Robots and Empire is a science fiction novel written by the American author Isaac Asimov and published by Doubleday Books in 1985. It is part of Asimov's Robot series, which consists of many short stories (collected in I, Robot, The Rest of the Robots, and The Complete Robot) and several novels (The Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun, and The Robots of Dawn).

Robots and Empire is part of Asimov's consolidation of his three major series of science fiction stories and novels: his Robot series, his Galactic Empire series and his Foundation series. (Asimov also carried out this unification in his novel Foundation's Edge, and its sequels, thus unifying the three series of fiction into a single future history).

In the novel, Asimov depicts the transition from his earlier Milky Way Galaxy, inhabited by both human beings and positronic robots, to his Galactic Empire. The galaxy of his earlier trilogy of Robot novels is dominated by the blended human/robotic societies of the fifty "Spacer" planets, dispersed over a wide part of the Galaxy. While the Earth is much more populous than all of the Spacer planets combined, its people are looked down upon by the Spacers and treated as second-class citizens. For a long time, the Spacers have forbidden emigration of people from the Earth. But Asimov's later Galactic Empire is populated by many quadrillions of human beings on hundreds of thousands of habitable planets; and by very few robots (such as R. Daneel Olivaw). Even the technology to maintain and upgrade robots exists on only a few out-of-the-way planets. (R. Daneel Olivaw undergoes some of these upgrades, especially to his positronic brain, over a period of more than 10,000 years.) Therefore, Asimov's novel attempts to describe how his earlier Robot series ultimately connects to his Galactic Empire series.

Plot summary[link]

The Earthman Elijah Baley (the detective hero of the previous Robot books), has died nearly two centuries earlier. During these two centuries, the balance of forces in the galaxy has changed dramatically. Inspired partly by Baley's adventures in space (on the "Spacer" worlds of Solaria and Aurora), Earth-people have overcome their stagnation and agoraphobia, and embarked on a new wave of space colonization, using faster-than-light drive to reach distant planets throughout the Milky Way Galaxy, beyond the earlier "Spacer" worlds. These newly colonized worlds are clearly distinct from the earlier "Spacer" ones, and their inhabitants, calling themselves "Settlers" rather than "Spacers", revere Earth as their mother-world.

Meanwhile, Baley's memory remains in the mind of his former lover, Gladia Delmarre, a "Spacer", who has a centuries-long lifespan, as opposed to the seven or eight decades that Earth people (such as Baley) live. It is discovered that Solaria, the homeworld of Gladia, and the 50th-established of the Spacer planets, has been abandoned and has become empty of all inhabitants (except for millions of robot servants, which have been left behind). Gladia then meets a seventh-generation descendant of Baley's, Daneel Giskard (or D.G.) Baley, a Settler-Trader. He asks for Gladia's help in visiting Solaria, in order to unravel the mysterious destruction of several "Settler" spaceships making landings there, and also with the mission of reclaiming the abandoned robots. Gladia agrees to go, and is accompanied by the positronic robots R. Daneel Olivaw and R. Giskard Reventlov. [R. Giskard has secret telepathic powers about which only R. Daneel knows.] These two robots are both the former property of their creator, Dr. Han Fastolfe, who bequeathed them to Gladia in his will.

At the same time, Daneel and Giskard are engaged in a struggle of wits with Fastolfe's bitter archrivals, the roboticists Kelden Amadiro and Vasilia Aliena, Fastolfe's estranged daughter. Whereas Fastolfe supported the expansion of the "Settler" population from Earth, Amadiro detests all Settlers - as do most "Spacers", who consider all Earthlings to be little better than barbarians. Amadiro wants to see the Earthlings destroyed, so that the descendants of the Spacers alone can inherit the Milky Way (There are no other intelligent beings in Asimov's fictional galaxy).

However, for many decades Amadiro has been continually thwarted in introducing an anti-Settler policy into the governments of the Spacers. These blockings of Amadiro's plans have been largely caused by the telepathic manipulation of key people by R. Giskard. Frustrated by his series of failures, Amadiro decides to accept an ambitious and unscrupulous apprentice, Levular Mandamus. Mandamus develops a cruel plan to destroy the population of the Earth, using a newly-developed weapon, the "nuclear intensifier". Amadiro and Mandamus intend to kill the population of the Earth and to make the Earth uninhabitable for human beings by using radioactivity. They intend to use the nuclear intensifier device to speed up all of the natural radioactive decay processes in the upper crust of the Earth, thereby making the surface of the Earth massively radioactive.

[Note: At the time of Asimov's writing, there had been the recent discovery of the W particle, which is the force carrier of the weak nuclear force. This force is responsible for most forms of nuclear decay: alpha emission and beta emission. The hypothetical "nuclear intensifier" would work by emitting large numbers of W particles, hence expediting nuclear decay.]

