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Paul van Dyk - 'Symmetries' feat. Austin Leeds Austin and I have known each other for quite a while now and I can say we're really good friends. We collaborated on 'New York City' for the last album, and that was a track that we both really liked and -- as importantly -- enjoyed making together. Austin started 'Symmetries' by producing this piece that had the drums, percussion loops and bassline and sent me this wonderful, near-complete backing track. At the start of 'Evolution's production, I assembled this kind of hybrid studio set-up which I could take into clubs. Through keyboards and effects boxes, it allowed me to work in pretty much any type of new element you can imagine to a track. I'm not sure if my audiences realized it at the time, but they were essentially interacting with the music making process of 'Evolution'. Their reactions were showing me which direction each of the tracks should take. It's a very new discipline, and it basically hazes the line between studio and club. The music made in the studio is, to the very great degree, designed for the club, so it is a very natural progression to work this way. When I did this with 'Symmetries', I had a piano hook line in my head, and when I brought Austin's backing track in, I started playing it over the top. This was the first time that the two main parts were brought together, and as it was playing I saw that other aspects were going a little too deep and the track was feeling like it should be lighter. So I made quick modulations to those, and the track we arrived with at the end became 'Symmetries'. More Paul van Dyk: Get EVOLUTION on iTunes
