Paul Van Dyk On George W , Cannibals & Living in A Dictatorship “I don’t think anyone seriously believes that all of us in Germany are potential cannibal killers. That guy was one geek, one freak; every country in the world has its weirdoes. And in some countries those weirdoes are even President.” Germany’s biggest superstar DJ Paul Van Dyk paid little attention to the recent court case of infamous cannibal killer Armin Meiwes, though stories about Presidential weirdoes are a different matter. Recently installed as the first non-American to join voter registration drive Rock The Vote, he’s as politically astute as he’s gloriously outspoken, revelling in using the opportunities his music’s brought him, to express himself as much as he can. “I still think you’re able to say what you think in The States though it’s a little bit more dangerous than it was five years ago,” he tells Skrufff. “But at least you still can and that wasn’t possible in East Germany in the past.” Growing up in Communist led East Germany in the 80s (under a regime he unequivocally brands a dictatorship), the teenage Berliner experienced life under tyranny first-hand, particularly after his Mother applied to leave the country in 1986 (some three years before the regime collapsed as the Berlin Wall fell). Branded subversives and placed under Stasi (secret police) surveillance, the 14 year old enjoyed cat and mouse games with the police, simultaneously developing a genuine appreciation of democratic values, notably the importance of freedom of speech. “Maybe I’m outspoken about my political views and about my stance as a democratic person because I saw what a dictatorship was like as a teenager,” he suggests. “Because I saw what life was like, living with no basic rules of democracy; when you couldn’t vote and everything was done the way the authorities said it should be done, you had no choice.” 15 years since the Berlin Wall fell, he’s become one of the world’s most popular (and successful) DJs, enjoying riches and acclaim far beyond his wildest dreams, though he attributes his mammoth success to his abiding passion for music. “When it comes down to music, I’m a total geek, I love electronic music and I give everything for my music, I think this comes across and lots of people appreciate it, “ he says. “To do something with substance you always have to put your heart into it.” Skrufff (Jonty Skrufff): You’re shortly re-releasing your latest album Reflections with a new remix bonus CD included, how pleased are you with its performance so far? Paul Van Dyk: “I’m very pleased, on the one hand it’s already my most successful album, it’s been top 10 in Germany and has been very well received in the US too. People also seem to have appreciated the fact that I took elements from other genres and incorporated them into my music as well the fact that I included more serious issues with my lyrics.” Skrufff: You’re one of the world’s biggest name DJs, is the goal to replicate that level of success as a producer? Paul Van Dyk: “I wouldn’t complain with where I’m at now, because I’m one of the few people that can go anywhere in the world and find at least a few thousand people there that are interested in what I do. This is something that I find amazing and major. But I don’t really define success by how many people recognise me on the street or by what kind of chart position I achieve. Success to me is when I’m able to translate my ideas into music and reach people with it. From that perspective I have to say I’m very successful in what I do because obviously there are quite a lot of people on this planet who enjoy electronic music, and also enjoy in particular, the kind of electronic music that I make.” Skrufff: Does the term ‘underground’ have any meaning for you? Paul Van Dyk: “Underground means underground (chuckling). At the beginning of the 90s there was this weird separation between those being called underground and others labelled commercial but neither term really reflected on how necessary the music was that was being made. Lots of ‘underground’ records basically consist of a few bass drums and a hi-hat, which can be interesting but most of the time they’re not. Then people use the term ‘commercial’ to put a negative slant on music, though I’ve never done that. Because firstly as an artist, I try to reach as many people as possible, which is the goal of any artist. And secondly, I love electronic music so much that I hope to see electronic music expanding into all different areas of music, wherever. So for me it was never a question of underground or overground, it was about good or bad music.” Skrufff: Ferry Corsten said recently ‘the biggest threat to dance music is that everybody wants to be too cool’, would you agree? Paul Van Dyk: “Let me give you an example; take the UK club scene. There was a huge slowdown with their clubs in recent years and I always said it’s been home grown and homemade. In Germany, in comparison, we have quite a strict separation between discoteques and clubs, whereas in the UK I didn’t really see that happening. Discoteque music that would never be played in a quality club in Germany, at one point starting having huge exposure in the UK in big time clubs. So some of my DJ colleagues became more and more commercial because they didn’t really understand the music with all their hearts, so they just played the music that they thought the people wanted to hear. But moving in the opposite direction was just as bad, ie those DJs who started playing the music they called ‘progressive’. By doing that, they lost all the fun in the music and ended up playing really boring stuff. I’m not interested in listening to a track for 15 minutes in which nothing happens, then thinking that’s really cool- it doesn’t make any sense. Then suddenly there was that issue of image, of people saying ‘I’m this or I’m that’ (genre), and all that kind of bullshit in the dance community, which never previously existed. I never was a part of that, I never projected some kind of image, I’ve always been just the way I am and people have to accept it or not. There are probably people out there who think I’m very cool and others who think I’m totally uncool, I don’t really care. Not everyone likes what Madonna’s doing but she still has a lot of fans. For me, it’s not a question or being cool or not cool the question is ‘for what reason are you in this business?’ If the answer is because of anything other than music, then you should leave the business.” Skrufff: You’re the best-known DJ to be involved in America’s Rock The Vote election campaign, despite being German, why do you think they asked you? Paul Van Dyk: “I think one of the reasons was because they knew I’m politically active and I say what I think; that when it comes down to politics, I actually take a stand rather than just shutting my mouth. For an organisation like Rock The Vote you need someone like that, someone who’s prepared to stand up and say ‘it doesn’t make any sense to sit in front of a TV, moaning about how bad Bush is then not voting’. On the other hand, it was very surprising that they asked me, given that I’m a German. I’m the first foreigner ever to be involved in the campaign. All the tours and gigs I do this year are going to be under the Rock The Vote banner and we’re going to have registration booths at the gigs, so people can register themselves, while they’re at the clubs. I think it’s an important project.” Skrufff: American authorities have also been criminalizing club culture via policies such as the RAVE act, why do you think that’s happening? Paul Van Dyk: “The RAVE act is a very unconstitutional law, though I wouldn’t even call it a ‘law’ because you can’t make someone liable for something that was done on their property. If you can then that means if someone is doing something wrong in a Hilton Hotel ,for example, then the Hilton sisters can go to jail. That’s pretty much what the RAVE Act says. Right now, I don’t know any cases going on where a promoter or club owner has been charged under that law. I’m sure that the moment they start using it, they’ll be a huge outrage with lots of lawyers getting involved, wanting to defend the club owner, because this is going to go to the highest court in the States and I’m pretty sure they’re going to rule it out. Because there’s still some democracy left in that country.” Skrufff: You grew up in Communist East Germany and were under surveillance for four years, do you see any parallels between the Bush administration and the East Germany of old? Paul Van Dyk: “It was completely different. Firstly, there wasn’t such a thing as democracy in East Germany at all; it was a dictatorship. I still think you’re able to say what you think in the States though it’s a little bit more dangerous than it was five years ago. But you still can and that wasn’t possible in East Germany. But maybe this is why I’m outspoken about my political views and about my stance as a democratic person- it’s because I saw how what a dictatorship was like as a teenager. I saw what life was like, living with no basic rules of democracy; when you couldn’t vote and everything was done the way the authorities said it should be done, you had no choice. I don’t know what is more dangerous.” Skrufff: You’re family was under Stasi (secret police) surveillance when you were aged between 14 and 17 after your Mother applied to leave East Germany, did you notice being watched? Paul Van Dyk: “As a kid it was like playing a game of cat and mouse, it had a fun element to it as well, because being young you don’t get the whole picture of what was going on. My Mum quite often pointed things out, for example, there was an apartment across the street from us and for some reason they had this weird mirror set up by their window where they could see who was going in and out of our door. Stuff like that went on all the time and it was quite obvious, they didn’t really make any effort to hide it.” Skrufff: Were you questioned by the secret police at any time? Paul Van Dyk: “We had to go randomly to the Ministry of Internal Affairs which was the official constitutional headquarters of the Stasi- the secret service. We were questioned regularly- Why did we want to leave the country? Who were our friends inside the country and outside the country? All that kind of stuff. That happened randomly though regularly.” Skrufff: Have you found yourself under surveillance in the West at all, or had problems with immigration officials in the States for example, given your outspokenness? Paul Van Dyk: “I don’t think it has anything to do with me being outspoken, or that they recognise me at the border and give me special harsh treatment. Though since the Republicans started governing the States it’s become much more difficult to get into The States. You need at least two hours for immigration and it’s definitely more difficult than it used to be, that’s for sure. I remember once when my wife and I were travelling there, having a problem in New York, which is a place where you’d expect them to be more open-minded and used to foreigners. The woman behind the Immigration desk was really rude to everyone and my wife came up to the desk and said to her, very friendly ‘Hello’ and she just grunted. My wife asked her ‘why are you so unfriendly, we’re just visitors, we just want to see your country?’ and they basically held her back at Immigration, for more than two hours. Things like this have started happening more.” Skrufff: Have you had many similar hold ups yourself? Paul Van Dyk: “The last big queue I faced was for over four hours, in Houston. I missed three connecting flights and almost missed the last connection to make my gig. Things like this make you wonder. I understand they have this control freak mentality because of what happened (on 911) but I think they should channel that in the right direction. None of those people (the hijackers) went through normal immigration. They were already in The States, studying there, they weren’t visitors.” Skrufff: Ronald Reagan started his career as an actor; do you see yourself becoming a politician at some point in the future? Paul Van Dyk: “I don’t think I’m patient enough. When I see something as being perfectly logical if I try to explain it to someone and they say ‘I don’t get it’ then I don’t have the patience to keep on explaining. I don’t know if I’d make a good politician to be honest, it’s not my goal either. I try to do something in my immediate day to day world and through the charity organisations I’m involved in in India, also here in Germany and even in Iraq. I try to involve myself directly, Rock The Vote is another outlet.” Skrufff: How comfortable are you with making massive amounts of money these days? Paul Van Dyk: “I come from East Germany and I remember times when I was earning 5 Deutsch marks (US$5) a week, having to decide ‘do I eat something or drink something today?’ So I still really appreciate having money and also particularly the small things that happen. Of course, I earn a good amount of money for what I do but one thing is, I work very hard for it, which lots of other people do too, and I also take on the responsibility that comes with it. Not just spending it for myself, I’m trying to do something good with it, because this is something I really learned. It’s not enough to just sit back and believe what all the organisations and Government programmes do, it’s good that they do things but if you want to change something and do it better you have to do it yourself. I take on that challenge and that responsibility, so therefore I don’t feel bad about making a decent amount of money.” Skrufff: Your biog starts with the line ‘Paul Van Dyk is on a mission, do you feel a sense of destiny? Paul Van Dyk: “Mission for me means having belief in yourself and in trying to do something with that belief. That means on the musical side, that I do what I believe is right. I make music firstly to satisfy myself, because I have to perform in front of people and present my music. I have to be 100% behind my music so I make it without compromises. Of course, my engagement in other activities is also a mission, of course I’m trying to do something that really helps.” Skrufff:What do you like to do when your not DJing? Paul Van Dyk: "Get myself down to Four Lane Ends & just chill with Geordie"
