Paul van Dyk has consistently been ranked among the world’s top DJs over the course of a career spanning almost 20 years. From humble beginnings on the other side of the Iron Curtain he has sold over three million records and progressed to international acclaim, establishing his own label in the process. Having released a new album of Gatecrasher anthems, Paul will be hosting his very own arena at the Creamfields festival over the bank holiday weekend.

Tell us about the new Gatecrasher CD?
It’s a three CD album and it includes some of the biggest tracks of all time, some of the biggest tracks right now and some of the tracks that are going to be absolutely massive over the coming weeks and months. When I approached it I didn’t really put it into a timeline. For me, the general flow of the music is much more important. For example Moby’s “Go”, which is one of the oldest tracks, goes right into John O’Callaghan’s “Find Yourself” which is one of the biggest tracks right now. So it’s not about the timeline of the releases, it’s more about the whole idea of listening to it and having a good time.

Where does Gatecrasher rank among the best clubs?
Gatecrasher as a brand had such an impact in developing electronic music from a small sub-culture to the biggest youth culture in the world. For me there was a very special six hour set I did in the Sheffield venue that became somewhat legendary.

Do you have good memories of playing at Nation in Liverpool?
I had some of my best nights at Nation. That will always be one of the major highlights in the UK.

You have a longstanding residency at Cream Ibiza. How would you describe those nights to someone who’s never been?
Cream is a very international brand. Those Thursday nights are probably the most international nights you can have on the island. It’s the ultimate dream of what electronic music does, it brings people together from all different cultural backgrounds and nationalities and it’s very intense, very banging, very full on and really, really exciting. I think it’s a very special melting pot.

What was it like growing up in East Berlin?
The thing is what you don’t know you don’t miss. There were no clubs so I didn’t miss any clubs. The only good thing about growing up in East Berlin was listening to western radio stations, so at least musically, through the radio, we knew what was going on. The stations were forbidden of course, because it was essentially the radio station of the enemy! It sounds weird because we all live in a democratised Europe now but it’s not even 21 years ago when the world was rather different.

Did growing up in that environment drive you on to become a musician?
Not really but it has definitely had something to do with the way I approach music. I never knew what my favourite artists looked like and I could never read anything about them because we didn’t have any magazines, so my love is for the music, I don’t really care much about the person behind it. For me it’s purely about the music.

What music did you listen to growing up?
When I was a kid I was a big fan of The Smiths and New Order and that kind of stuff and then in the mid to late ‘80s I became a big fan of what we could call electronic music.

Why did you set up your own label?
When I set it up there was so much music about that was never properly released but was still so good. We started creating a platform for young artists who have great potential and over the years we’ve developed amazing careers like Giuseppe Ottaviani and Filo and Peri and we continue to do so with many others.

You obviously have a lot of enthusiasm to keep performing?
The thing is I really love what I do and I’m really passionate about it. As long as I feel the interaction between me and the audience is as long as I’ll keep going. The best thing an artist can have is a direct interaction with the audience.

What are you looking forward to about Creamfields?
Creamfields is one of the best festivals in the world and you get the chance to see one of the best line ups you can get. I’m good friends with so many of the DJs so I’m really looking forward to seeing a few of them backstage.

van Dyk file:
Born: Eisenhüttenstadt, East Germany, December 1971
Real name: Matthias Paul
Label: Vandit Records
Artist to watch out for: Arty