While Amadiro schemes, R. Daneel and R. Giskard slowly assemble the pieces of the roboticists' genocidal plan for mass murder. The robots, sharing Fastolfe's humane vision of a unified Settler/Spacer Galaxy - or, failing that, a Galaxy where Settlers can thrive in spite of Spacer domination - attempt to stop Amadiro. However, Daneel and Giskard are hampered by the Three Laws of Robotics, in particular, by the First Law of Robotics,

"A robot may not injure a human being, or through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm."

which prevents them from making any direct attack on Amadiro. Daneel, meanwhile, has formulated an additional Zeroth Law of Robotics, which he thinks might help them to override the First Law, and to save the population of the Earth. The robots must work their way through the ramifications of the First Law and the Zeroth Law, in a race against time, before they face a confrontation with Amadiro and Mandamus.

Fastolfe's brilliant daughter Vasilia has long coveted the valuable Giskard, and she finally determines to take him away from Gladia. Then, when Vasilia deduces that Giskard has telepathy, she confronts him with this fact. Giskard is compelled to manipulate her mind telepathically in order to make her forget about his telepathic powers. This leaves the two positronic robots free to deal with Amadiro.

The two robots locate Amadiro and Mandamus on Earth, where they find the two Spacers debating the best way to use the nuclear intensifier for their ghoulish purposes. (They just happen to be at the site of Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania). After Amadiro admits to the robots their plans to carry out mass murder on the Earth, Giskard decides that it is necessary to tamper with Amadiro's brain (using the newly-created Zeroth Law). Unfortunately, the way that Giskard does this causes irreversible damage to Amadiro's brain - and thus harm to him, as is forbidden by the First Law. Giskard is mentally "skating on thin ice" in this regard - and he is not far from suffering the consequences of such action.

Now standing alone with the robots, Mandamus claims that his intentions regarding the nuclear intensifier were more benign than Amadiro's. Mandamus wants to draw out the radioactive catastrophe over many decades, rather than the mere years that Amadiro wanted, so that Amadiro could draw evil pleasure from the destruction of the Earth's population within his own lifetime.

Giskard decides that it would be best for humanity to abandon the Earth, hence he allows Mandamus to adjust the settings of the nuclear intensifier. He extends the time scale of the radioactive catastrophe to 150 years, allowing humanity to evacuate the Earth (though a significant population still dwells there at the time of the novel Pebble in the Sky).

Next, Giskard tampers with Mandamus's mind as well, ensuring that Mandamus will have no memory of what has happened. Giskard predicts, correctly, that by forcing humanity's hand into leaving the Earth, vigor will be reintroduced into mankind and the new Settlers will spread out across space at a rate never before seen. This will continue until all the governments of the interstellar colonies decide to unite into one "Galactic Empire".

However, by allowing Mandamus to proceed with his original plan, Giskard becomes instrumental in creating a very radioactive planet Earth, and hence placing the inhabitants of Earth under grave threat of death. This contradicts the First Law of Robotics. The Zeroth Law does not prove to be enough, to Giskard at least, to justify harming humans for the sake of a hypothetical future benefit. Under the stress of changing the course of humanity, R. Giskard himself suffers a cascading and soon-fatal malfunction of his positronic brain. This is because he is not sure whether his actions will bring about an ultimate victory for the Spacers, leading to the final death of humanity.

However before R. Giskard's brain freezes, he confers his telepathic ability upon R. Daneel, and Daneel takes on the heavy burden of guiding the entire burgeoning Galactic civilization.

Novel[link]

In his memoir I. Asimov (1994), Asimov explained that following his commercial and critical success with The Robots of Dawn, he decided to write Robots and Empire with the intentions of making Daneel, "the real hero of the series," the novel's protagonist; and that Robots and Empire would create a bridge to the later volumes of his future history. About this second aim, Asimov said that he was persuaded against it by Lester del Rey and Judy-Lynn del Rey, his long-time friends and the editors of Del Rey Books, who thought that the fans of Asimov's series of novels would rather that Asimov kept the Robot and Empire/Foundation universes separate. On the other hand, his editors at Doubleday Books - his hardcover book publisher - encouraged Asimov to do what deep-down he wanted to do. From then on, Asimov proceeded with his plans for unifying the two series.

Asimov wrote Robots and Empire in a nonlinear fashion (other examples of nonlinear plot-structuring in Asimov's novels can be found in The Gods Themselves and Nemesis). Flashbacks by the major characters alternate with the present-time storyline. The story starts on the Spacer planet Aurora, where the heart of Amadiro's conspiracy against Settler civilization is developing. Meanwhile, aboard a starship, Gladia, Daneel, and Giskard visit the planets Solaria and Baleyworld before reaching the Earth, where this novel's climax takes place.

