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Paul van
Dyk - Vorsprung Dyk Technik (2/3)
He's
one of the busiest DJs in the world and his mixes of 'Binary Finary' and
'For An Angel' are two of the biggest tunes of the year. Beats being a
carpenter in East Germany
Perhaps he's
just making up for lost time. Until eight years ago, he couldn't have
been further from the world of euphoric club hedonism. He grew up in communist
East Germany and lived with his mother in a small, poor industrial town
called Eisenhuttenstadt (Metal Hut Town), where he developed a taste for
"emotional music" such as 80s indie bands The Smiths and New Order. But
imported upfront records were a low priority in a place where bananas
were only available for one week of the year. Moving to Berlin to be a
carpenter put Paul closer to the action. Radio stations introduced him
to house and techno, but it wasn't until two years later, when the Berlin
Wall came down in 1990, that he witnessed the club scene for himself.
He wasn't disappointed. "There were these house gods like Marshall Jefferson
and Derrick May who all the DJs were trying to copy. Everywhere was Detroit
techno and a very hard, banging sound," he recalls. "I loved the power
of it, but thought something was missing. My music is quite techno-ish
in its energy, but I started buying records that had a more intense emotional
side." He started making mix tapes on two old turntables with only a little
wheel to adjust the speed. Despite Paul's technical disadvantages, one
of his tapes fell into the hands of the Tresor promoter, and his talent
and positivity won him an occasional residency at the legendary club.
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He
got some equipment together as soon as he could afford to, and began developing
the style he is known for; heavily influenced by the melodious sounds of
the Inspiral Carpets (now good friends) as well as the hard house and techno
vibes of his home town and Detroit. His first excursions on vinyl were 'Perfect
Day' and 'How Much Can You Take?' as half of Visions of Shiva with Cosmic
Baby on Berlin's small MFS imprint. They were both big underground progressive
house hits at the time, and found their way into the record boxes of Sasha,
Nick Warren and Dave Seaman. After two EPs in his own name, 'The Green Valley'
and 'The Emergency', came an album, '45 RPM', which sowed the seeds for
his distinctive sound of soaring strings, abrasive acid and driving techno
beats. It also boasted the original version of 'For An Angel'. In '96, when
he'd been picked up by London's Deviant Records with the 'Seven Ways' LP,
van Dyk's melodic strain of trance really made its mark on the world. The
singles 'Beautiful Place' and 'Forbidden Fruit' both made it into the UK
Top 100, and 'Words', released at the end of last year nearly broke the
Top 50, paving the way for his runaway success this year. Despite the fact
he has played nearly every major club in the world, including a residency
at New York's Twilo, van Dyk hasn't become too big for his boots. Which
is probably why he insisted on stopping the car on the way up tonight to
buy birthday cards for God's Kitchen and Gatecrasher, celebrating their
first and fourth birthdays respectively. It's an example of van Dyk's knack
for paying attention to detail. "People think the life of a DJ is just playing
Thursday, Friday and Saturday, being completely pissed and off your head,
and then sleeping," he says. Not for him. "I work seven days a week, in
the studio or working on my own label, developing new artists. I try to
get up around nine or ten in the morning and get things done." |