Paul Van Dyk

Paul van Dyk is a German DJ, producer, pioneer, and philanthropist who has been getting awards and playing in the most prominent spaces in the industry for the last 30 years. He was born in Eisenhuettenstadt, a small town near Frankfurt, where he first heard house music on the radio during the mid-'80s. At that time, East Germany was a communist country, so his community did not have a true club culture. At that moment he discovered his passion for music especially techno, and his work began.

Soon after his awakening, he started experimenting with a rudimentary turntable setup, so he grew in confidence and moved to Berlin. There, by 1991 he had appeared at the legendary Tresor club, set up his own E-Werk club, and quickly became one of the most iconic DJs and producers in dance music history.
In this way, Van Dyk became one of the kings of the industry, with sold-out tours across each continent, over 3 million albums sold worldwide, and laureate by all kinds of music institutions, big and small the world over. He received a Grammy nomination in 2005 for Best Dance/Electronic Album for his original album Reflections, and on New Year's Eve 2008/2009 Paul played for 1 million people in Rio de Janeiro. 

In 2008 he received his first contracts for video games and movie soundtracks. He made soundscapes for Tennis games for EA, and he ended up remixing Batman's "Dark Knight Theme"  by Hanz Zimmer. At the same time, he worked alongside great artists like Depeche Mode, Justin Timberlake, and Britney Spears. By this time, he had already pioneered the way into forming the bases of various genres, with a highlight in Trance. 
In the last couple of years, his work has shifted to expand and play a hybrid DJ/live set that ranges between techno, trance, and progressive house with interesting shifts in tone among other kind of sounds.

Along with his work on music, he's a philanthropist interested in helping people the world over especially kids next to him. Since the turn of the century, he has spoken openly against war and initiated a series of releases titled The Politics of Dancing in 2001. For Paul, a significant part of his life relates to politics and social justice: he experienced being a refugee when he fled over the Berlin Wall to the West, and to this day he sponsors different charities and welfare programs in India, Africa, and Germany. Due to this work, he has been recognized by the German government and international institutions.