Asimov used this planet-hopping itinerary most notably in most of the volumes of the Foundation series from Foundation and Empire onward. Unlike the detective fiction methods of the previous Robot novels where Baley assembles the clues to a crime that had been committed, in Robots and Empire, a murderous conspiracy developing against the Earth, and its discovery by the robots, keep pace with each other right up through the final confrontation with Amadiro on the Earth. Then, the robots have only moments to spare in terminating Amadiro's evil plan for a quick death to all Earthlings.

As well as linking the two series into a single future history, the present book served to address a criticism leveled against the largely radioactive Earth as depicted in Pebble in the Sky and mentioned in several other books. Though not explicitly stated, there was the clear implication the world being mostly radioactive and humans precariously surviving in the uncontaminated areas in between was the result of a nuclear war hundreds or thousands of years before the time of the plot. This would have made "Pebble in the Sky" part of the post-nuclear war sub-genre common in the 1950s. It was, however, pointed out by critics that such an extensive use of nuclear weapons as to leave persistent and widespread radiation even after centuries would have completely destroyed all life on Earth at the moment when it took place. Therefore, in the present book Asimov provided a different origin for the future Earth's radioactivity.

External links[link]

• Robots and Empire Summary page for publications of this title at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Robots and Empire at Worlds Without End

Alec Empire
Alec Empire DJing at Throbbing Gristle's 2005-2006 New Year's Eve party
Background information
Birth name	Alexander Wilke-Steinhof
Also known as	Alexander Wilke Death Funk DJ 6666 feat. The Illegals DJ Mowgly E.C.P. Jaguar LX Empire Naomi Campbell Nero Nintendo Teenage Robots P.J.P. Richard Benson Wipe Out
Born	(1972-05-02) 2 May 1972 (age 40)
Origin	Berlin, Germany
Genres	Digital hardcore, Techno, Breakbeat, Punk, Breakcore, Industrial hip-hop, Metal, Experimental
Occupations	Musician, producer, DJ
Instruments	Vocals, Guitar, Synthesizer, Sampler, Drum machine, Mixer
Years active	1990–present
Labels	Digital Hardcore Recordings, Eat Your Heart Out, Grand Royal, Phonogram, Force Inc., Mille Plateaux, Geist Recordings, Riot Beats
Associated acts	Atari Teenage Riot The Curse of the Golden Vampire
Website	http://www.alec-empire.com/

Alec Empire (born Alexander Wilke-Steinhof on 2 May 1972 in Charlottenburg, West Berlin) is a German musician who is best known as a founding member of the band Atari Teenage Riot. Also a prolific and distinguished solo artist, producer and DJ, he has released well over a hundred albums, EPs and singles and remixed over seventy tracks for various artists including Björk.^[1] He was also the driving force behind the creation of the digital hardcore subgenre and the record labels Digital Hardcore Recordings and Eat Your Heart Out.

Biography[link]

Wilke's father was a working-class socialist, himself the son of a radical activist who perished in the concentration camps of the Second World War.^[2][3] His maternal grandfather, Karl Steinhof, was a self-made millionaire who patented the first domestic hand-knitting appliance during the economic boom in Germany in the 1950s.^[2][4]

Wilke grew up during the Cold War near the Berlin Wall, which he would pass every day on his way to school. The frequent sight of patrol guards with guns influenced his outlook on life from an early age.^[5] He describes Berlin at the time as: "Probably the most left radical place in Germany in the 70s, terrorists, a lot of demonstrations, and probably the first address to hear the latest American music, because of the radio shows the US soldiers brought to Berlin."^[6]

Early influences and career[link]

At the age of ten, Wilke's love of rap led to a vogueing career on the streets of Berlin.^[7][8] Later disillusioned by that genre becoming increasingly commercial, he left it behind in favour of a completely different form of musical expression. He had played guitar since the age of eight which coupled with his politically charged upbringing eventually led him to punk music; he formed his first band, Die Kinder, at age twelve.^[8]

By sixteen, however, Wilke came to believe that the punk movement was "dead" (though the anti-establishment punk attitude would figure significantly in his subsequent output). After leaving Die Kinder, he began listening to classical music and experimenting with electronic instruments.^[9] He eventually became fascinated by the rave scene, and, following German reunification, frequented underground raves in East Berlin, believing his native West Berlin scene to be too commercialised. Known earlier in his career as LX Empire he produced a great deal of what he refers to as "faceless DJ music".^[10] In 1991, while DJing on a beach in France with friend Hanin Elias, he caught the attention of Ian Pooley, which led to the release of a number of 12" records on the Force Inc. label.^[10]

