-Emily TanPaul Van Dyk has always had a special relationship with New York. For Paul, playing to New York crowds has never been “just another gig.” This being the fourth consecutive year that PVD has played Central Park SummerStage (a Made Event) the bar has been set higher than ever before in terms of production. Van Dyk himself has a few surprises in store, and the anticipation is palpable as the August 18th and 19th dates draw near. (The second SummerStage date was added to accommodate overwhelming demand.) Both New York dates will be sold out.
Click here for tickets.An uncompromising electronic music DJ/producer of international fame, Paul Van Dyk has had a love affair with New Yorkers since his earliest days playing Disco 2000 at Limelight, but it was during his now-legendary residency at Manhattan club, Twilo, that this love affair blossomed into a legitimate bond. His affinity with New York’s savviest dance music lovers continued to grow in the ensuing years as the quality of his shows matured in sophistication.
[Editor’s Note: Stay tuned for an exclusive Clubplanet behind-the-scenes “production diary” with Mike Bindra of Made Event in the coming weeks.] Paul is thrilled with the launch of his “new baby,” the Internet radio station-slash-download site,
Vonyc. With all of the projects on his plate and the constant touring--a full schedule of his fall tour, including a romp through Texas and California in September, appears at the bottom of this interview–-it’s a wonder that he finds time to create new music at all. He is, in fact, working furiously on his new artist album (his last album was
Reflections, and his latest compilation is
Politics of Dancing 2) which is due for release in the spring of 2007. And he'll also be touring
In this candid interview exclusively for Clubplanet with
DJ Times writer Emily Tan, Paul Van Dyk discusses what’s on his mind and gives readers a glimpse of where he’s going next.
Emily Tan: Congratulations on adding the second Central Park SummerStage date! What can fans expect this year that’s different from the last three years?Paul Van Dyk: Well, the past three years have been always different from each other because of the production and such. We had a little surprise performance of “The Other Side” last year with Wayne Jackson, for example. Since it’s a surprise, I’m not gonna reveal what’s so special for this year. [laughs] My perspective is always the musical one, so if I talk about surprises, it’s always about the musical aspect.
Vonyc.com is your baby. What’s so special about it?PVD: Vonyc.com is our download site; it’s an online radio where you can listen to the latest electronic songs. The best in electronic, as we call it. The “Vonyc Sessions” is a weekly outtake of the best of electronic music.
Does the Vonyc.com website carry music that people would expect to hear in a Paul Van Dyk DJ set, such as tracks signed exclusively to you label, Vandit?
PVD: Not necessarily. The Vonyc side is open to all sorts of electronic music; it just has to have a high quality level. All the Vandit things are on there, but we also have deep, electro stuff, like from Armada and AnjunaBeats. The whole reason we started the Vonyc site was because there were always complaints from the music industry about illegal file-sharing, but I always said you cannot blame people for it. I said that 99% of electronic music only comes-out on vinyl, so you have to wait until someone rips it and uploads it to the Internet. Labels’ only option is to release it legally.
I thought, “What would I like to have?” I‘d like to be able to listen to music, so you can sample every single track when you go into the search function on Vonyc. It’s also about the radio function: It’s a 24/7 radio that always plays the latest electronic music, and whatever you like, you can click on a button and you can download it. We’re targeting the music that’s really demanded, the big things that are being played in the clubs, but we also have the very small, underground house labels.
We saw early-on that most likely if you download it, you’ll probably have it before the DJs have it. We get pretty much double the amount of music now; we get two CDs of everything. One for me, one for the site.
Judge Jules has his own music store, where he makes available for download most of the custom-edited tracks he plays out. Is Vonyc characterized by having the “Paul Van Dyk sound”?PVD: Actually, I’m not even deciding what’s played. I have a very good team sitting there that’s basically very good at analyzing huge potential, like, “Here, this is a great track!” We get so many demos from young talent that don’t even have a label, so these artists get very early exposure right away. I’m not really artistically that much controlling it, at all. These are tracks that are very interesting, be it something bleepy or very happy or very heavy, all sorts of stuff. They do a really good job at compiling a great variety of sounds. It’s already a few of the tracks that started to become big in the clubs, and we had them first. I played them in my sets.
When iiO’s “Rapture” first got into your hands four or five years ago, you played that song in every set for several weeks, maybe a few months. A global DJ of your stature can surely make-or-break a new track or a new artist. Is that something you’re trying to do with Vonyc, help break new artists?PVD: Well…there’s a track by Emjay called “Real High” that I play in my sets. It’s not even out yet, but I’ve seen people holding-up signs at shows asking me to play it. [laughs]
Holding-up signs? People bring signs to a club?PVD: [laughs] Yeah, well…they cannot request something, so sometimes they hold signs up.
