DJ Dan Breaks it Down

Named “The Number One House DJ in the World” in DJ Magazine‘s 2006 Top 100 DJs Poll, DJ Dan will be spinning his notorious style of house to local music lovers and party devotees at State Street hot-spot Tonic on Thursday, September 27.

Dan began his career in the pre-early days of what we now know as “house music” some 16 years ago, spinning his way through the Los Angeles rave scene as he developed his own music gyration. These days, the sound DJ Dan’s been spinning for the last couple years – which he describes coyly as “Electro Crunk” – is currently inspired by British DJ Carl Cox, British duo Coburn, and the one and only Prince. For DJ’s, a fan base is created at the heart of the party, the beat that keeps the night moving and dance floors cracking. For Dan, it has been said that his consistency and ability to play to the party has helped to work him into worldwide limelight. In between traveling the globe this week, Dan chatted with me about how it all started, where house music is now, and where the genre is headed.

The road to stardom began in Olympia, WA, where DJ Dan grew up. “My love of music surfaced early as a kid. I also became fascinated with the mixing of different sounds,” Dan said. Beyond banging pots and pans around the house, music it seemed began to churn. At his first rave in the early 90s, Dan was besotted and soon after moved to California to saturate himself in the rave scene that so fascinated him.

In between the 16 years of party spinning and rave ripping, Dan recorded mixes that have famously appeared throughout mainstream media. From the Pussycat Dolls infamous performance mixes to his update of Yoko Ono’s “Give Peace a Chance,” DJ Dan’s talents are widely recognizable as smart and inventive.

Interestingly enough, Dan keeps the clubs rocking with truly “old school” techniques-he uses CDs and is just starting to learn Serato, a scratch mp3 software program that most rookie DJ’s are all too familiar with. With technology rapidly changing the DJ industry, music has evolved with and without him. When asked about the future of music, the worldly mix master appears hopeful for a more ‘electro crunky’ beat: “Here in the US, I think that house music will start to incorporate more rap vocals, as well as staying cutting edge with the current electro sound. But overseas it seems that the glitchy, techy, electro sound seems to be very cutting edge.”

Put your party pants on and get crunky at with DJ Dan on Thursday, September 27 at Tonic Nightclub, 634 State Street. Call 897-1800 for tables and information.