Get Connected with PVD

The man needs no introduction as his popularity reached fever pitch long ago and, predictably, his success has brought its fair share of critics. But as cynics cast doubt on the longevity of the scene that he represents, Van Dyk is proving he is far more than a one-hit wonder and that he is in town for the long haul.

It's 9:30am in Berlin and sitting in his home studio, Paul Van Dyk puts the final touches to his long awaited fourth artist album "Reflections". "I have the most hectic day ahead, two more interviews and then I have to catch a plane to Ibiza for the Cream closing parties" Paul says. What a life I say!

One of the most influential Djs and producers around, Van Dyk continues to push the boundaries of electronic music. As a youngster growing up in East Berlin he lived on the sounds of The Smiths and New Order and it was the emotion that he felt from this music that give him his first signs of his true calling. He undertook keyboard lessons and also had a brief stint with the guitar but it was the strange electronic sounds he heard on a West Berlin radio show that gave him his first own idea of the music he really liked. From there he began to learn about the labels and producers and by the time the Berlin Wall came down he was well underway on the path of developing the PVD style we know today.

It wasn't until 1988 when after making a few mixed tapes for friends (and for the car trips to the various raves and dance parties he was attending), that the tapes were quickly passed around to promoters and it wasn't long before he soon found himself being asked to play at clubs.

After rising up the ranks of the club circuit and producing countless classic club anthems, Van Dyk had now completed three highly accomplished artist albums - Seven Ways (1998), 45 RPM (1999) and Out There and Back (2000). In 2001 he released his first ever mixed compilation CD titled "Politics of Dancing" on Ministry of Sound. Next came the Global CD/DVD multi-media package in early 2003, a unique release that captured the visual and audio brilliance of his experience as a DJ traveling the world.

His fourth album, "Refecltions", is a beautifully crafted piece of work that will appeal to all of his fans but will also attract a new following. He states that this was a natural progression for him as all the music he has ever composed has a story behind it. "Everytime I read the paper or watch the news, I see trouble and war and this finds its way subconsciously into my music."

An example of this was when he recently took a trip to Mumbai and was deeply affected by what he saw. "Children were sleeping by the side of the roads with barely no clothes, it was shocking to see and after that I couldn't sit back knowing that this was happening." He is now involved in the Indian Children Charity - Akanksha, which helps these kids. It's scenarios like these that inspired him to produce the song "Like a Friend" from his new album.

Van Dyk quickly makes the point that while some of the tracks he produces have a depressive element to them, they are always about stirring emotion for a positive outcome. Van Dyk has very strong views on the world and it's issues and he uses music as his avenue for expression.

The first single taken from Reflections, "Nothing But You", became an instant club hit after he introduced it at the 2003 Winter Music Conference in Miami, last March, however it is the second single "Time of Our Lives" that will raise a few eyebrows. It's his first ever collaboration with a rock band. The track was written with British band Vega-4. Van Dyk had was so impressed with their work that he started singing their praises to press and it wasn't until the band read an article about this that they got in contact with Van Dyk and almost immediately became friends.

For the die hard Van Dyk fans they will be delighted with the epic, pumping club gem "Connected," used for Motorola's latest international ad campaign w Tags

• Paul Van Dyk