How is your Vonyc.com site different or better than other sites like iTunes, Beatport, Rhapsody, or JudgeMusic.net?PVD: It’s difficult to say one’s better. It has to do with your own personal tastes, to some extent. If you like one radio station more than another, you’d like one download site more than another. We have the most variety, and the other thing is, some of those download sites have the feeling that they have all the B-sides that in earlier years wouldn’t even have been released on vinyl. We don’t put just the B-sides; we have also the A-sides, full-on.
We also have different formats, like a high-quality MP3 or a rough .AIFF file. We send the files directly to you. The biggest thing is, you click on the site and you can hear radio playing while reading this article, and click! You can just buy a track you hear. We have a great search function where you can search by labels, by artists, by tracks, and we have pre-listening functions, as well.
Whereas Beatport was initially targeted to DJs, are you targeting Vonyc to non-DJs, as well?PVD: Yes, Vonyc is for everyone. As I’ve always said, I don’t have a really big clue about the Internet. I said, “Make it very simple and what I like to have.” I like to listen to the best electronic music 24-hours-a-day, and if I hear something I want, I wanna have it with me to listen to in the car, portable, wherever. The downloading, it was my idea.
Did you have to create proprietary technology to allow users to buy and download music while it’s playing?PVD: Actually, yes. We developed a very interesting thing with the Fraunhofer Institute here in Germany. They are the ones who developed the regional MP3 compression system. With them, we developed a new watermark sign, which, even if you copy it to a different format, your IP information is stored in the file…
So, you could track someone who’s making illegal copies and take legal action?PVD: Well, I would actually first call them and ask them if they really wanna kill their own favorite music. If you’re an artist who is not able to have their own day job, this is when the music dies.
I wrote an op-ed piece for Clubplanet a few years ago defending musicians and producers and taking a stance against unauthorized file-sharing. I actually got a lot of angry mail from kids on college campuses who couldn’t understand why they had to pay for copyrighted music. This is back when illegal file-sharing was running rampant.PVD: Well, things are changing. Even if you download Robbie Williams, one of the main characteristics of the music industry is the co- and sub-financing system: With the record sales of Robbie Williams, the record company now sends a new, cool artist up for development who might not have had a chance! That’s the biggest mistake the music industry ever made; they never tried to explain that to kids who were file-sharing.
Attitudes are changing for the better…PVD: Yes, the bigger picture looks very different. I have the feeling that people understand much more nowadays.
I caught your gig at the Roseland Ballroom just over four months ago, and that show was a significant improvement in terms of my clubbing experience as compared to your previous shows at the Roxy. You were also the first electronic music DJ to play at Central Park SummerStage. How do you feel about being one of the first DJs to have paved the way for dance music in non-club settings?PVD: It’s not just me; it’s just as much Made Event, Mike Bindra and his team who made all these things possible. I’m very proud I was the first one who was able to present electronic music in Central Park at SummerStage. I know that whenever I play in New York City, but also in Central Park, it’s not just another gig for me, like it might be to some of my colleagues. We put a lot of planning, a lot of effort, a lot of time into the shows. It’s a very special thing. For me, I have that very special relationship with New York City since the early-‘90’s and Disco 2000 at Limelight, Twilo, and times like that. I’m trying to put on the best show we can, together with Made Event. It’s like with the Love Parade in Berlin; I hope people will always think of SummerStage as the “regional Love Parade.”
You’ve already played the biggest and best clubs in Manhattan. Are you trying to broaden your appeal to a wider audience by playing SummerStage? I remember moms with their kids dancing-around during your set just outside the walls of SummerStage, last year. They could still hear the music because the venue was not enclosed.
PVD: Maybe next time they will be inside! [laughs] It’s in the interest of the artist to reach always a wider audience with my music, of course, but at the same time, I would never make any compromises with the music I make or event that we produce. This is a full-on electronic show with electronic music. If new people discover it, they’re welcome to join-in, but we’re not going to change anything. It is for us, people who love this music.
This is why people love you!PVD: You know, I am extremely passionate about electronic music, and I love it. I know a lot of people feel exactly the same way. These are the people we do it for. Then again, because it is so intense and people are so extremely loving it, once someone lets them into it, they love it just as we do.
You’re often ranked as “#1 DJ” by various DJ-polls. How do you feel about those polls?PVD: I don’t know, it gives me a different feeling. One thing is, it makes me proud, especially from where I came, to be able to travel all around the world and play my favorite music for people and people appreciating it. At the same time, it makes me really thankful for all that. My main priority is always music and the presentation. If people appreciate it, that’s great. But I totally believe there wouldn’t be a “#1 DJ” unless there were the other 99.
