Thursday 7 March | BBQ Radio Show 245
6PM AEST | Replay at 6PM CET on Physical Radio
Paul Van Dyk -
From discovering electronic music on the radio in his mother’s kitchen to headlining clubs and festivals around the world, Paul van Dyk has earned a reputation as not only one of the most prolific artists in trance, but as an icon of dance culture.
Growing up in Communist East Germany before the fall of the Berlin wall, one of van Dyk’s first DJ gigs was at then-newly opened club and future landmark Tresor, which was a good omen of achievements to come. van Dyk has had a residency in the world party capital of Ibiza since 1999, the longest running residency in the history of the White Isle. His performances at Berlin’s iconic Love Parade routinely attracted crowds of up to a million, which still pales to the 1.3 million people that witnessed his New Year’s Eve show in Rio de Janeiro in 2008, a record-setting crowd at the time.
With eight studio albums and countless singles and remixes to his name, van Dyk shines just as brightly as a producer. His 1994 release ‘For An Angel’ is regarded by Mixmag as one of the greatest dance tracks of all time, and his third LP, ‘Reflections,’ was nominated for a Grammy. van Dyk has remixed some of electronic music’s biggest names—Deep Dish, Faithless, and Underworld, to name a few—in addition to pop and rock music icons including Madonna, Britney Spears, Depeche Mode and U2. His music can be heard in films such as ‘The Dark Knight,’ ‘Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants,’ and ‘Zurdo’ (the latter earning him a Mexican Oscar for best soundtrack), as well as for commercials and video games.
van Dyk launched VANDIT Records in 2000, its first release being his third album, ‘Out There and Back’. His radio show - VONYC Sessions - broadcasts to over 100 stations across the globe, amassing 21 million listeners and 3.5 million podcast downloads per month. Over 600 sessions later, VONYC Sessions has become one of the essential radio shows not only in trance, but in dance music generally.
Over the course of his decades-long career, van Dyk has garnered many awards and accolades; including DJ Mag’s Number 1 DJ Award twice (in 2005 and 2006), Mixmag’s Man of The Year award (1999), multiple IDMAs, Mexico’s Lunas del Auditorio award for Best Electronic Music Live Artist, and 2 Trance Master Awards at the DJ Awards (2006 and 2018). He has also been recognized for his charitable work to help the disadvantaged at home and abroad, receiving Berlin’s Medal of Honor and MTV’s Chiuku award, as well as to support public interest initiatives such as Rock the Vote.
van Dyk released two chart-topping studio albums in 2017 and 2018 – ‘From Then On’ and ‘Music Rescues Me’ which were met with universal critical acclaim. They were was made in the months following a horrific accident in which van Dyk fell through a poorly designed stage during a headlining festival appearance in Europe in early 2016. Following several months in the hospital, during which van Dyk was unsure if he’d ever be able to walk again let alone perform as a DJ or make music, van Dyk returned to the studio and began piecing together early ideas that would eventually evolve into the albums. Having gone through one of the most unfortunate experiences any performing artist could ever imagine, van Dyk emerged from the ordeal with a reinvigorated sense of purpose and rejuvenated passion for making music and sharing it with the world. With 'From Then On' he returned musically “stronger than ever”, according to DJ Mag. His 9th studio album - ‘Music Rescues Me’ – was released just a year after. A dedication to the power of music which topped the iTunes dance charts around the world. The album tribology reached its peak with the release of ‘Guiding Light’ in 2020, a musical statement of hope in times of the pandemic.
Not only did PvD release two albums in 2020, he also united people from all over the world in times of social distancing and uncertainty with his weekly Sunday Sessions live-streams. At times over 5 million people watched him DJ from his home office and later from clubs, the legendary Zeiss observatory and even the BVB soccer stadium in Dortmund.
In summer 2021 PvD remixed the dance music classic ‘Café Del Mar’ by Energy 52 which went straight to #1 on Beatports trance charts and to this day still is part of the top 100 charts, followed by remixes for US dance chart breaker Illenium and Tritonal.
His 11th artist album ‘The Record’, is a trilogy based on ‘OFF THE RECORD’ featuring PvD’s progressive and techno influenced productions, and ‘FOR THE RECORD’ featuring his classic trance sound.
