ESSENTIAL MIX WITH PETE TONG & PAUL VAN DYK Broadcast 04/04/99 : 02:00 - 04:00 The Track Listings.... Pete Tong 2.00 - 3.00 History Of Disco - ?Love Tattoo? (Essential Recs) Boogie Monster - ?Armand Van Helden? (Ffrr Recs) Antione Clamaran/Disco Ep - ?Do The Funk? (Filtered Recs) Harry Choo Choo Romero - ?Hazin? & Phazin? (Subliminal) Harry Choo Choo Romero - ?Just Can?t Get Enuff? (Am:Pm) Bob Sinclar - ?The Ghetto? (Yellow Prods) Victor Imbres/Chris Smith - ?Bass Funk? (Sm:)e Recs) Mauro Picotto - ?Lizard? (VC Recs) Mario Piu - ?Unicorn? (London Recs) Orgy - ?Blue Monday? (F-111 Recs) Shake Your Head - ?Funky 4 Dinner? (White Label) DJ Dan - ?Needle Damage? (Moonshine Recs) Paul Van Dyk 3.00 - 4.00 HH - ?Ice Ep? (White Label) Z2 - ?I Want You? (Deep Blue Recs) Blank & Jones - ?Cream? (Deviant) Paul Van Dyk - ?For An Angel? (Mfs) Me - ?Ga? (White Label) Slick Mick - ?Middle? (White Label) Southside Spinners - ?Luvstruck? (White Label) 2 Digital - ?Because Of My Dreams? (White Label) DJ Tiesto & Ferry Corsten - ?Gouryella? (Tsunami) 2 Digital - ?Because Of My Dreams? (White Label) The Riddle (Top Secret) - ?Hush Hush? (Mystery Tune) Floorplay - ?One More Time? (B***H Recs) Hatious - ?Amber? (White Label) Paul Van Dyk has just had the biggest twelve months of his life. He has gone from being a hotly tipped new German DJ to becoming one of the most respected in the world with a shelf stacked with awards and a bag full of Top 30 tracks and remixes under his belt. Whilst he?s gained a reputation for being a workaholic his feet have remained firmly on the ground with an attitude that never goes near the ?don?t talk to me whilst I?m working? pompousness that big name jocks can sometimes have. He took ten minute out from mastering a new track to talk to us about growing up in East Germany and playing at an event as big as the Love Parade. You were brought up in Berlin in the seventies and eighties before the wall came down. Can you explain what that was like and what your first expose to dance culture was? It was a bit of a weird thing growing up in a communistic country. I was living without the things that western people are used to all the time but I was really lucky because my mum brought me up as a real cosmopolitan and I didn?t have to join in all the communistic bullshit. Fortunately we lived in East Berlin which meant that I could listen to the West Berlin radio station so I had access to good music, I just couldn?t buy it. So what was the music coming in from West Berlin via the radio that inspired you? I was and still am a big fan of New Order and the Smiths; I used to listen to them all the time. Then in about 1984 there was a show that played, what I called at the time, progressive dance music, also up front hip hop. This was how I got in touch with the new electronic movement. Sadly New Order are rarely cited as an influence by house DJs, as they aren?t quite as hip as Kraftwerk were. That?s right but to me they have been a much bigger influence than Kraftwerk even though New Order would probably say that Kraftwerk have influenced them. So when you first started out as a DJ what was your sound? I really liked the energy of the techno sound but I missed out on the deeper side that I used to have when I listen to the Smiths so I looked for a sound that was a mixture between the both of them. As soon as the wall came down I went sneaking around the record shops trying to find something that sounded like this, something that was a little more than just a bass, drum and hi-hat. When the wall came down was it a liberating feeling for you personally, did you feel that you could now begin the career that you always knew you were going to have? My mum and I were lucky; we left East Germany before the wall actually came down. I would say that the whole techno movement wouldn?t have happened on the scale that it has if the wall hadn?t come down. If I hadn?t moved I knew I would have done something anyway. Your sound has been the prevailing sound throughout UK clubs for the last twelve months. Why do you think there has been so much interest in it? I would disagree with you there. I wouldn?t even say that my sound has been the sound that has been the sound of the last twelve months. I think my music has its own signature, even the really early stuff from 1992. I take every track I do and every remix I do really seriously. I don?t have an engineer and because of this I have a really direct input into the music. There are lots of other people doing the same with their own music and making it their own. Your music does have a populist sound without really being pop music... I?m not making music just to be successful. When I wrote ?For An Angel? in 1994 I would never have imagined that it would become so big because at the time electronic music just wasn?t happening like it is now. In the track itself, the melody and the structure and the way the track works, it is like a pop song. But that?s not to say that I write it to be a pop song, it?s just the way it works. What is the key element to your DJ sets? The most important thing is the ability of the DJ to capture the atmosphere of the crowd and transform that and make something out of it. It doesn?t make sense just to go into a club and bang it out if the people aren?t up for it. That?s why I always have quieter records in my box, to be able to take it somewhere. Sometimes you go into a club and the people are dancing but they aren?t really going for it. The only thing to do is bring it down and then take it back up again. This is really important, to have interaction between the people. You've won a few awards in the last twelve months, which one has pleased you most? Being voted Number 6 in the ?Worlds Best DJs? was quite special. Because it was a vote from the readers, that made it special. When you travel and work as much as I do sometimes you begin to wonder whether it?s worth it. But when something like this happens it?s a bit of a bonanza. I am really thankful for it because it?s things like that that keeps you going. What other current DJs do you respect? That is hard to say because there are so many of them. Let?s just say that I really like DJs that have the ability to develop their own sound and most of them come from England. Can you explain what it is like DJing at the Love Parade? Big. And does that make it a better or worse gig to play? It is always special playing open air. It is even more special when you are playing at an event that is that big. Can you imagine the final manifestation at the end? The sound that the DJ plays is being played on the radio and every float has a radio on it so the same music is on all the floats which means one and a half million people are dancing to the same beat. When I played it I was so overwhelmed that I didn?t really realise it. It wasn?t until I saw the whole thing on TV that I got goose bumps. Does being a Berliner add a little extra to the day? Not necessarily because the Love Parade isn?t a Berlin thing, it is a global thing. Something like this could happen anywhere. How does the vibe at the Love Parade compare to Ibiza? I can?t really say because last year was the first time I played there regularly. I didn?t really get the chance to sample the vibe of the island because I literally just flew in, had something to eat, went to the club and caught a flight back the next day. You?re getting a bit of a workaholic; do you have a social life? Sometimes it is quite difficult, especially at the moment as I have some legal problems with my old record company that is delaying my new album. It?s causing a lot of hassle and a lot of stress. I am currently trying to set up my own label to develop new talent whilst managing with DJing and remixing so I have a lot on. Fortunately I have a good team behind me to back me up and somehow it works. So what are you going to do now, are you going to head of out and enjoy some of that Berlin sunshine now? I?d love to but I must get this track mastered, the minute I put this phone down I?m back to it. It?s a beautiful sunny day. I think it is the first day of summer, the kind of day when everyone enjoys themselves. Everyone is out there but I am half way through mastering a track so once the interview is over I have to go back to work.