DJ Tracklists and Cue Sheets
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Paul van Dyk / Biography
matthias paul, better known by his stage name Paul van Dyk (born December 16, 1971 in Eisenhüttenstadt, Brandenburg, German Democratic Republic) is a Grammy Award-nominated artist, and one of the world's leading electronic dance music DJs and producers. He was named "World's No.1 DJ" by DJ Magazine in both 2005 and 2006, and has remained in the "Top 10" since 1998. As of 2007, he has sold over 3 million albums worldwide.
A Trance producer in the early-late 1990s, Paul van Dyk quickly achieved popularity with his famous remix of Humate - Love Stimulation in 1993, and his hit single, Paul van Dyk - For An Angel, but in recent times he no longer likes to describe his music as Trance, but rather simply as Electronic dance music.
Paul van Dyk grew up in East Berlin in a single parent household; his father left him and his mother when he was only four years old. While living there, he worked as broadcast technician and began training to become a carpenter. Paul van Dyk claims his musical education came from radio. Because where he grew up there were no record stores at which to buy music, he kept in touch with the world beyond the Berlin Wall by secretly listening to the popular but forbidden Western radio stations RIAS (Radio in the American Sector) and SFB and mixtapes occasionally smuggled into the country and copied among school friends.
Shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall, van Dyk and his mother were given permission to leave East Germany and moved to Hamburg to live with his aunt. In 1990, Paul van Dyk moved back to Berlin. His first appearance as a DJ was in the Tresor in March 1991. A couple more dates followed and he was soon given the chance to perform at Juergen Kramer's famous Dubmission parties in the Turbine club, together with the highly popular young resident Kid Paul. The shows were called Paul vs. Paul. His mixing style drew the attention of Cosmic Baby and the two collaborated as The Visions Of Shiva. Their single "Perfect Day" was released by the renowned Berlin independent label MFS (Masterminded For Success) Records, run by English ex-patriat producer Mark Reeder and manager Torsten Jurk.
In February 1993, Paul van Dyk and Kid Paul hosted an installment of the weekly three-hour "HR3 Clubnight" radio show perform for a nationwide audience on German radio. The second and final Visions of Shiva single "How Much Can You Take?" was released, and Paul van Dyk and Cosmic went their separate musical ways. By late summer, Paul released his first DJ-mix compilation "X-Mix-1 - the MFS Trip" and remixed Humate's Trance hymn "Love Stimulation".
The growing popularity of the Dubmission parties forced venue changes, first to Cafe Moskau and then into the larger E-Werk where van Dyk began hosting regular MFS nights.
In 1994, Paul released The Green Valley EP, Pump This Party and Emergency 911. Meanwhile, MFS acquired many remixes for Paul van Dyk and Reeder's close friendship with artists such as New Order gave Paul van Dyk the opportunity to mix the track "Spooky" from the Republic album. Persuaded by Reeder, he finally recorded his debut LP 45 RPM with Johnny Klimek and VOOV. Reeder also compiled the album's running order and design, and chose the album's title as a reflection of the 45 rpm speed typical for dance vinyl.
Reeder compiled Seven Ways which established van Dyk as a Trance pioneer and was van Dyk's first real success in Britain. Reeder had successfully convinced his old friend Rob Deacon (formerly of Volume) to license the album for the UK and his new Deviant label. Seven Ways was voted the #1 album by readers of DJ Magazine.
In early 1997, Paul van Dyk began collaborating with U.S. music producer, BT. Together, they produced tracks such as BT - Flaming June, Paul van Dyk - Forbidden Fruit and BT - Namistai (1999). The singles Paul van Dyk - Forbidden Fruit and Paul van Dyk - Beautiful Place did not cause a great impact at first, but with the release of Seven Ways and "Paul van Dyk - Words" appearing at the height of the British superclub phenomenon, van Dyk's own material began to attract attention. "By the time they realised I was a German, it was too late!" van Dyk said. Paul van Dyk also remixed a well known early-90s track, Age of Love in 1997.
In 1998, 45 RPM was re-released in the UK and in the US. To mark the event, and in homage to the defunct E-Werk, Paul released a remix of Paul van Dyk - For An Angel. Van Dyk took up a residency at Sheffield's Gatecrasher and declared himself anti-drugs, which led to home-made "No E, Pure PvD" T-shirts, also a sly note to journalists that his surname contained no "E". In 1998, Paul remixed British Trance duo, Binary Finary's famous Binary Finary - 1998 single, which was a successful version that took Binary Finary to the top of the German Dance charts.
In mid-1998, Van Dyk left MFS Records and took a controlling share in the new label Vandit. In 2000, Paul flexed his skills with his melodic, dancefloor-friendly Paul van Dyk - Out There And Back, which included the hit single Paul van Dyk - Tell Me Why, a collaboration with Saint Etienne. It also included the European hit Paul van Dyk - We Are Alive, a remixed version of the Jennifer Brown song Alive. His first mix album The Politics of Dancing (2001) was followed by a world tour and a DVD release Global (2003) and the Mexican film "Zurdo", for which van Dyk composed the soundtrack.
Reflections (2003) derived from van Dyk's trips to India, was a more melancholy affair, and includes the single Paul van Dyk - Nothing But You, a collaboration with Hemmstock & Jennings. It was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Electronic Album. The mix album The Politics of Dancing 2 (2005) was preceded by a single Paul van Dyk - The Other Side, featuring Wayne Jackson; a song dedicated to the victims, and their families, of the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake and the subsequent tsunami that struck Thailand on December 26, 2004.
Paul van Dyk released his fifth studio album, In Between, worldwide on August 14, 2007. The album, which he created over a three-year period, debuted at number #115 on the Billboard 200 and #2 on the Billboard's Top Electronic Albums and Top Heatseekers. The album also reached #16 on the Mexican Albums Chart and #5 on the Mexican International Chart. The album was released accompanied by a special edition limited to two thousand copies which included a mixed version of the full album, along with an eight-track bonus CD and an eight-page photo anthology.
The album was produced primarily by Paul van Dyk himself, and features a wide range of collaborators including David Byrne of Talking Heads, Jessica Sutta of the Pussycat Dolls, Ashley Tomberlin from Luminary, Alex M.O.R.P.H., Lo Fi Sugar, Rea Garvey of Reamonn, Ryan Merchant and Wayne Jackson. It also features a vocal sample from Ben Lost from Probspot's "Blows My Mind" on the song "Another Sunday". In June 2007, Paul van Dyk embarked on the worldwide "In Between Tour" to promote the album.
In May 2008, Paul van Dyk set up a remix competition with digital download network Beatport.com, inviting aspiring producers to remix his single Paul van Dyk - Far Away which appeared on his 2007 album 'In Between'. Paul has recently appeared as one of the DJs at Trance Energy 2009.
He is married to Natascha van Dyk, who also appears on some of his releases (vocals on "Together We Will Conquer"). The two were married in Cancún, Mexico.
