International DJ Paul Van Dyk is without doubt one of the clubbing industries most recognisable names, within the trance and electronic music scene in particular. The phrase legendary status, a term too often banded about this day and age, sits perfectly. In this hour long documentary which first aired in 2015, Forces Radio BFBS Music Manager Neil Moore speaks to Paul Van Dyk about album "The Politics Of Dancing 3", whether he misses using vinyl and what got him into music in the first place.
"I was like a kid that was always listening to the radio when I did my homework and the first music that caught my attention was The Smiths. From then on I knew music means something more than just the blurry stuff in the background."
"And then the (Berlin) wall went down, I went to all the clubs and that was it, I was infected with the virus of electronic music."
Since his first album "45 RPM" in 1993 he's gone on to sell more than three million albums worldwide, win multiple awards for his work as a DJ and Producer, including a Grammy and of course the title of "Worlds Number One DJ" on two occasions. He continues to sell out DJ gigs all over the world using the latest technology money can buy:
"The stuff that I use on stage is pretty much like a recording studio so it's like I'm sometimes taking the composing process actually on stage."
When asked about whether he misses vinyl Pauls response was somewhat surprising:
"No. It's not about convenience it's about the possibility to do much more and be much more creative because I developed the same passion for produing and making music as much as I have for DJing."
"Combining that all together on stage is much more satisfying on a creative level."
In this exclusive Paul Van Dyk documentary we bring you some of the tracks from album "The Politics of Dancing 3" and we'll talk to the man himself and find out what his non dance music scene influences were when he was growing up?
"I don't know a single person who wasn't influenced by Depeche Mode... I was big fan of OMD, some stuff of the Pet Shop Boys I liked"
Neil Moore wanted to get into the story behind "The Politics Of Dancing 3", which Van Dyk released in May 2015. The first "Politics Of Dancing" album was a compilation album of trance music by other artists released in October 2001 with the sequel released in 2005. However "The Politics Of Dancing 3" was all Van Dyks music so better represented him as an artist and where he was musically.
"A lot of authorities started to crack down on clubs, on parties, on festivals and I actually wanted to make a statement with that title to make sure they understand that this is a global youth culture. This is not just people going out and getting wasted."
"This is actually a very amazing thing because people come together regardless of... what God they believe in, what colour their skin might be. It's about tolerance and respect."
