Cream

Grammy nominated artist, globally acclaimed DJ and audio architect, Creamfields veteran and exclusive Cream ibiza resident Paul van Dyk continues to dominate the electronic music charts and appears at the pinnacle of every Top DJ list around the globe. PvD, as his fans have nicknamed him, is credited as one of the hardest working artists in electronic music, with sold-out tours that cross each continent, headline spots at every major festival, and a hugely successful recording career.

With over 3 million albums sold worldwide, Van Dyk’s activities go far beyond those of a DJ. Van Dyk is a composer, producer and presenter. He is an entrepreneur with his own record label, VANDIT Records, and runs the Internet radio station VONYC.com. Over and beyond his work in music van Dyk is closely involved in social and political initiatives and in 2006 was awarded the Berlin Medal of Honour for his services. We are pleased to welcome Paul back to Cream Ibiza for another season which will see him heading up the Main Room as well as 2 very special shows on the Mixmag Terrace.

Cream @ Amnesia on 17th June (Special Mixmag Terrace Set) 8th, 22nd and 29th July, 5th and 26th Aug, 9th and 30th Sep (Special Terrace Set)

60 seconds with Paul van Dyk

You’ve held down an amazingly successful residency at Cream Ibiza over the last 9 years, how do you feel the night has changed over the years?

Obviously things have changed over the years and this is why I think it’s even more important to stress that no matter what has happened economically etc. Cream has always stuck to its main principle – quality; and this is why it is so successful. They offer quality electronic music with a level of quality that maybe not everyone offers and this is why people keep going back every year.

You’re going to be playing in the Mixmag Terrace twice this year, are you excited to be playing the other room? Can we expect a different type of set from you for the exclusive Terrace performances?

It will definitely be different because the vibe is completely different in that room and the set up is different. Where the main room is dark the terrace is quite a lofty space and we will of course have a stage there too so it’s going to be quite an experience for me and a bit of an experiment.

I like a challenge and this is why I’m doing the terrace to experience a different room and vibe from what I’m used to.

Do you get to see much of the island when you’re there?

I’m pretty much flying in and flying out, that’s my Ibiza agenda. I won’t have the chance to experience the island.

Will you be playing any exclusive tracks in Cream Ibiza this year?

My new artist album will be out around 6 or 7 months after the season so you can expect the first play of some of the tracks from this at Cream in Amnesia.

What do you think it is about Ibiza that makes it such a special place for clubbers?

Well people go to have a good time but you can also go over and not have as good an experience if you do the same thing night after night. You have to ensure that you see the island and go to different clubs. That’s why Cream Ibiza is such a good night because it’s nothing you would experience at home.

As the Ibiza crowd is so international and eclectic, do you change your sound?
It’s a big holiday destination, and people want to have a good time, so to some extent playing there you can fill the set with some of the big Ibiza classics, for example ‘Greece 2000’. Everybody loves it and when you play it in Ibiza, everyone goes wild, but I wouldn’t necessarily play it in my regular set because, it is a classic and it doesn’t fit, but in Ibiza it will work.

There’s so much technology out there at the moment for DJ’s, what technology do you use when you DJ at Cream? Do you miss Vinyl?
I don’t miss vinyl and I don’t use CDJ’s, I have 2 computer systems with me. One is full with all my material the other one has a lot of software synthesizers installed and I have mini keyboards with me, where I can play a lot of things live, I have a mini controller & I have a custom made mixer.

Does this mean that each set is live and every time that you do them something new is going to happen?
Exactly, for example I could play your favourite track, but it could sound completely different as I would play a different base line, additional hooks to it and different drums, so it would sound so much more intense and fit perfectly into the moment when I play it in my set.

What DJs are on your radar at the moment?

There are quite a lot people such as the one’s we work with very closely including Filo & Peri, Alex Morph, Giuseppe Ottaviani just to name a few who we continue to work with and grow their careers.

What ‘ultimate’ track do you always ensure you carry with you which is guaranteed to make the crowd go off?
Well obviously, whenever I play Fallen Angel, that’s always a sure shot, but one thing in the bag when I’m playing in Ibiza is a track called ‘Dreaming’ I think it is by Ruff Driverz, it has this little Spanish line, and a little Spanish guitar in there but is quite banging too, it always works.

Tell us something that people will be surprised to know about you? eg. any interesting hobbies that you can share with the world?

Well one thing that might surprise people is my interest in dressage…the elegant way of walking and working a horse. I don’t ride myself, my wife does and she was very successful when she competed last year. I try to watch her as often as I can but sometimes with my DJ’ing commitments it can be difficult.

Your record label VANDIT is 10 this year, how do you feel about reaching the 10 year milestone? How do you feel dance music has changed over the past decade?

It’s great, especially since things haven’t been so easy for the music industry over the last ten years. Us still being around shows means we must have done a few things right!

How do you think dance music has changed over the past ten years?

Music has always changed, electronic music started as a small club culture and now its one of the biggest music genres around. At the same time, our general sound is more and more used in the normal pop world, more and more people are getting used to the electronic sound and if you listen to the Top 40 chart there’s a lot of songs that are ‘danceable’ but many of these songs lack our vibe and our feel. People who make this music they never experience electronic music the way we do, it may sound similar but they never have the ‘bang’ and the ‘oomph’ that we as electronic artists put into it.

Can you sum up Cream Ibiza and your forthcoming exclusive residency for us?

Its high quality electronic music with the most level of entertainment and the biggest guarantee of having the best night of your life!

Paul van Dyk will be returning to Cream Ibiza @ Amnesia beginning on Thursday 17th June. He also hosts his own arena ‘Vandit 10th Anniversary’ at this years Creamfields festival on August Bank Holiday weekend. Tickets on sale now: www.ticketline.co.uk / Tel: 0844 888 4401.