Although Empire was a prolific producer and DJ at this time,^[11] and made a comfortable enough living, he nevertheless saw the rave scene as decadent and selfish. This angered him, as he and his friends lived in a city embroiled in politics, and the demise of communist-led governments had given rise to increased conservatism in Germany, whilst few people cared. The German neo-Nazi movement had invaded the scene, declaring trance techno "true German music".^[11]

Empire retaliated by utilising samples of 60s and 70s funk – a predominantly black style of music – in his solo work. In order to further spread the message, he gathered like-minded individuals Hanin Elias (also a former punk) and Carl Crack (a Swazi MC) to form a band. In 1992, the trio became known as Atari Teenage Riot (ATR).^{[citation needed]}

Atari Teenage Riot and Digital Hardcore Recordings[link]

Atari Teenage Riot's sound was characterised by the use of breakbeats (again sampled from funk and rap, but replayed at more than twice their original speeds), heavy guitar riffs, and the shouting of politically driven lyrics and slogans by the band members (as well as sampled dialogue). Empire provided much of the musical direction, and with the later input of Japanese-American noise musician Nic Endo, the ATR sound took on a more chaotic, arrhythmic nature marked by rough sequencing, improvised mixing and extended "noise-fests".^{[citation needed]}

ATR signed a record deal with Phonogram, a major UK label, in 1993. The two parted ways after only a couple of single releases, due to the band's refusal to play by the label's rules.^[12][13] In 1994, using the non-refundable cash advance from the deal, Empire started an independent record label which allowed its artists the freedom of expression Phonogram were unlikely to give. He named it Digital Hardcore Recordings (DHR); "digital hardcore" would become a general term used to describe the direction his sound had taken. That year, DHR released EPs by EC8OR, Sonic Subjunkies, and Empire himself.

While working with ATR, Empire continued steadily with his solo output. He recorded for Force Inc. under several pseudonyms, including the Detroit techno-inspired Jaguar. He also recorded several albums for Force Inc.'s experimental sub-label Mille Plateaux, including Generation Star Wars (his first full solo album) and Low on Ice, which he recorded entirely on his laptop during a three day tour of Iceland with ATR. In 1995, ATR released their first proper album, Delete Yourself!, on DHR, and, in 1996, Empire released his first solo album for DHR, The Destroyer. In that year, Empire and Mike D signed a deal to release a number of DHR's recordings on the Beastie Boys' Grand Royal record label in the United States.^[14] The label also invited DHR artists to tour the US leading to recognition by MTV and alternative radio stations.^{[citation needed]}

ATR spent the next few years touring the world with artists such as Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Beck, Rage Against the Machine, the Wu-Tang Clan and Ministry, as well as headlining such memorable shows as the Digital Hardcore festival at CBGB's in New York City in 1998, and the Queen Elizabeth Hall show in London in 1999 at the request of fan John Peel.^[15] During this time they introduced Nic Endo to their ranks as a fourth member. Listener opinion was often divided over the newer sounds ATR subsequently incorporated, and this, along with other factors, began to strain the band.^{[citation needed]}

All of the members found some comfort in their solo work – Empire's output at this time would include his sole release as Nintendo Teenage Robots, and the bootleg recording Alec Empire vs. Elvis Presley, as well as remixes for the likes of The Mad Capsule Markets, Mogwai and Thurston Moore. However, ATR's problems worsened. Onstage at one show in Seattle in 1999, Empire slashed his forearms with a razor.^[3] At another show that year in London, in which ATR supported Nine Inch Nails, the band dispensed with the usual song-based formula and delivered one long barrage of what could only be described as "noise"; this would later be released as Live at Brixton Academy.

By the end of 1999, Empire was mentally exhausted, Elias was pregnant and Crack was suffering from psychosis induced by prolonged drug use.^[14] The band was put on hiatus; its future was made even more doubtful following Crack's death in 2001,^[16] and Elias' decision to leave DHR and create Fatal Recordings.

After ATR[link]

Alec Empire performing live in Prato, Italy on January 13, 2007.

Empire rebounded in 2001 when he, with assistance from Endo, recorded Intelligence and Sacrifice. The album contained two discs: the first retained the ATR formula, yet exhibited a more polished production style and lyrics of an unusually introspective nature;^[17] the second disc was an electronic instrumental album, and in contrast was more experimental. He used an all-star lineup in his first live "Alec Empire" show at the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan: Charlie Clouser (ex-Nine Inch Nails) played synths, Masami "Merzbow" Akita and Gabe Serbian (The Locust) both played drums, and Endo played synths and keyboards.^[18]

Empire's next lineup would include a guitarist, Robbie Furze, who would later record for DHR with Panic DHH. Empire also played a series of live shows performing material from the second disc of Intelligence and Sacrifice; one of these was released as The CD2 Sessions in 2003. He returned in 2005 with Futurist, which was less electronic than its predecessor and had more of a raw punk-rock sound, albeit assisted by drum machines and some processing.^[19]

Empire began 2006 by DJing at industrial pioneers Throbbing Gristle's New Year's Eve party.^[20] During that year he remixed fellow Germans Rammstein (whom he once said were "successful for all the wrong reasons"^[21]) and New York hardcore band Most Precious Blood. He also recorded a cover version of The Monks' "Monk Time" for a tribute album with that band's singer Gary Burger, and Russell Simins of Blues Explosion.^[22] Atari Teenage Riot: 1992-2000, a retrospective album, was released by DHR on 3 July 2006.

