From the 2000s Archives: I sat down with Paul Van Dyk during his album tour in Miami to talk about his music and what he sees while traveling the world. What he said then is just as relevant to the world of electronic music now.
PVD on instagram
For decades, Paul Van Dyk has been building a career and a sound in electronic music that is recognized all over the world. His travels have given him a unique perspective on the reach and power of electronic music, and the role economics plays in the places he performs. I sat down with PvD during the listening party at Social for his upcoming album, ‘In Between’:
Electronic music speaks to people in a different way, compared to pop music, jazz, rock, etc. As the recently voted number one DJ in the world, what does it say to you, that worldwide, you’re speaking to that many people on that level?
Well, it’s great, it just shows how great the music really is, its connecting people all over the world. Electronic music is the only true global music. Wherever you go in the world, you find people completely dedicated and crazy about this music. This music is the only music that can do that. It’s difficult to say why, it just is that way.
It seems that there could be a certain formula to influence people’s emotions; you can have a certain tempo to make a crowd excited, one to make them relaxed. Is there a formula in your experience?
I wouldn’t say it’s a formula, definitely if something is faster it can be more breathtaking than if its slower. I think the formula is how intense the music is, how you get the music across, the feeling across. If you want to have it full-on energetic and crazy, of course it will come across a little more aggressive, than something that we’re listening to right now (new In Between album).
Yeah, this track is very relaxed, very chill. Do current events influence the feel of a project you’re working on in any given year?
Well, all the tracks on the album have their own story. The album is called in between because I think we are in between somehow, you know? We are in between what’s going on with globalization, are we able to actually make sure that the people that cannot follow globalization don’t fall over.
Can we do that? Climate change, what’s going to happen? We’re in between big changes on this planet. Since I travel all the time, I have experiences from all over the world. Everything I see is inspiring somehow, and it ends up in my music. That’s why the album is called what it is.
Speaking of your travels, how did your trip to India influence your 2003 ‘Reflections’ album?
Well the thing is that when I went to India. I was just talking to someone about how its weird that you have this glitzy fun world, exciting music going on, and you have so many other things going on, like the war. It’s weird.
India was one of those experiences. It was very glitzy, fun, you know? All the Bollywood celebrities, it was crazy fun, and at the same time, the poverty I saw was unthinkable. I went through the German consulate and basically asked for a connection with a charity organization while I was in India. Ever since, I’ve been supporting Akancha, a charity organization in Bombay. It was kind of an initial kick in my ass to move and do something.
And you recently went to Cuba for a photo shoot in Havana, what did you see there?
Well, to be honest, I’m scared that if Cuba opens up, without protection of the Cubans, there’s going to be a lot of damage done to the country. You know we’ve been to houses of people…they could never have afforded these beautiful houses if they open up the country, and the rich come over and spend a million, or two million on the house. Then these people have to leave. And where do they go?
So, you know, it’s not all black and white, of course it’s not good that the country is so isolated, and the Cubans themselves don’t have the chance to speak for themselves. But at the same time, we should be very careful. It’s a real pearl in the Caribbean; this island is just beautiful, just fantastic places. This country needs help, so we should go ahead and help them.
They’re definitely not a threat to anyone and I think definitely the policies of the western world towards Cuba should change, and not to forget that Fidel Castro won’t be around for much longer. It’s just a beautiful place, and we all should make sure that this country isn’t overrun by the bad capitalists.
Some would argue they’re all bad.
I don’t think so. I think there are good issues about capitalism, the whole open market, and the possibilities for everyone to actually make something of their lives. But at the same time, it is important to give something back, you know? I truly believe that when it’s connected with capitalism, democracy is a good thing. Because at the end of the day, democracy is about if you see something is wrong in your neighborhood, go ahead and change it.
The people have the power to fix it.
Exactly, and that’s something that rich people have to do as well as poor people, you know? It’s our society; it’s the world we live in. Of course there are people that are having more luck in their lives than others, but we always have to make sure that the people who don’t have so much luck don’t fall down.
Absolutely. In terms of the music, do people in Cuba have the access to the music?
Strangely enough, a few people I worked with over there knew who I was, they knew my music, so there must be some ways for them. There was a black market in East Germany where I grew up, so I’m pretty sure there’s one in Cuba.
Yeah, I read that growing up, you were listening to mix tapes that your friends got a hold of. Thinking back to then, how much has the music changed?
Drastically. The technology that evolved behind electronic music, its crazy. It’s a different world now. It’s helped as well, to be more creative. You don’t need to figure out how to create a sound, instead you have a sound, and you can do something creative with it, and much quicker. Therefore, it’s easier now, much more creative, and better.
Given the reach the internet gives you, compared to the past when you first started, knowing you have the potential to reach a billion people, how does that influence your creativity, knowing the reach you have now versus back then?
It doesn’t actually influence my creativity, because you are creative, or you’re not creative, whether you have the internet or you don’t have it. What the net does is that it speeds up processes, like the collaboration for example. I can do something, send it over, they do something, send it back. It gives great possibilities to actually collaborate together, even if one person lives in India and the other person lives in New York.
This is a question that I like to ask a lot because of the range of answers: Do you experience a change in the way you perform in a different country, change the music to match the different crowds you find in different countries?
Yes, but you don’t even have to look that far. If you go to Mansion or you go to Space, two different clubs in Miami, same city, completely different crowd, completely different atmosphere. You don’t even need to look that far, you know?
The thing is, as a DJ, at least this is my, call it philosophy, I have a very clear idea about my own sound and the music I like to bring across. And it’s always about the interaction with the crowd. So if I play at Mansion, the interaction would be different than at Space, so it would be different, but the music would still be recognizable as PvD.
