At WMC, I had the honor of listening to Paul Van Dyk's new CD In Between as a work-in-progress. The CD is set for release on August 14th (the same week as his 5th Anniversary performance at Central Park,) and on first listening to the tracks there was a wide variety of instrumentation and sounds – noting a marked progression and diversity in electronic music. We chatted about the progress of the CD, touring, and his vonyc.com website.
DJ Ron Slomowicz: Your album sounds really good, what was in your mind when you were working on it?
Paul Van Dyk: The music came together over a period of two or three years. There have been all these changes - the whole globalization thing, the climate change, and just as much me growing up. This is why it's called In Between – as in between phases. Every single track has its own little story, and since I traveled all around the world through the timeframe of producing the music, the influences are from all over the world.
RS: I noticed those photos were taken in Cuba, what were you doing down there?
Paul Van Dyk: We were just doing a photo shoot and we decided to do something different. At first the photographer suggested going to Ibiza to get the latin summer sun with a little bit of Cuban style. I said why don't we just go to Cuba, you know as that's the only place that's going to look like Cuba. We went there and it was absolutely fantastic with very friendly and nice people. The whole setting makes you expect to hear a director say 'cut,' but there is no director, it just goes on continuously.
RS: It's very much a 'Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca' kind of vibe.
Paul Van Dyk: It is, yes. Even the cars look like it. No, not really, they didn't have cars back then. Did they have at the
Casablanca time?
RS: Yes. Yes, they did. I've heard you're going to be autographing the photographs and putting them up on auction for
charity. What charities will they benefit?
Paul Van Dyk: We haven't decided that yet. I have a charity in Berlin called Rueckenwind which is dedicated to kids that come from an unfortunate background and need help and support to make something out of their life. Another organization I support helps the kids in the slums of Bombay. We'll probably split it in half and give to both.
RS: Listening to the CD, it seems to start off really in a pop direction and it goes a little more trancy towards the end. Was that your focus as you were putting it together?
Paul Van Dyk: To be really honest, that's just how the tracks are placed together today for a sampling. The CD is not completed. The whole project of the In Between includes twenty-eight tracks which obviously will not all fit on the album. Today I chose the ones that I like the most. So there might be some tracks flying off the album and a few others that we haven't heard now will be on there. The music is all finished, but we're still in the middle of the compiling phase.
RS: I heard you worked with David Byrne as one of your vocalists.
Paul Van Dyk: Well, that question is a road to nowhere.
RS: I also heard you worked with one of the singers from the Pussycat Dolls.
Paul Van Dyk: Have you heard the Pussycat Dolls in there?
RS: I thought I might have, there was a track that had a really nice poppy female vocal. Was that them?
Paul Van Dyk: You have to wait until it's closer to the album release. So I'm not talking about it... No, it's not true.
RS: Can you talk about any of the vocalists on the album that you have confirmed?
Paul Van Dyk: Well they're all confirmed, they're all on there.
RS: OK. Who are some of them?
Paul Van Dyk: You're trying really hard, aren't you?
RS: Of course.
Paul Van Dyk:. Well I'll tell you about one of the girls that sings, she's a fantastic young talent named Ashley Tomberlin. She has the most beautiful voice ever.
RS: When you worked with her, did you write the track with her?
Paul Van Dyk: I wrote the track and she wrote the lyrics. Then when I heard the lyrics I thought the track had to be completely different, so I wrote a completely new track to the lyrics.
