Dash Berlin, the man who went from working in a record store to being one of the best DJs in the world
Prashanth Vidyasagar
Senior Content Strategist @LinkedIn | Independent Journalist | Championing Culture, Engagement & Sustainability @LinkedIn |
36 year old Dutch DJ Dash Berlin over the years has become a renowned name in the world of Electronic Dance Music. From working in a record store to being signed by Armin Van Buuren , entering DJ mag top 100 at number 15 to travelling the world over enthralling people with his hits Dash Berlin has come a long way. Dash Berlin's debut concert in Bengaluru is still remembered for his adrenaline pumping set. Prashanth Vidyasagar caught up with Dash Berlin ahead of his second India tour where he bares it all for us.
The last time I met you in Bengaluru you were telling me about how it all started with you working at a record store while you were a teen. Can you please tell me an interesting anecdote from those days?
Ferry Corsten was one of my customers , Marco v was one of my customers. And talking about Ferry Corsten, he came to the shop one day and I was helping him out with his selection for that weekend. So he went through the records and he made a selection, which was with a discount, since he was a big customer, so we give him a discount, 60 euros. He goes to the pin machine. Without looking at the screen he does his pin and presses yes. And I didn’t punch in 60, I punched in 600. So he paid for 600 instead of 60. And then we had to go to the bank to get his money back. ?
Having asked that in terms of music and the culture, what did you take back from India?
Well, I don’t think so much in differences, I think in similarities and I think what makes the music lovers here the same as everywhere in the world is that they really enjoy, embrace and they live electronic dance music.
And to be honest about Indian music, sometimes even dance influences Indian tracks. When I travel to India and listen to them, like I did on this particular occasion, I never know how that’s going to be received. So I listen to it and then I just want to stick to what I am doing again, and not become too much experimental. Because I don’t know from the artist’s point, how people are going to react to it, do they feel offended, do they like it, or do they get excited. It’s something I cannot predict. So, I know there are some people experimenting with dance music and more traditional Indian instruments and singing, but this is not something really easy for me to put in to myself.
Avicii just announced his retirement because he wanted to pursue other things in life. Have you ever felt the same way?
Yeah, it isn’t really that easy. I think Avicii is a great great artist, I tweeted this to him as well. I’ve met him a couple of times. there is no job more important than you own health.
Can you please tell two things about yourself that has never been heard before??
I do Bikram Yoga. Not a lot of people know about that. I do bikram yoga for about 3 years now. The cool thing about bikram yoga is that you can do it everywhere in the world. Another thing that people do not about me is that I have a girlfriend.