After DHR[link]

In 2007, Empire announced that DHR would hence forth assume a more "underground" role,^[23] as his focus turned to a new label, Eat Your Heart Out,^[24] which he describes as "the sound of New Berlin".^[25] The label's first release was his 12" single "Robot L.O.V.E.", followed by an album, The Golden Foretaste of Heaven, recorded with his new production team and touring band The Hellish Vortex, released in Japan on 28 November 2007 and in Europe on 21 January 2008.^[26] The second single release, the On Fire EP, was released on 7 December.^[27] Sixteen Years of Video Material, a DVD featuring rare footage of Empire and ATR was released on German video label Monitorpop in July 2008.^[28][29]

Style[link]

Alec Empire's body of work spans a range of electronic (as well as conventionally less electronic) styles. His earlier releases for Force Inc. were influenced by the rave scene in his native Berlin, and included acid house, techno, hardcore, punk and breakbeat (all of which are evident on the SuEcide EPs and the Limited Editions 1990-1994 compilation). On creating DHR his solo recordings for that label consisted largely of the digital hardcore staples of breakcore (as heard on The Destroyer album and EPs) and later experimental noise (as heard on Miss Black America), while his work during the same period for Mille Plateaux saw him experimenting with minimal techno (Pulse Code), ambient (Low on Ice) and musique concrète (Les Étoiles des Filles Mortes). His alter-egos for various labels provided outlets for dabbling in other genres such as drum and bass/jungle (DJ Mowgly), Detroit techno (Jaguar) and even chiptune music (Nintendo Teenage Robots).^{[citation needed]}

After the demise of Atari Teenage Riot, Empire's major releases for DHR sought to continue in the guitar-based, punk-influenced vein of the band. Intelligence and Sacrifice utilised live guitars, breakbeats, noise, sampled cinematic dialogue and Empire's trademark spoken/shouted English vocals, while Futurist saw a more obvious return to his punk roots and consequently sounds as if it were largely recorded using all live instrumentation, even though it was electronically produced. The creation of the Eat Your Heart Out label saw a move to a much more electronic-sounding approach with comparatively subdued vocals over synthesized sounds and beats.^{[citation needed]}

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Remixes (Selection)[link]

Films / Soundtracks / Film music-contribution and/or Composition[link]

• Spawn (USA, 1997)
• Orgazmo (USA, 1998)
• Modulations (USA, 1998)
• Hurricane Streets (USA, 1999)
• Buddyhead Presents: Punk Is Dead (USA, 2005)
• Threat (USA, 2000, Re-Release 2006)
• The Fast & The Furious: Tokyo Drift (USA, 2006)
• Monks: The Transatlantic Feedback (USA, Sp, D, 2006)
• Durch die Nacht mit... (Episode Arte TV, 2008)
• Atari Teenage Riot / Alec Empire: 16 Years of Video Material (DVD only, USA, Japan, EU, 2008)
• 224466 (Japan, 2008, episode of 246)
• Slumber Party Slaughterhouse" (USA, 2008)
• Chaostage (D, 2008)
• Godkiller (USA, 2010)

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Alec Empire at Allmusic
• Atari Teenage Riot at Allmusic

External links[link]

• Official website
• Alec Empire's Berlin Blog
• Eat Your Heart Out Records
• Alec Empire on MySpace
• The Hellish Vortex official site
• Official Eat Your Heart Out site
• Official Digital Hardcore Recordings site

Paul van Dyk
Background information
Birth name	Matthias Paul[1]
Born	(1971-12-16) 16 December 1971 (age 40)
Origin	Eisenhüttenstadt, East Germany
Genres	Electronic dance music Trance
Occupations	Musician, record producer, DJ
Instruments	Keyboards, mixer, synthesizer, Turntables
Years active	1991–present
Labels	Armada Music, Vandit Records Ultra Records Deviant Records MFS (1992-1998)
Associated acts	see Co-production section of Paul van Dyk discography.
Website	paulvandyk.com

Matthias Paul, better known by his stage name Paul van Dyk (born (1971-12-16)16 December 1971) is a German Grammy Award-winning Electronic Dance Music DJ, musician and record producer. One of the first true Superstar DJs, Paul van Dyk was one of the first artists to receive a Grammy nomination in the newly added category of Best Dance/Electronic album for his 2004 release Reflections. He was named the World's No. 1 DJ in both 2005 and 2006, something less than a handful of DJs have ever achieved.^[2] Paul van Dyk is the only DJ to hold a spot in the World's Top 10 DJs since 1998. He is also the first DJ to be named No. 1 by Mixmag in 2005. As of 2007, he has sold over 4.5 million albums worldwide.^[3]

A trance producer starting in the early 1990s, Paul quickly achieved popularity with his remix of "Love Stimulation" by Humate under the record label MFS in 1993, and with his hit single, "For an Angel", but in recent times he no longer likes to describe his music as trance, but rather simply as electronic dance music.

