By Sean Flinn | June 28, 2000
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| I was thinking to myself, 'What's really important?' And actually, for me, it is doing music." Paul van Dyk on making Out There and Back. |
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It's hard to be humble when you're a superstar DJ. It's particularly tough
when your talents are in demand at clubs and in studios worldwide.
It's almost impossible when you're the DJ-producer credited with
inventing the world's only true global music: trance, the beat-banging,
melodic and frequently anthemic offshoot of house music that can
be heard at clubs and raves from Goa to Italy, London to Sydney,
New York to Mexico City. But that's exactly what Paul van Dyk
is. Van Dyk -- the German producer who birthed a global phenomenon
with his first release (as "Vision of Shiva") in 1992, the DJ
who is a headlining fixture at clubs worldwide and at Germany's
massive annual music gathering, "The Love Parade" -- remains humble
before the revitalizing power of music.
Over the last year, van Dyk has been reminded just how powerfully revitalizing
music can be. Mired in career-stifling contract disputes with
former friends at his old record label, he sought solace in his
studio and found enough inspiration there for an entire new album:
Out There and Back, a melodic, sometimes melancholy trance
masterpiece that boldly reaffirms van Dyk's skills as a producer
and songwriter. It also tells a sweeping tale of heartbreak and,
ultimately, uplift. While dourness and globetrotting fatigue may
cloud the hit single "Tell Me Why," "Travelling" and "Avenue,"
songs like "Together We Will Conquer," "The Love From Above" and
-- the album's finale -- "We Are Alive" point the way to a bright
(and blessedly un-cheesy) future, for DJ and listener alike.
Stopping over in Miami, Fla., to participate in the Winter
Music Conference and to preview Out There and Back
for the dance music press in May, van Dyk had every reason to
crow, but he preferred to stick to his work. So while a boisterous
crowd of reporters, publicists, friends and fans downed drinks
and hors d'oeuvres at a Miami Beach penthouse while absorbing
the sounds of his new album, van Dyk eschewed the festivities
for promotional duties, seeking out the few quiet areas available
to speak to the press. And that's where RadioSpy caught up with
him -- on the back patio of his hotel suite, trusty minidisc recorder
in hand and maybe a few too many cocktails in our stomachs.
Sean Flinn:
Why don't you tell me a little bit about Out There and Back?
How long have you been working on it? What all went in to making
it?
Paul van
Dyk: I don't know if people in the states are aware of it, but
I had some legal problems with my label in Germany. So there's
actually a third album [other than Out There and Back and
van Dyk's 1996 release, Seven Ways] that was supposed to
be released last year but which couldn't come out. And after I
sort of had this frustration of working for a really long time
on an album and then finding out it's not coming out, I was pretty
down. And I was thinking to myself, "What's really important?"
And actually, for me, it is doing music. So I went straight back
to the studio and wrote a whole new album. I actually had 22 tracks
to choose from, which I was able to put 15 onto the album at the
end, and this is what we actually have now, on this album.
The title
actually is -- the more I traveled and the further I went away
from home, the more important this little small place that you
have as yours becomes. So the title became Out There and Back
[in reference to his journeying away from home and coming back],
and it's a very personal, intense and mature album, I would say.
So it's
reflecting on a lot of your frustration over the last year and
the elation of finding your way back into music?
I don't think
you actually feel the frustration. It's just that I learned a
lot of things about people, going through all of the things I
had to go through. I think this has made me a lot more mature,
and this is probably reflected in the album. I still believe that
although there is some sort of sad track -- or at least to me,
[the album] has a sad meaning because I made it in a moment when
I was pretty down -- it still has this, like, trinkly hope in
it. Always. I think this is very important, and once we sort of
compiled everything -- it's all mixed together, also [with no
breaks between songs] -- after we did this and were listening
to it, actually, it's a very positive record.
Yeah,
listening to it in the background out there [during the listening
party], it seemed very, very positive, but not in a cheesy fashion.
It's very
soulful, in a way, probably because it is even more personal than
previous [albums]. I sort of managed to get at what I was about
when I had an idea to write a track in a certain way. I was able
to get this across much better than I was with previous tracks.
If you
don't mind me asking you just a couple of follow-up questions
on that issue: What sort of legal problems did you have with you
other label in Germany, and are those others records ever going
to see release here in the U.S.?
Well, there
was this thing with the old label, MFS, always saying, "Yeah,
cool," here and there, and I was very naïve. Especially when you're
an artist, you don't really care about contracts; you don't really
have a clue. And, especially if you work with good friends, then
you don't expect them to put things in a contract that shouldn't
be there. So there were different opinions about different things
in contracts, and this actually was not possible to sort out through
the normal ways in which you should sort out problems. It went
in front of a judge, and he actually decided that I was full-on
in the right on the whole point. So, it had a positive end for
me, but I learned a lot about those sorts of things.
