Grammy nominated artist and producer Paul van Dyk has twice been named the World's #1 DJ (2005 and 2006), has sold well over 5 million records worldwide, and has been spinning and entertaining sold-out crowds for nearly 20 years. Having somehow managed to retain his enthusiasm for his music, the Berlin native lets it be known that he is thrilled to be coming to the States to play Movement this weekend. Check out what else he has to say in this candid interview about the man and his music.

You've played Detroit before. What was that reception like?

It's a town that has a rich history with electronic music. It's a little bit like, you know how people are always like, "Oh are you from Berlin, it's so cool," it's probably like one of the places that I feel Detroit is like. There's a division between techno and house and trance and whatever, but at the same time if you listen to real Detroit classics like Strings of Life, it's trance-y house techno. It all came from the same thing, we loved electronic music. It's how the whole thing started. A lot of trance-y artists are influenced by people from Detroit, and I know that a lot of people from Detroit have been really influenced from the power that the trance-y techno element actually brought to it.

And you've got Evolution coming out shortly?

Actually it's going to be in September. And you know, we kind of have this really interesting concept behind it. Touring became even somewhat more important than the actual record release because people are obviously downloading music illegally. So the whole sort of concept kind of changed 10 or 15 years ago. You've been on tour to support your release, so meanwhile it's a little bit the other way around. You've been on tour, so you give people something to take home. So in a way, we're on tour with the Evolution tour, and then the album comes in September, so then obviously the second leg of the tour starts.

So you're excited for that? It sounds like you have a lot on your plate.

I always have a lot on my plate. But then again it doesn't seem like work. It's my passion, so therefore I'm probably able to sort of do much more than I could do if I was doing something that I'm not that much into. So it's really exciting, and the album is pretty much finished. People that heard it and people that know me say that it's the most personal album I've ever done and the best music I've ever done. That's something that already excites me, because these are people that

are very dear to me, that are close to me and that know me. And that never tell me anything but the truth. And that makes me happy, first of all. And the other thing is that the whole tour itself is somewhat more than me just flying around with my two bags. It's quite an advanced production involved as well, and I wanted to bring the whole visual concept of Evolution, in conjunction with the music, with me.

You're creating music for an enormous crowd. That must just be a fantastic feeling.

It is. I am quite enthusiastic when I play. I jump around, I'm in the music basically. I'm kind of like letting loose when I play. I'm pretty sure people are asking "why is he jumping up and down?" That's encouraging, but it could be something more these days. And then, obviously, having that is something that is rather special.

These are some of the people that you've remixed in the past: Justin Timberlake, Hanz Zimmer, Britney Spears. What is that like working with world-renowned superstars and household names?

To be really honest, I think it also has something to do with the fact that I grew up in Germany. Over there, I could never really get any of the magazines or record covers or whatever. So my big stars, I never knew what they looked like, never knew what they had to say. All I knew was the music. And I kept that rather pure relationship with music. So I don't really care if it's Britney Spears that I work with, I cared that the track that I'm working on is a cool track. And that I can do something good with it. It's the same for Justin Timberlake or someone that nobody knows.