History[link]

Early life and musical beginning[link]

Paul van Dyk grew up in East Berlin in a single parent household;^[4] his father left him and his mother when he was four years old.^[4] While living there, he worked as a broadcast technician^[5] and began training to become a carpenter.^[4] Paul van Dyk claims his musical education came from radio.^[6] Because where he grew up there were no record stores at which to buy music, he kept in touch with the world beyond the Berlin Wall by secretly listening to the popular but forbidden Western radio stations RIAS (Radio in the American Sector) and SFB and mixtapes occasionally smuggled into the country and copied among school friends.^[7]

Shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall, van Dyk and his mother were given permission to leave East Germany and moved to Hamburg to live with his aunt.^[7] In 1990, van Dyk moved back to Berlin. His first appearance as a DJ was in the Tresor in March 1991.^[8] After several more dates, he was given the chance to perform at Juergen Kramer's Dubmission parties in the Turbine club, together with the young resident DJ Kid Paul. The shows were called Paul vs. Paul. His mixing style drew the attention of Cosmic Baby^{[citation needed]} and the two collaborated as The Visions of Shiva. Their single "Perfect Day" was released by the Berlin independent label MFS (Masterminded For Success) Records, run by English ex-patriat producer Mark Reeder and manager Torsten Jurk.

In February 1993, van Dyk and Kid Paul hosted an installment of the weekly three-hour "HR3 Clubnight" radio show, performing for a nationwide audience on German radio. The second and final Visions of Shiva single "How Much Can You Take?" was released, and van Dyk and Cosmic went their separate musical ways. By late summer, Paul released his first DJ-mix compilation "X-Mix-1 - the MFS Trip" and remixed Humate's trance hymn "Love Stimulation".

1994–2007[link]

In 1994, Paul released The Green Valley EP, Pump This Party and Emergency 911. Meanwhile, MFS acquired many remixes for Paul. MFS label owner Mark Reeder's close friendship with artists such as New Order gave Paul the opportunity to mix the track "Spooky" from the Republic album. Persuaded by Reeder, he finally recorded his debut LP 45 RPM with Johnny Klimek and VOOV. Reeder also compiled the album's running order and design, and chose the album's title as a reflection of the 45 rpm speed typical for dance vinyl.

Mark Reeder compiled Seven Ways, which established Paul van Dyk as a trance pioneer and was Paul van Dyk's first real success in Britain. Reeder had successfully convinced his old friend Rob Deacon (formerly of Volume) to license the album for the UK and his new Deviant label. Seven Ways was voted the #1 album by readers of DJ Magazine.

In early 1997, Paul van Dyk began collaborating with U.S. music producer BT. Together, they produced tracks such as Flaming June, Forbidden Fruit and Namistai (1999). The singles "Forbidden Fruit" and "Beautiful Place" did not cause a great impact at first but, with the release of Seven Ways and "Words" appearing at the height of the British superclub phenomenon, van Dyk's own material began to attract attention. "By the time they realised I was a German, it was too late!" van Dyk said. Van Dyk also remixed a well known early-90s track, Age of Love in 1997.^[9]

In 1998, 45 RPM was re-released in the UK and in the US. To mark the event, and in homage to the defunct E-Werk, Paul released a remix of "For An Angel". Van Dyk took up a residency at Sheffield's Gatecrasher and declared himself anti-drugs, which led to home-made "No E, Pure PvD" T-shirts, also a sly note to journalists that his surname contained no "E". In 1998, Paul remixed British trance duo, Binary Finary's famous "1998" single, which was a successful version that took Binary Finary to the top of the German Dance charts.^[10]

In mid-1998, Van Dyk left MFS Records and took a controlling share in the new label Vandit Records. In 2000, Paul flexed his skills with his melodic, dancefloor-friendly Out There And Back, which included the hit single "Tell Me Why (The Riddle)", a collaboration with Saint Etienne. It also included the European hit We Are Alive, a remixed version of the Jennifer Brown song Alive. His first mix album The Politics of Dancing (2001) was followed by a world tour and a DVD release Global (2003) and the Mexican film "Zurdo", for which van Dyk composed the soundtrack and won a Mexican Oscar for his work.

