Courtney Barnes

If Arnold Schwarzenegger can bring Hollywood to politics, it only seems fair that trance messiah Paul van Dyk can bring politics to dance music.

His newest record, "Reflections," basks in the rays of a heated political climate and expounds messages of camaraderie and peace disseminated throughout electronic riffs. But in a subculture where rhythm is God, the "vibe" is described like it's tangible and van Dyk reigns supreme as a facilitator of throbbing noise and excessive all-night clubbing experiences, does his audience really "get it?"

"Well I don't know, the thing is ... well... " van Dyk says. He has just come out of a sound check for a show in Park City, Utah, poor guy, and he obviously has a lot on his mind during our phone interview. But if so, he doesn't let it hold him back, speaking politely and passionately in his heavy German accent on a variety of subjects he holds dear. He's recently hit the road to tour "Reflections"--which he composed and produced--and he piled on the layers to make this album one with a message.

"My previous albums have been more in a way like DJ albums. This one is more driven by the initial things that I saw that inspired me to make music about. These things have ranged from obviously personal issues all the way to political and social aspects which I felt I have to sort of pay respect to," van Dyk says. Personal issues include frequent travelling and missing his Berlin home and growing up on the wrong side of the wall in East Berlin. In terms of social and political issues, the track "Time of Our Lives" is a heavy hitter.

"The initial inspiration came when I went to India, and then there was all these things going on in Israel and Palestine. People have their very strong opinions and don't even try to understand, and [they're] killing each other for no reason," van Dyk explains. That's a lot of emotion to cram into a song, but the track, with enhanced lyrics by the British rock band Vega 4, subtly presses listeners to take advantage of every moment of life harmoniously. It sounds rather candy-coated, but when the lyrics are juxtaposed with sounds reminiscent of everything from a stream of air tumbling through a wind tunnel to a chef sharpening his knife before obliterating a vegetable, it works.

"Even though the song 'Time of Our Lives' was inspired by the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, there's not one single word about them in the song. It's translating [the conflict] in a way that's not coming across as preaching," says van Dyk. The song is gloriously apolitical on the surface, but it also flirts with being radio-friendly pop. In electronic music, this walks the tightrope between selling out a show to selling out a style. Although trance has a historical problem with the latter, van Dyk does not, managing to remain both a serious musician and one of the world's most popular DJs despite his connection to the oft-maligned genre.

"Instead of a description of a musical genre, [trance] became a marketing tool ... it's like very shitty, horrible pop music. I would never play this kind of music so it's kind of odd when people describe me as a trance genius," van Dyk says. Yet his music "reaches people," he's described as "God" of trance and he's not a sellout. So how does he produce trance music that isn't too "trance-y?"

"You can only present something where you are 100-percent behind it. I am very clear about my own sound, about the sound I like to bring across when I play, and at the same time I've very open to actually communicate through the music with the crowd and connect with the crowd," van Dyk says. He must be doing something right, because he still sells out--shows, not his style. And this album, which has elements "ranging from an indie-rock band all the way to a hip-hop guy," is successful despite being atypically political beneath the layers of technologically produced sounds and a thunderous bass.

And though van Dyk balks at being categorized as political--"I wouldn't use that definition for me, it's just like there's a responsibility that comes with everything, that comes with the definition"--he does want his message to get through. "I'm touching these issues, but at the same time I say it's down to us, down to our hands to actually make life better and change it," he says. "And then basically it comes back to the fact that it's time to run and make a stand because these are the times of our lives."

If clubbers start paying heed to heavy political issues while raving away to van Dyk's bouncing electronic gyrations, all the better. "You might just listen to it and enjoy the song, but if you want to go a little bit deeper into the song, you find something which has, you know, much more substance than singing about sunrises."

Amen to that.

Paul van Dyk DJs at House of Blues, 329 North Dearborn, (312)923-2000, on November 15 at 11:45pm. Newcity is the media sponsor of this show.

(2003-11-13)

Also by Courtney Barnes

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