. 8 July 2010. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  19. ↑ "Twitter / Owl City: So stoked for the new @pau". Twitter.com. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
  20. ↑ "Exclusive: Paul van Dyk Sets New Album, Video Series for 2012". Billboard.com. 14 September 2009. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
  21. ↑ "Paul van Dyk – Evolution (CD, Album) at Discogs". Discogs.com. 25 February 2013. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 "The politics of PVD". ibizavoice. 2006. Retrieved 26 March 2009.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 "Paul van Dyk's 'Politics of Dancing 2' : Live at Central Park August 20th". Top40Charts. 18 August 2005. Retrieved 26 March 2009.
  24. ↑ "DJ Mag's Best Music Maker 1999".
  25. ↑ http://live.huffingtonpost.com/r/segment/dj-paul-van-dyk-live/52f1103278c90a49bb0002fb

External links

Media related to Paul van Dyk at Wikimedia Commons

Awards and achievements
Preceded by
n/a		 Mixmag Number 1 DJ
2005 		Succeeded by
Erol Alkan
Preceded by
Tiësto		 DJ Magazine Number 1 DJ
2005–2006 		Succeeded by
Armin van Buuren