Reflections (2003) derived from van Dyk’s trips to India, was a more melancholy affair, and includes the single "Nothing But You", a collaboration with Hemmstock & Jennings. It was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Electronic Album. The mix album The Politics of Dancing 2 (2005) was preceded by a single "The Other Side," featuring Wayne Jackson; a song dedicated to the victims, and their families, of the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake and the subsequent tsunami that struck Thailand on 26 December 2004. His original productions from Reflections have been synced into major motion pictures such as Into the Blue, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, television’s Entertainment Tonight and MTV’s Cribs, and international ad campaigns for Motorola, HBO, Land Rover, Ski Vail and most recently for Jeep.

[edit] 2007–2010: In Between

Paul van Dyk in El Salvador

Crowd at a Paul van Dyk rave in Atlanta

Paul van Dyk released his fifth studio album, In Between, worldwide on 14 August 2007. The album, which he created over a three-year period, debuted at number #115 on the Billboard 200 and #2 on the Billboard's Top Electronic Albums and #1 on the Top Heatseekers. The album also reached #16 on the Mexican Albums Chart and #5 on the Mexican International Chart. The album was released accompanied by a special edition limited to two thousand copies which included a mixed version of the full album, along with an eight-track bonus CD and an eight-page photo anthology.^[11]

The album was produced primarily by Paul van Dyk himself, and features a wide range of collaborators including David Byrne of Talking Heads, Jessica Sutta of the Pussycat Dolls, Ashley Tomberlin from Luminary, Alex M.O.R.P.H, Lo Fi Sugar, Rea Garvey of Reamonn, Ryan Merchant and Wayne Jackson. It also features a vocal sample from Ben Lost from Probspot's "Blows My Mind" on the song "Another Sunday". In June 2007, Paul van Dyk embarked on the worldwide "In Between Tour" to promote the album.^[12]

On New Year's Eve 2008/2009 Paul played Barra Beach to over 1 million people in Rio de Janero.^{[citation needed]}

His work with EA Games has resulted in mulitple releases featuring his music on Mirror's Edge and Grand Slam Tennis out in 2009. Paul van Dyk has also remixed Batman's "Dark Knight Theme" written by Hanz Zimmer which helped the album win best soundtrack in a motion picture Grammy which Paul van Dyk shares with his fellow collaborators. He has also remixed Depeche Mode’s "Martyr", Justin Timberlake’s "What Goes Around" and Britney Spears' "Gimme More".

Paul van Dyk hosts a show on Radio Fritz every Saturday at 20:00 GMT.

In May 2008, Paul van Dyk set up a remix competition with digital download network Beatport.com, inviting aspiring producers to remix his single 'Far Away' which appeared on his 2007 album 'In Between'. Paul has appeared as one of the DJs at Trance Energy 2009.

It was revealed by Paul van Dyk that his record label Vandit would be merging with Armin Van Buuren's Armada Music.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] 2012–present: Evolution

The sixth studio album by Paul van Dyk, entitled Evolution was released on 3 April 2012. The track "Eternity" was made in collaboration with Adam Young, known for Owl City.^[13][14] Evolution also features producers Arty, Austin Leeds, Giuseppe Ottaviani, Tyler Michaud, and Ummet Ozcan. The album features vocals from Johnny McDaid of Fieldwork, Sarah Howells and various other artists.^{[citation needed]}

Politics[link]

Since 2001, Paul van Dyk has taken an interest in politics. His creation of The Politics of Dancing compilation was inspired by electronic dance music's universal acclaim by different people around the world. "Palestinians are dancing with Israelis. Lebanese people are dancing with Israelis – without war, without anything in their minds other than treating each other respectfully", said van Dyk in 2006.^[15] He also has called EDM "...a political and diplomatic tool that could be used."^[15] Having grown up with little freedom, his musical career has helped him voice his opinions about politics. He opposes the Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan. He describes himself as anti-war and has advertised this while performing, by wearing a shirt reading "Make peace, not war".^[15]

He has helped fight poverty by supporting social programs to help disadvantaged people in India, New York, and Berlin.^[16] He also participated in Rock the Vote in 2004 and 2008; he and Bono being the only non-American artists to join the campaign encouraging young people to vote.^[16]

Trivia[link]

• Paul van Dyk never flies in a plane of type McDonnell Douglas.^[17]
• He has the second largest Miles & More account (the frequent flyer program of Lufthansa).^{[citation needed]}

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

• 1994: 45 RPM
• 1996: Seven Ways
• 2000: Out There and Back
• 2003: Reflections
• 2007: In Between
• 2012: Evolution

TV shows[link]

• 2003: What's New, Scooby-Doo

Soundtracks[link]

