DJ Ron Slomowicz: Congratulations on the getting the Number One DJ slot.
Paul Van Dyk: Thank you.
RS: What was your first thought when you were announced as winner?
Paul Van Dyk: My first thought? You really want to know?
RS: Yes.
Paul Van Dyk: Don’t cry.
RS: Really?
Paul Van Dyk: I mean the moment – I really didn’t know what was going to happen. DJ Magazine invited me to play there and everything so I thought I was probably going to be somewhere in the top three. Then they announce Armin as number 3 and Tiesto as two, and I was like no way. When the people saw that I possibly will be number one, the whole venue started to scream and they started to chant my name. Usually I’m not short of words but I started to breathe quite hardly and my knees were wobbly and I was so overwhelmed. The next thing that came in to my mind was thank you, thank you, thank you.
RS: The next day you were in Amsterdam for the Amsterdam Dance Event. Do you feel any competition with the Dutch DJs, Tiesto and Armin?
Paul Van Dyk: The DJ circle didn’t consist of such a thing as competition until a few years ago. It was basically a whole crew of people that pushed the boundaries for electronic music regardless whatever style we supported and enjoyed. From an unknown breakbeat DJ to the biggest techno DJ, we all enjoyed the same passion for the music and that was a real family affair thing. This is something that I still have with a lot of my colleagues. I like looking back on the whole season this year because I felt this very intense community feeling and it makes me very happy to say that. The other thing is that this list for me, it’s about competitions, and really shows how strong electronic music is and how big of an impact electronic music has globally. This, of course, makes me proud to be on top of that list, but at the same time it’s kind of trying to compare bananas with strawberries, it’s both fruits but different fruits. It’s just a question, do people like strawberries more than bananas? But you cannot compare, so I don’t feel competition. It makes me proud to be on top of that list and I’m very, very thankful.
RS: Why do you think trance music is so well represented on the top of the list?
Paul Van Dyk: I don’t really know because the question is ‘how do you define what is trance music?’ If you look at the top five as an example, we probably would say, Ferry has his unique style of playing his music, Sasha has his unique style of playing his music, Armin has his style of playing his music, as well as Tiesto, and I have my own thing. To be honest, I don’t call my music trance music, I call it electronic music and it’s usually danceable.
My productions as well as my DJ sets consist of things that people call techno as much as of things that people call house, breakbeat, or even trance. I think a good DJ combines the elements of electronic music and creates something unique, and this is what I’m trying to do. So it’s difficult for me to answer the question in terms of why trance music is so popular, because I don’t call my music trance.
RS: Very cool. I notice on the new CD, the POD 2, there's more inclusion of housey and progressive tracks. Is that another reason why you are saying you're not a trance DJ, you're an electronic DJ?
Paul Van Dyk: Well yes, that’s one example. What I do, what I play and what I produce is not just what people call trance music, it’s much more. Whenever people see me and whenever people hear me, they agree as well. Throughout the years, I was one of the founders of progressive house at one point and I was also one of Europe's leading tech-house DJs. I was all of that at one point in my career. It is electronic music and you hear me playing a minimal techno record by Dave Clarke as much as a big trance anthem by Above and Beyond.