SX National 38

Dykhe= ad

Interviews with DJs are usually just the interviewer going through the motions of an actual, proper, interesting int= erview. I suppose it’s a testament to their professions that they don’t= have anything original to offer and just regurgitate bland dialogue in the guise= of party-talk. You ask all the right questions; the ones they want to hear lik= e, ‘What’s the most satisfying thing about your job?’, and t= he answer usually some lame variant of ‘Seeing so many people peaking to= my music at the same time’. You let ‘em wax lyrical about ‘<= span class=3DSpellE>choonz’, sometimes you’ll get a sound bit= e or snippet of something original, but mostly it’s just bullshit.

So when the job of interviewing the world’s number one DJ arose, I had to wonder whether the ranking included press savvies. With Paul van Dyk’s German office phone number in hand (along= with my allocated timeframe, 8:4= 5pm-9pm), I made the call. He greeted me in a very German matter-of-fact tone. Exactl= y the opposite to what I was going for with my questio= ns.

For example, my opener: I note that, according to his bio, he’s worked with all the internationally famous DJs like BT, Sasha= and Dave Seamen, so there must be some sort of out DJ mother’s club e= quivalent going on. In a sigh that kind of suggested he was sick of me already, he replied, “Well, we’re good friends really. We respect each othe= r, we love each other’s music and we work well together. For me, Sasha is one of the most talented DJs and he has amaz= ing musical skills, and someone like Brian [BT] is one of the best engineers I know. We’re friends, and we love each other – that’s actu= ally it!”

Uh oh – better chuck a ‘right’ question in. After being voted number 1 DJ in the world so many times, it must be hard to not let it go to your head? “No, not at all – because this is not the reason you= do it. I’m very passionate about electronic music and everything I do. I= t’s not about a list or something. It’s something more than feeling ̵= 6;hey, I’m the biggest show on earth’.”

Back to my original questions – the biggest show on earth must surely have= so many groupies by now, I suggest. If he weren’t on hands free, I’= ;m sure he would’ve dropped the phone before he flustered, “I see a few familiar faces= in different places. I wouldn’t say I have anything to do with tradition= al groupies because they know I’m married and off that market.” – emphasising the word marrie= d, like a knife flung at me down the phone line. “I have some real loyal fans that travel to a lot of different places. There’s= two guys, I believe they’re from Egyp= t, and I’ve seen them virtually all over the world – except for Australia<= /st1:place>!”

Which opens the door to discussions of Australia<= /st1:place>. He l= ets me know he’s always had absolute amazing experiences here, as we actually enjoy electronic music and educated about what’s really going on because so many DJs tour here. It’s a go= od yarn, except I bugger that up too by trying to invoke a bit of the old Australian rivalry by asking if he’s noticed any differences in clubb= ing styles in the capital cities. He clearly sees straight through my ploy and explains, “I have to say when I’m in Australia I have quite a hectic schedule so I’m not getting too much of local politics.”=

I then ask about the fall of the super club, which in German apparently translates to ‘give me a lecture on what electronic music is to you&#= 8217;. “Well the thing is, I don’t label the music; for me it’s = all electronic music and there’s different ele= ments and genres of that that actually fit different sizes of venues. This is how it’s always been, and I’m pretty sure it’s how it always = will be. In terms of what I play, I try to combine the best elements I like the = most of electronic music to create a unique sound. You may listen to something t= hat people call trance, you may listen to something that people call house or d= rum and bass or techno, and when all these elements combine it’s very int= ense and very energetic.”

At this point, I decided it’s not altogether unreasonable to ask what we= can expect from his upcoming tour. But he decides that he already answered that. “Well aside from the kind of sound I just explained, right now I̵= 7;m in the studio working on new material for an artist album so I’ll have five or six tracks ready that I’m going to include in the set –= so you’re going to be the first ones to get those.”

The ever-present clock staring down at me, I ask my final, timely question: what would he be doing if he wasn’t DJing? He explains that he doesn’= ;t just DJ; he runs a record label and has a music publishing company as well.= Not only that, there’s an online radio station and download shop at “dub dub dub = vonyc dot com, that’s V-O-N-Y-C”, so by a= ll accords, he’s a busy little sauerkraut. “So there’s still= so much to do, I hope I will be able to work with music until I retire at some point – and that doesn’t need to be in front of people, because= to be honest, I’m rather shy person. I don’t like to be so much in= the spotlight. When I started DJing, the DJ was the freak in the corner. Then s= uddenly it all changed; suddenly there was light in the corner and then the DJ wasn’t in the corner any more. I promise you, I will not miss the pub= lic appearances.”

Time’s up, the tape recorder flicks off, and I try to h= ave one last joke with him – does the reference to ‘public appearances’ include interviews? He doesn’t get my little stab = at myself, and goes on to say that interviews are great w= ay to get his message across, spreading his word about charity and goodwill.=

I just hope he kept that in mind for his next interview.