And the first
single from the new album, "Another Way," the reason why this
track is called "Another Way" is because, after this whole situation
happened, I was kind of thinking, "Who do I want to work with?"
And we used a different setup. We do everything in another
way now. This is why the track is actually called this. Everything
is different, much more effective, and because things are running
more effectively, things are smoother, and things are much more
enjoyable now than they've been before. So I have to say, I'm
very happy right now, with the album and this other thing [the
legal problem] finished. I'm very satisfied with the album, and
this is sort of the major part -- to convince myself.
Are you
happier in the studio making new music or out playing at clubs?
Or do you even distinguish between the two?
They're
both equally important, I would say. It is different. One thing
is, when I'm in the studio, I express myself as an artist. Usually
when I go in the studio, I have an idea of an atmosphere that
I would like to create -- never really a melody or a kind of track,
just this atmosphere that I would like to bring across. So this
is one thing, really sort of artistic. And [DJing] has a lot of
art to it too, but the most important part is the interaction
between the DJ and the crowd. The crowd and the reaction of the
crowd and the way the crowd just goes for it is at least as important
as the quality of the records that the DJ plays. So they're very
different, but they belong together for me. I wouldn't like to
miss one or the other.
Do you
ever test out your own tracks in front of a live audience?
All the time.
All the time. I always burn CDs of rough versions. And I'm not
checking too much to see if people like the tracks. Rather, [I'm
testing] the engineering points: if the bass drum is [correctly]
compressed, what the bass line level is, if the high-hat is too
loud or too soft, stuff like this. I do this all the time.
What do
you get out of attending and playing at events like the Winter
Music Conference?
The thing
is, there are a couple of really cool clubs down here in Miami
-- Groove Jet, Crobar, Shadow Lounge. So it's always fun to play
here anyway, if it is for the Winter Music Conference or not.
It doesn't matter in those terms. I like playing down here anyway.
And the other thing that's cool about the Winter Music Conference
is that people who you usually see at different places -- who
are all separated -- they're all here together. So you're actually
able, at one party, to celebrate with them all together, which
is really cool, and makes it more like a big gathering -- [everyone]
all together, having a good time. Business-wise, for me, as the
artist Paul van Dyk and also as the label manager of Vandit Records,
it doesn't make any sense for me. Because I'm signed worldwide,
and we have our deals worldwide, and the records we release, they
always find us anyway. So I don't need to run around at a convention
trying to pick up as many records as possible, trying to get the
big new anthem or something. We're not going for that. We just
release what we like, what we're into. So business-wise, for many
people, it's very important, but for the artist Paul van Dyk,
it's not.
When you're
not spinning, do you actually get to go out to some of the clubs
and see other DJs spin?
Well, I just
arrived yesterday, so the only thing I did was play my sets. I
didn't hear any other [DJs]. But see, we're here with a whole
bunch of people [at the listening party for Out There and Back],
so we'll see what we're going to do later on.
I was
checking out your Web site today in preparation for this interview,
and I was wondering how involved with that you are and how "wired"
you would consider yourself.
Well, the
thing is, that site you saw is still basically something you put
in between no Web site and the proper one.
A placeholder?
Yes. There's
already something to see, and you can check out things -- a couple
of links which are important. It does the job it has to do: It
gives information to the people, and also, there's a link to the
radio station [Fritz, a German radio station with an Internet
simulcast], and via the RealAudio player, you can listen to the
show on the Internet and stuff like that. So it does the job.
But we -- actually, they're working on it already; they're programming
it. It's going to be really cool. There's a new Web site coming
up. We're actually developing it in three stages, and the first
stage should be out very soon. I don't know exactly when, but soon.
…
Now, the
RealAudio station -- I noticed there was a link to the radio station
-- is that a radio station that you and your associates run especially
for the Internet or is it ...
No, no. It's
German state-owned radio. So it's huge. I think it's the second-biggest
radio station in Germany, and I have Wednesday nights; from 8
to 10 [11:00 AM - 1:00 PM Pacific Standard Time], I have my show,
which you can listen to live on the Internet. And all the playlists
you see on the Web site are from that radio show.
Do you
get much feedback from people who listen to the show on the Internet?
A lot, actually.
I get a lot of e-mails from Holland, France and other areas where
you can't listen to the show via air. So basically, they listen
to it through the Net, and we get a lot of e-mails -- requests
and stuff like that. So it's pretty international.
Do you
do any listening yourself on the Internet?
Well, the
thing is, I don't have as much time to spend on the Internet as
I would like to. I always have my laptop with me, and I mainly
use [the Internet] to be updated with the whole sort of release
business -- schedules via e-mail, really. And I use it more as
an information system really rather than for surfing around.
Excellent.
So, to wrap up, what can we expect from you in the wake of Out
There and Back's release?
Well, there
are a lot of plans, and I learned from working in this business
that you never really talk about things before they actually happen.
And there's a lot of very interesting things that I'm really looking
forward to, but, you know, again, we will announce them when it's
about time to do them.
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