Paul van Dyk: It's not about the past... its about the here and now

DJs simply don't come bigger than Paul Van Dyk. As one of the dominating forces in electronic music for the last twenty plus years, Paul van Dyk constantly appears at the zenith of the DJing hierarchy, staying on the cutting edge of dance music's evolution through his own productions and the material pushed out on his iconic Vandit record label. His Politics of Dancing tour is now in its third semester and has seen the German DJ tour the entire globe, from Argentina to Australia and everywhere in between.

Paul Van Dyk Live

Paul found five minutes in his busy schedule to chat to Mike Warburton about his upcoming arrival at Gatecrasher's 20th Birthday in Birmingham, to talk about the importance of Gatecrasher, new developments in his Vandit imprint, and find out more behind the idea for 'Politics of Dancing'.

Hi Paul! Thanks for finding time to chat to us today.

My pleasure.

So first of all, Gatecrasher’s 20th Birthday is not too far away now, are you looking forward to headlining there? Does Gatecrasher hold special memories for you?

It’s a very special occasion for me. I mean, from back in the day in Sheffield where I played five hour sets to a crazy and enthusiastic crowd, there was nothing like it. It holds a lot of amazing memories. It’s great that the brand is still going strong, and I’m happy I’ve been invited!

Are you planning anything special for the Gatecrasher Birthday? Will you be playing a set of classics or brand new stuff?

The thing is, Gatecrasher is not just about the past, it’s not about what happened five, ten or twenty years ago, it is about the here and now. I want to play a set that is up to date and reflective of where the scene is heading at the moment, and play some of the music that I’m passionate about, which I’m really excited to do.

Where else have you enjoyed playing recently?

Well I am here in Buenos Aires at the moment and I have enjoyed some amazing shows here. The crowd have been incredible, their response and passion worked together with the driving electronic music I was playing to move the whole thing forward into something special.

I love when the crowd works together with the DJ and drive the music together, it’s what creates that magic that can’t be found elsewhere. It makes you really feel there, and alive!

Paul Van Dyk & Giuseppe Ottaviani 'La Dolce Vita'

We recently spoke with Giuseppe Ottaviani about your label Vandit which has seriously pushed forward recently. How has the label changed since you started it and what future productions can we look forward to?

The label has gone through many different stages of development as is natural. In between I’ve enjoyed working on a new venture with Giuseppe, which we have just finished and I’m really excited about. Now I’m going through a phase of, I guess you’d say restructuring, to where I think the label should be.

What has me most excited is the many up and coming artist that we have now, and the many new tracks that are ready to be released. It is a really exciting time for Vandit at the moment and I’m really looking forward to the next few months!

Are there any young up and coming producers that have particularly caught your eye recently?

We have a huge amount of young talent at the moment, people like Maarten De Jong are creating great stuff that is helping to move the scene forward in exciting directions. There are many more but too many to mention!

Tell us about the idea behind ‘Politics of Dancing’? What has been particularly special about number three?

Well, the first one was actually a political movement, a reaction to what was happening in the US at the time. The authorities were coming down on promoters and club nights because of the music, and I wanted to show that what they were doing could not be tolerated.

This is not just music to dance to, this is music that can unite people, it's cultural. It doesn't matter what race you are from, it's peaceful, and it's unifying. So the initial idea for Politics of Dancing was born and it has continued until today, proving that what we play is more than just club music to get people dancing, it goes much deeper than that.

Finally, what is your favourite Gatecrasher moment?

Ah there have been so many in the past its hard to name just one! But I remember one in particular that made number two in the top 100 list of most amazing nights ever. I played a six hour set and the whole night was just incredible! But like I said there were so many its hard to choose.

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Like this? Read our interview with Paul's Vandit label mate Giuseppe Ottaviani here.

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