Paul Van Dyk on the necessity of club culture: “It is absurd to close clubs!
A few weeks ago, Booking United again wrote an open letter to draw attention to the suffering of the cultural scene. Among the patrons of the communication were numerous artists such as Sven Väth, Dr. Motte and Paul van Dyk. Paul van Dyk has now once again expressed his views on this explosive topic in an interview with the magazine “Der Spiegel”.
Van Dyk responded to the mentioned risk of the high risk of propagation at dance events in closed rooms by saying that there are specially developed concepts for interiors that would make clubbing possible in principle. However, this is largely ignored by politicians. He also criticized the fact that the entire cultural sector is treated “stepmotherly” by politicians. According to van Dyk, a concert or theater evening or an afternoon in a pub is just as much a cultural necessity as “dancing to electronic music on the weekend.
The Minister of State for Culture, Monika Grütters, has pledged 27 million euros to the culture industry. Whether this is enough or not, however, is irrelevant for Matthias Paul, whose real name is Matthias Paul. His main concern is to be allowed to work again. However, as long as clubs and venues continue to be seen as endangering rather than endangered places, the prospects for the 48-year-old and all other artists and musicians are poor. Van Dyk has no sympathy for the closure of the venues: “There is much talk of “illegal parties” that contribute to the spread of the virus. So it is absurd to close clubs and event locations. These would be exactly the locations where one could implement hygiene concepts, where one could track who was there and when. This is not possible if people go to the supermarket before 10 p.m., buy alcohol and then celebrate together in a small apartment,” says the trance icon.
But “does club culture work without licentiousness?”, the Spiegel wants to know. And Van Dyk has a clear and simple answer to this question: For him, it’s not about licentiousness, but about the music that drives him.
Van Dyk answers the question of whether live streaming can be a “way out of the crisis of club culture” with a clear “no”. After all, as an artist one has to cover the costs for the technology(s) and the social media effort. Live streaming is probably a financially rewarding business only for world stars like U2 or Justin Bieber.
With regard to the state of club culture after the pandemic, the award-winning producer is optimistic. As soon as events are possible again without a hygiene concept, everything will be as “passionate” as before.