• 2003: Zurdo
• 2004: One Perfect Day
• 2005: The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants
• 2005: Into The Blue
• 2008: The Dark Knight

Video games[link]

• 1999: Wipeout 3
• 2003: FIFA Football 2004
• 2004: Need For Speed: Underground 2
• 2008: Mirror's Edge
• 2009: Grand Slam Tennis
• 2009: DJ Hero
• 2010: DJ Hero 2
• 2011: Test Drive Unlimited 2
• 2012: Grand Slam Tennis 2

Awards[link]

• 1999 DJ Mag Music Maker^[18]
• 1999 Best International DJ
• 1999 Best International Award
• 1999 Man Of The Year By Mixmag
• 1999 Leader Of The Trance Nation
• 2003 Best European DJ (Miami Winter Music Conference 2003)
• 2003 Best Trance Track Paul van Dyk - Nothing But You
• 2003 Nominated Grammy Award For His Album: Reflections
• 2004 America’s Favorite DJ
• 2004 Best International DJ
• 2004 Best Event
• 2004 Best Music In A Commercial (Motorola)
• 2004 Ariel (Mexican Oscar For Best Original Score In Zurdo)
• 2004 Best Music Maker By DJ Magazine
• 2004 Big Winner At The Dancestar Awards
• 2005 WMC 2005 Best Track House Progressive/Trance: Nothing But You (Paul van Dyk)
• 2005 WMC 2005 Best International DJ
• 2005 America’s Favorite DJ
• 2005 Best DJ For Dance/Electronic Album For His Original Album: Reflections
• 2005 The International Dance Music Award (IDMA) For Best Euro DJ.
• 2005 DJ Mag No 1 DJ
• 2005 Mixmag's 1st No 1 DJ
• 2005 Best Produer Trance Awards
• 2005 Best Global DJ Trance Awards
• 2006 Best Global DJ (Miami Winter Music Conference 2006)
• 2006 Best Record Label: VANDIT
• 2006 Best Producer (Miami Winter Music Conference 2006)
• 2006 Best Global DJ, Best NuNRG/Euro Track
• 2006 DJ Mag No 1 DJ
• 2006 Best Global DJ Trance Awards
• 2006 Best Producer
• 2006 Best Mix Compilation For The Politics of Dancing 2
• 2006 Cross Of Merit From The City Of Berlin
• 2006 Best HI NRG / Euro Track For "The Other Side" (Miami Winter Music Conference 2006)
• 2006 B.Z.-Kulturpreis 2006
• 2007 Best Ortofon European DJ (Miami Winter Music Conference 2007)
• 2007 Best DJ By Trance Awards
• 2007 Best Producer By Trance Awards
• 2007 Best Label VANDIT By Trance Awards
• 2007 Best Remixer By Trance Awards
• 2007 Best Live Act By Trance Awards
• 2007 Best Resident By Trance Awards
• 2007 Best Club Night CREAM, Ibiza By Trance Awards
• 2007 Best Album In Between By Trance Awards
• 2007 Best Radio Show VONYC By Trance Awards
• 2007 Best Website By Trance Awards
• His Regular 6 Hour Set At “Gatecrasher” Was Voted As The "Second Best Club Night Ever"
• Best International DJ By Musik Berlin, Zürich, Amsterdam, Londres, Paris, Milan, NY
• 2008 Best International DJ By The Ministry Of Sound
• 2008 Best International Producer By The Ministry Of Sound
• 2008 Shared Grammy For The Dark Knight Which Won (Best Soundtrack In A Motion Picture)
• 2008 Best DJ By Trance Awards
• 2008 Best Producer By Trance Awards
• 2008 Best Label "Vandit" By Trance Awards
• 2009 Best International DJ By The Ministry Of Sound
• 2009 Best International Producer By The Ministry Of Sound
• 2009 Best Track "Home" (Paul van Dyk Club Mix) By The Ministry Of Sound
• 2009 Best DJ National Paul van Dyk By Raveline Poll 2009
• 2009 Best Album 2009 "VOLUME" In The Raveline Poll 2009
• 2009 Best Trance Label National "VANDIT Records" In The Raveline Poll 2009
• 2009 Best trance DJ By Trance Awards
• 2009 Best Producer By Trance Awards
• 2009 Best Trance Track "Paul van Dyk Feat Johnny McDaid – Home" By Trance Awards 2009
• 2010 Best Full Length DJ Mix - "VONYC Sessions 09" By IDMA
• 2010 Best DJ National Paul van Dyk By Raveline Poll 2010
• 2011 Longest Running DJ In Top 10 Of DJ's Mag Top 100 DJ's (13 Year's)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Paul van Dyk

• Official website
• Paul van Dyk at the Internet Movie Database
• Artist Site at Ultra Records