Growing up in communist East Germany before the fall of the Berlin wall, Paul Van Dyk discovered electronic music through the radio while doing homework. One of his first gigs was in, then just opened, club Tresor. In today's retrospective, that's a very remarkable career start.

In his three decades long career, he not only made a reputation for himself as one of the most productive artists but also as a dance music icon. Absolute trance legend and two time number one DJ in the world is coming back to Zagreb. Before he comes back and plays at the Future Scope Festival, we had a chance to talk with him.

You have been in the electronic scene for decades, what’s the thing that still keeps you going?

Well, I love music. You know that’s my thing. When I was a kid, you know, after school, while I was doing my homework I was always listening to the radio. There were some specialized radio shows that played kinda different music. It was early electronic music, early house music, and early techno. That inspired me to become what I became today as a musician, artist, and DJ.

It definitely inspired you to create trance sound and become trance artists. Through the years of your career, you stayed true to your genre, even though a lot of DJ and producers are known for switching up genres.

Hmm, I don’t actually stay true to some genre. It’s just like, that's the music I love. You know that energy, that drive, those melodic elements to it. If you listen to small snippets of the music I made throughout my career, you will always find different sounds, for example, some darker stuff that people these days call techno. It’s just like, somehow, that trance label got attached to myself and I think most of the music I make has a trancy element to it, no question. But I don’t know, that is what artistry is. You have your signature sound. Like, if you are a painter, you have your signature way of creating paintings. You can always see a Pablo Picasso in a picture if it’s Pablo Picassos’s. Maybe in a way, you can always hear it’s Paul Van Dyk’s song if you hear it. But at the same time, it’s important to always develop yourself and evolve in your art craft.

For the last two years, we had a limited number of festivals, a limited number of parties in clubs, but now since the world is coming back to what we knew, festivals and clubs are coming back. This year's festival season started with Ultra in Miami, where we once again had a chance to hear and see how electronic music could sound in the upcoming times. This year it got a little bit more of a techno sound, as well a little bit more housey. What do you think, how’s the sound gonna evolve in the future?

One thing I know, especially for the festival that you mentioned, Ultra, is that on the Mainstage, it doesn’t have much to do with what we really call electronic music. It’s just straightforward pop music. There’s no such thing that drives. It’s just one pop song after another pop song. That seems to be something that obviously finds its own audience. It’s not for me to judge, but it doesn’t have anything to do with electronic music as we know. We got to the development of what we call electronic music. It's a very strong element, what people call techno these days, this is the thing. The stuff that we call techno now, in the 90s or 00s would have been called progressive house. Some of the stuff that has been called house music, back in the day we would probably call disco music. So you know, it’s always what you are referring to. Of course, there is a very strong following that follows trance music, that follows trance sound, and there are many new and young up and coming artists that make trance music as well. I think electronic music, in general, is still developing, reaching new levels of existence.

It’s always developing and moving forward, especially with up and coming artists that bring and create new sounds. Do you have any names that we should keep eye on, in the future?

If you look at some of the stuff that we released on Vandit Records, someone like Kolonie as an example, or someone like Fuenka. Now some would probably say that Fuenka is techno. It’s like to me as I said, you have so many people, you have so many different names to it. There is also a release of a guy called The Wheels, and it’s just really beautiful music. It’s something that inspires me every day to continue doing what I love doing.  

That probably inspired you to make a new album, which is coming out this year and it’s called “Off the record”. What can we expect from it?

Well you know, as you said it yourself, in terms things develop, and you know in different ways, I obviously develop. My inspiration is always life in general, everything I see, everything I hear. So the last two years have been very different for everyone and so, my inspiration was different, maybe a little bit more introverted. For two years we didn’t see anyone clubbing, or any festivals, so it was just me, the tree in front of the window of my studio. So it’s very different, and this is how the tracks came about from wishful thinking. Something you dream about, a feeling you recall from before, that you wanna relive again, so in that sort of perspective, you can see the album going. Of course, you are also going to hear some 138BPM stuff that can be properly played at the festivals, but there is also something that goes deeper, that is maybe better to listen at home.

We will definitely have a chance to listen to some of the new tracks live this year. One thing about your music as well, this year one of your biggest hits ever got a modern day remake. German DJ and producer Topic sampled For an Angel. Did you gave him a blessing to sample it?

The whole thing was initiated by Topic. I'm involved in a way as a songwriter because I wrote the original of For an Angel. In terms of the production, vocals, and all of that stuff, it’s all Topic’s work. He just came to me, and I think that's something that I respect, compared to a lot of other artists who just sample something yours and rip you off. I’ve seen that many times in my career. But Topic came and said that he is so inspired, and he loves melody so much and is it possible to somehow collaborate and include melody in his work. The remake is some way of pop music as well, but it's very tastefully done. To use your words, I gave him my blessing.

We talked about producing music, we talked about up and coming DJs. So what is your advice for people producing music in their rooms or just mixing in their rooms?

For example, as a DJ and someone who owns a record label, I’m looking for something that is reaching me somehow. It’s either the sound that is interesting, or something in the melody, or just the whole package has to have something. I don’t personally like to listen something I’ve heard a hundred thousand times before and I think it’s probably the same with most of the people that work on the record labels. Now on the other hand, if you look at Spotify and all these things, it all sounds the same. It’s very difficult to give advice, but I think the best is just to do what you really love doing. At the end of the day, you will be in front of the people, even if it’s just your best friend, your mom, or your sister, the audience if you are lucky. You have to explain to them why your music is the way it is, and you can do it with your full heart.

Let’s go to the summer a little bit now. You played multiple times in Croatia, you are regular guest of our beautiful Adriatic coast. Do you remember anything about doing shows here, how’s the crowd?

Croatia has definitely one of the most upfront crowds in Europe. It’s always really exciting to play there. I remember multiple shows when I just started, and then an amazing wave of energy hits me on the stage and I give it back. It’s just you know, creating memories together. Music sort of unites us, glues us together and we create those memories that we take into our everyday life. I always had that in Croatia, and I’m really looking forward to that soon.

You are opening our festival season in Zagreb at the Future Scope Festival. Can we expect to hear new music, as well the old hits?

Of course. The thing is, people on social media are like “Paul, please can you play Home, Time of Life, For An Angel, Music Rescues Me”, the thing is I always play them differently than you probably know them. That's because of the setup I use. It’s always different. I use different drums, different baselines, and it completely remakes them. They will be there, as well as a lot of new music.

And to conclude, what’s your plan for the summer. Do you have some time planned for vacation, or is it going to be tour, tour, tour?

Well, it’s gonna be working. Since we weren’t able to have a good time together for two years, I think we should make the most of it. We should enjoy our music together. We are lucky enough to go back to Ibiza, where we are gonna do the full Shine season again at Eden, every Thursday through the summer. That's really exciting, and then, of course, coming to Croatia, playing all the festivals during the summer, playing Creamfields. I’m looking forward to a summer filled with a lot of new amazing memories.