Q + A with Paul van Dyk: Life in East Berlin and Life on the Road

If you ever thought your dreams and ambitions are limited to the life you grew up in, you are utterly mistaken. Over 25 years ago, Grammy Award winning DJ, Paul van Dyk couldn’t even imagine what it would be like living outside the Berlin Wall in his home in East Germany. This is a guy who since the fall of the Berlin wall, has traveled all around the world, has played his music in front of millions of fans and did I already mention that he is a Grammy winning artist?

Last week in Mendoza, Argentina I had the chance to catch up with him before his set at the Al Sur night club and we talked about what it was like living in East Germany before the fall of the Berlin Wall and what some of his favorite places in the world are and found that we share some of our favorite cities!

Press Play to listen to my interview with PVD here:

 

 

Paul, you are an international world-class DJ with fans from all over the world. You get to travel to some of the most beautiful places. When you were a kid living in East Berlin, did you ever think that you would be living the life you’re living now?

No not at all. First of all I grew up in East Germany, it was a communistic dictatorship so i wasn’t able to leave the country. I never thought of anyplace…and in terms of thinking of all this, people always ask me, “what’s the craziest thing that’s happened to you,” well I just say look at my life. There’s this kid coming from this really poor background with a single mom in East Germany and I’m traveling around the world, living my dream — making music and playing it for all of these people all over the world–it’s the best thing…nothing, not even Hollywood could come up with in terms of having thoughts or a scenario like this.

This year marks the 25th year since the fall of the Berlin wall. As you look back at your life how do you think those experiences influenced you to become the successful DJ you are today?

It obviously hasn’t just influenced my life, but everyone who was living in Europe. That moment was the symbol to liberate all of these dictatorships. My mom and I left East Germany a week before the wall went down so i would’ve been in the “western world” anyway regardless of the wall coming down or not. In the bigger picture it was one of the biggest moments of the last century. It’s good that people actually get the chance to vote and live in a democratic society.

How would you describe your access to music during those days?

I was in East Berlin so therefore i couldn’t listen to West Berlin radio stations, but that’s what i did. It was illegal, but i did it anyway. I was a bit of a rebel kid.

As someone who pioneered trance into a major music scene, did you ever think it would turn into a career?

When I started DJing, Djs were the freaks in corner while everyone had fun. It’s like one of those things you can’t foresee. I was always passionate about this music and I still am, in fact this is why I do what I do. That’s why sometimes seeing what some elements of electronic music is these days, is almost painful, but i have a very radical position on that anyway.

I love the new music video for Only a Dream and I know you guys filmed it in Ibiza. When you’re in such beautiful places like that, does it even feel like work?

It is a job, it’s two-fold. I’m doing what I do in the most professional way. At the same time it doesn’t really feel like a job so therefore regardless if it’s a beautiful place or the most miserable town, it’s always about the music and the interaction with the audience– these are the intense moments. It never feels like work, that is why I’m still able to maintain such a crazy schedule.

What are some of your favorite cities you’ve had sets in?

Since you have a travel site and I’m a real of homey, Berlin is the most beautiful place on the bloody planet. It is really, really amazing. I love it, it’s cultural, it’s very fresh, very modern, very changing all the time. It’s just like one of those cities where you have the possibility of chilling out as much as going completely crazy, so this is a very well balanced city. I really like New York as well, but New York is always just crazy, there is no possibility to chill out. I know LA quite well, it is an amazing city that a lot of people see quite wrong. If you know LA well you see the diversity in the city and it’s seriously an amazing place. You can go from skiing, to being at the beach within 2 hrs, you can go from a cultural experience like China or Korea Town to the Hollywood Boulevard. It’s an amazing place and I have to say I love Buenos Aires. Cities in South America I really like are Bogota. It’s an amazing city it’s very fresh, a very vital sort of creative feel to it as well. [Plus] many, many places around the world. I love Singapore, I love Tokyo…Beijing is great, Shanghai is not as great as Beijing, Taipei is amazing, i prefer Sydney over Melbourne, and if we go all the way around, it’s just a bunch of crazy places.

When you’re on stage you’re on for hours and pretty late, do you follow any rituals to keep yourself going?

Watch movies, go out to eat, reading, not too different from anyone else. My mom always raised me to have my thoughts focus on the right things, and I know how fortunate and lucky I am to be in the position where I can have a different perspective of the planet because I’ve seen a lot of it. I just keep a normal momentum.

What countries or cities are on your bucket list?

I’ve never been to Iceland and I really want to go because there is one place that is basically like a big cut in the earth where you can actually go and touch the European plate and go 10 more meters and you can touch the American plate. And I want to go to this place. I don’t know why, but I’m just always intrigued by nature and there you seem to see the whole rawness of what this planet can do.

Paul van Dyk is definitely an inspiration as someone who follows their dreams and makes them a reality. Traveling from city to city, country to country in different time zones is hard work, but if you stay grounded and focused on what you want to carry out ESPECIALLY if it’s your passion, you can do anything. It was an absolute pleasure getting a chance to interview Paul van Dyk and learning about his history growing up within East Germany and getting to see a side of him that you can only see off stage.

Now, I’m also ready to book a trip to Berlin and see it for myself!

Currently, Paul calls Berlin home and is currently on tour. Check out his tour schedule to catch him at a venue near you!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qKFUaHM-6A

 

If you enjoyed this post, why don’t you follow Adrift Anywhere on Facebook or subscribe to get updates on budgeting tips, travel advice and tips!