Dance capital for a night

Paul van Dyk is one of the biggest DJs on the planet. He could play any venue in the world on a Friday night, but tonight he'll be here in little old Minneapolis.

"For me, this gig is just as important as something big in Berlin or London," the 37-year-old German said by phone this week as he began the U.S. leg of his world tour.

A leading trance producer who doesn't like to be called a trance producer, Van Dyk does a lot of things differently when it comes to electronic dance music. He's become a politically minded voice in a genre known for being apolitical. He supports programs in India and Germany that help poor children, he opposed the U.S. invasion of Iraq and he's released two albums called "The Politics of Dancing." He's the Bono of dance music.

On this promo tour for his new greatest hits album, "Volume," Van Dyk will hit 17 U.S. cities in 17 days. We caught up with the DJ as he rolled into Oklahoma City.

Q You're a DJ, but you don't use turntables when you perform. What are your thoughts on how technology has affected DJ'ing?

A First of all, I'm a musician. It happens that my favorite music is electronic music. And the most common way of presenting electronic music for a very long time was -- and still is -- the DJ. But about five or six years ago, the technology started to evolve, giving me the possibility of taking studio equipment on stage. These days when I'm onstage I have two computer systems, I have MIDI keyboards, I have software synthesizers, a huge audio library and a custom-made mixer. Electronic music was always about breaking boundaries -- but also about using the latest technology to enhance the presentation.

Q You've never been afraid to speak your mind on world issues. What's your philosophy on dance music being a political tool?

A Electronic music is truly the only global, youth-culture music in the world. You can go anywhere in the world and find people enjoying this music. You really can't say that for other musical styles. It is a global outlet for emotion, for energy, for something positive.

In terms of being a political person, music for me is not really political. It's more the fact that music gives a certain popularity to artists and these artists have a responsibility as human beings to speak out or be involved in charity projects.

I grew up in East Germany, which was a Communist dictatorship. I know the difference between democracy and dictatorship. So I strongly support anything that has to do with freedom of speech and democracy. On the other hand, I know that democracy is only as good as the people getting involved.

Q Is it true you got into Western music by your friends smuggling in records from West Berlin?

A No, I was listening to West Berlin radio stations. That's sort of how I learned about this music from the West, and about these bands like Depeche Mode and the Smiths. Actually, my grandma smuggled a record into East Germany for me [Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark's "Organisation"].

Q Of all the awards and accolades you've gotten over the years, what are you proudest of?

A Everything that comes from the music industry is always a big honor to get. But at the same time, that should not be the reason that I'm doing what I do. I always try to give 100 percent. If that leads to [me] getting a Grammy or whatever, I'm happy. But that still wouldn't change my approach toward the music. There are a few other things that I'm [proud of], like the Berlin Medal of Honor. That was something that I was given for the charity work I'm doing. I took that medal as a honoring of our whole team -- everybody who's involved in our project. I'm really proud of that because we changed the lives of a lot of kids.

thorgen@startribune.com • 612-673-7909