Paul Van Dyk Announces GenreBlending VENTURE X Project: Fans ‘Deserve More Than A Top 10 Dance Chart Set Played From A USB Stick
Paul Van Dyck may have made his name as a trance artist, but his interests and talents transcend the genre. Now it shows how far.
With his new project VENTURE X, the German pioneer renounces genre purity and simply plays what he thinks is best, while Van Dyk mixes progressive, trance and techno on his next tour.
"I try to be curious and open-minded about new sounds, artists and labels — I always am," Van Dyk told Billboard .
These VENTURE X performances took place in 2015. They begin February 17th in Toronto, followed by tours of New York, Montreal, Pontiac, Denver, Portland, San Francisco and Austin. Along the way, Van Dijk hopes to please the crowd "in an unlikely way. I think electronic music lovers deserve more than being in the top 10 of the dance charts played from a USB stick."
For the tour, Van Dyke's setup includes instruments, computers and sequences, a set that "allows me to find the right level of energy at any point in the performance because everything is basically sequenced and played live". And while the audio cuts may irk some fans, he doesn't care about "getting rid of genre sweepers, quite the opposite." There's great music out there and it's my job as a DJ to bring it to you. At least that's how I see it. Otherwise it feels like a jukebox.
According to van Dijk, who has been making music for three decades, genres are nothing more than genres whose names, sounds and meanings are still changing. “When I first started DJing, all electronic music was called techno… what was called progressive house 20 years ago is probably called melodic techno today. There are some great releases on Drumcode that fit easily into the trance genre and sometimes Techno feels a bit cold to me.
VENTURE X's anthem, which doesn't fit into any genre of its own, was released today (January 27). Van Dyke teams up with progressive house duo Weekly Heroes and singer-songwriter Christian Schottstadt to create a dark atmosphere together. Traveling on the trail that serves as the project's theory
"I like things that are progressive and deep, but have a strong approach that you can hear," says Van Dijk. "[Making this music] feels very natural and organic."