Where have you been touring, so far, this year?PVD: Pretty much everywhere! This year already, I’ve been to South America, Australia, all over Europe, Israel, Beirut, Dubai and Bahrain in the Arabic world. I’ve already covered the planet since January. I never really think about it. When you asked me, I’m like, Damn, I’ve already been to Australia! [laughs] As I always say, the process of traveling is really tiring and annoying. Sitting on a plane, going through security…but actually arriving and doing the show…I have to say, I’m in a very lucky situation and I always get a great response. That gives me energy back.
You’ve always said that you feed-off of the energy from the crowd…PVD: Yeah, although there are also times when I’d fall asleep if I sat down because I’m so tired…
How many flights do you take each year? Two-hundred? PVD: More.
More than 200 flights-a-year?PVD: Yeah, when you count all the connections. I have this super-duper special club by Lufthansa because of all my traveling. It’s not always a long haul, but a lot of times it’s quite hectic. It really gets you.
Being an international DJ is not all glamour and luxury.PVD: One weekend I’m in Asia, then the next weekend in the States, then in Australia and South America, and then it’s Europe. It’s really exhausting. But, I’m in a really fortunate position to be able to do that. It’s not always as golden as people would like to look at, the glamorous jet-set life that people like to see, but it’s the best thing in the world.
You’re still excited about DJing after all these years?
PVD: I get really even more excited! The thing is, for a long time, the technology side of things, like records for example, I got good at it. No train-wrecks, but there was a point where it didn’t go further. Then came the external effects, then the whole third-generation of studio technology equipment came into the whole DJ world and it gave a whole new possibility. Especially since I make my own music in the studio and I know how it works. Now, it’s much more exciting.
Are you still DJing with Final Scratch?PVD: No, I’m far away from that. I’m using two computers, now. One is using Serato Scratch Live using time-coded CDs. Then I have another computer that works with Ableton Live with all of my sequences and elements. I have a keyboard with me that’s like, record-play-loop-play. The keyboard is the EMU that records and plays back sequences. That’s in sync with the system that I play on a keyboard. I have other controllers to make everything work more effectively. I’m like, playing tracks completely different from how they are.
Such as taking the bass from one track, the melody from another, and the acapella from a third? You have such great productions, though.PVD: Well, sometimes I do play them straight-up because people want that. Most of the time I don’t even play records straight-up. It’s a little bit like when I did [both] Politics of Dancing [compilations], only now it’s live.
Are you playing any vinyl anymore?PVD: No, not at all. I’m driving the DJ software with time-coded CDs, and that’s much more reliable than the translation of time-code via analog needles into the digital system. I had too many problems with vinyl, like Final Scratch was, because it just wasn’t reliable.
Are you still DJing with the Pioneer CDJ-1000s?PVD: Yes, they’re the best. They’ve become the most common. I’m still playing with two CDJ-1000s because it’s like two inputs into the program.
What DJ mixer are you using now?PVD: Because of my set-up, I have the Xone:3D by Allen & Heath. It just came out. It’s a combination of a controller and a mixer, so a lot of the things I program, I can do through MIDI-sends and -returns on the mixer in real-time. I bring it with me.
When is your new album coming out?PVD: Well, when I’m not traveling, I’m in the studio. It’s due to be released in March of 2007 and it’s an artist album. It’s too early for the title, but I’m making music now, and I have a pretty clear idea of what it’s going to be called, but I don’t want to reveal it yet. I’m very excited about this album.
I can’t wait! Are you excited for SummerStage?PVD: I’m absolutely excited! I’m really happy to be in New York City again and play at Central Park SummerStage. I hope that all the surprises that I have planned go over as well as I hope they will. See you at the shows…
VONYC SESSIONS US & SA TOUR DATESAug 18 Central Park New York, NY
Aug 19 Central Park New York City, NY
Aug 24 Cream Ibiza
Aug 28 Opera House Bournemouth
Sep 7 Cream Ibiza
Sep 9 Shanes Castle Belfast
Sep 13 The Warehouse Houston, TX
Sep 14 Club Blue, Dallas Dallas, TX
Sep 15 The Vanguard Los Angeles, CA
Sep 16 1015 Folsom San Francisco, CA
Sep 21 Cream Ibiza
Sep 29 Sala Polivalenta Bucharest
Oct 7 Congress Theater Chicago, IL
Oct 26 The Church Denver, CO
Oct 28 Los Angeles Sports Arena Los Angeles, CAFor more on PVD, click here for his official site.Photo Credits: Photos 1, 2, and 5 from top to bottom - Olaf Heine; photos 3 and 4 - KrisKat, Afterglow Pix.