Paul Van Dyk
voices Paul Van Dyk. "Y'know, one of my favourite artists at the moment
is Alanis Morrisette. And a lot of my friends say that I shouldn't be
telling people this, but just because I enjoy listening to her doesn't
mean I have to play it when I am djing, it's just the power and emotion
of her songs that grabs me. The music is really honest and you just get
this," he pauses, "...feeling out of it. And that feeling is much more
important than anything else. I don't think people should stick to one
particular style. A good record is a good record regardless."
Paul Van Dyk loves his music. It's that simple. Whilst his eight years
in the public spotlight as an accomplished producer, dj, and remixer
have seen him gain notoriety the world over, at the end of the day it's
basically all about the tunes. "I am doing all this - djing, producing,
remixing - for one thing, and that's because I love the music, and I
like to bring the music across to people. It is a case of doing music
for the purpose of creating music, not for the purpose of being famous.
If that comes along then fine, but it is never going to be a reason to
release a record."
Records are one thing Van Dyk has released a lot of. You could even call
him prolific, as he has cut numerous releases under his own name, and
has also completed remixes for a list of artists that reads like a who's
who of electronic music. Humate, BT, Sven Vath, Secret Knowledge,
Effective Force, and New Order. "Bernard Sumner actually rang me," he
says shyly. "It was always a big dream to remix New Order."
All of Van Dyk's remixes have now made it onto the one collection,
Vorsprung DYK Technik, which has just been released locally. Compiled
and mixed by Van Dyk himself, it is a classy assortment of electronic
music which not only serves as a tasty aural delight, but also provides
a history to the uninitiated of where Van Dyk comes from musically, and
where he is currently heading. "The initial idea was conceived back
about two years ago when we released Perspective [a 2 cd remix
compilation] in Germany," states Van Dyk. "And from then on the English
label [Deviant Records] said that they would like to have that too,
because most people in England knew my material from Seven Ways on but
did not have a clue what I had done before. So they thought it was a
good idea to make an overview of what I was all about, from 1992 to
1998. It's not a case of me showing that 'yeah, I can make three cd's
full of remixes', it's a case of getting them out to people who might
not have heard them before."
Vorsprung DYK Technik contains remixes from a wide range of artists.
Nearly all have varying styles and it is extremely hard to pinpoint the
exact direction of the entire package, mainly due to the wide variety
bands and producers that Van Dyk has remixed. These remixes have come
about in various ways. "It really depends on the remix because there are
three different types of approaches," says Van Dyk. "One - the guys you
do the remixes for are really good friends of yours. Two - you admire
them and you are a really big fan of them, like New Order. Or finally,
you just love the track and the track has big potential to be pretty
cool, and it's just not that well produced that it isn't coming across
the way it should. Like Binary Finary for example. It was a brilliant
track it just didn't work. It's just a case of making it work!"
Van Dyk also happens to be an proficient producer. Tracks such as Words,
Forbidden Fruit, and For An Angel are some of the best examples of the
beautiful and melodic nature of trance music, and albums such as Seven
Ways and 45 RPM are accomplished voyages into the difficult world of the
4/4 ba