Matthias Paul, better know 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.[2] 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.[3] As of 2007, he has sold over 3 million albums worldwide.[4]
A trance producer in the early-late 1990s, Paul quickly achieved popularity with his famous remix of Love Stimulation by Humate in 1993, and his hit single, For an Angel, but in recent times he no longer likes to describe his music as trance, but rather simply as electronic dance music.[5]
Paul Van Dyk grew up in East Berlin in a single parent household;[6] his father left him and his mother when he was only four years old.[6] While living there, he worked as broadcast technician[7] and began training to become a carpenter.[6] Paul van Dyk claims his musical education came from radio.[8] 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.[9]
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.[9] In 1990, van Dyk moved back to Berlin. His first appearance as a DJ was in the Tresor in March 1991.[10] 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 DJ 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, 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 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.
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.[14]
Paul van Dyk hosts a show on Radio Fritz every Saturday at 20:00 GMT. In his latest[when?] gigs, he blurs the line between DJ'ing and live performance engineering by utilizing two 17" MacBook Pro laptops sporting Mainstage (Logic 8 Pro) and Ableton Live software on both, two MIDI keyboards, enabling a more fully-featured club experience more akin to a concert than a standard night out at a dance club.[citation needed] On-the-fly remixes, mashups and compositions are just some of the capabilities of this new performance method.
In May 2008, Paul van Dyk set up a remix competition with digital download network Beatport.com, inviting aspiring producers to remix his single 'Far Away' which appeared on his 2007 album 'In Between'. Paul has recently appeared as one of the DJs at Trance Energy 2009.
**BIOGRAPHY COURTESY OF WIKIPEDIA**
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