Dash Berlin, one of the most popular names in the EDM scene, took Mumbai by storm playing a slew of eclectic tracks at The Lalit, Mumbai on Friday, 15th April 2016. The Dutch DJ set the night on fire with some fine trance sounds, performing in India as part of Vh1 Supersonic Arcade. Party animals and dance music devotees could not get enough of the dashing young DJ who spun some of his most popular tracks to a mesmerised crowd of fans.

Dash was overwhelmed with the response he received from fans and as a token of appreciation decided to meet with each and every one of them, post his gig.

Not only did he mesmerise his fans with his mind-blowing, profoundly energetic mixes, Dash spent a lot of  time after the gig to meet everyone. As he concluded his final mix set, he declared on the mic, "I want to meet every one of you". Ear piercing screams, heightened excitement, and the evening was just getting started! Dash loved every bit of the love and attention received from the huge fan-base in Mumbai thoroughly. 

Dash  stayed until the very end to meet every person waiting in line for him. It took almost 2 hours, as he autographed memorabilia, cracked jokes and took  selfies with each one of them. He even handed over his own wrist bands to some of his fans. Greeted by hugs, excited screams and gifts from the fans, the DJ left the city quite humbled, to continue his tour in Pune and Bangalore.

We managed to speak with the ace DJ prior to his set. Excerpts from the interview.

Why did you choose the stage name Dash Berlin?

Dash part came up because we just wanted to stand out with the name of Berlin. And the Berlin part comes from the Love Parade, a super huge European gathering of everybody who loves electronic music.

Tell us how the band formed? 

By chance! We met each other on the record store, and I started hanging out with some of their friends first. I was their driver for them in the weekend because they were very big DJs. I would offer my services like “Can I bring you from your party”. And we had great time. So eventually, overtime, we also started hanging out privately. On each other’s birthdays..then I met with Sebastian and I started to hang out with them as well. And I started to know them better, hanging out also in their studios. And while being on one of the side areas of the studio, I started to work on music, because there was environment for it. From there on we started making what eventually became ‘The Sky Falls Down’,  and when we finished that, we had no idea what to do with that. And one of my colleagues said that why would you do nothing with it. Don’t let it be on shelf. Send it to a record company, and we sent it to a record company. We got signed and now I am here.

Do you find the EDM sound or Trance compared to what you usually play - trance better, or vice versa?

It’s a difficult comment to make, when we started out with Dash Berlin, we were doing something that was considered trance at that time and was very niche. So it was a very small piece in which we were different from the rest. Nowadays we are doing lot of main stages where we perform with our own music as well as reworks and special edits of other tracks.  Even with Chainsmokers, it adapts quicker to a very large audience on the main stage than on a niche market. That sounds like more of a business analysation, but that’s where it comes down to if I look at it myself. I just look at it like I just explained, but for us it is music and it goes from A to B. A was our older stuff which somehow does still play and people really really enjoy that. Also people who haven’t heard of that music brings us to point B from where mass media is way more connected with dance music over the globe. So your music gets connected with a larger audience quicker.

Rewinding a bit, you had visited India back in 2014, what were your memories of it?

It is always great to be back in India. I always feel very welcome here. I love the food here, it is very very tasty. Its on my top three (smiles)

What is it that you love about India?

India always surpasses my expectation. The vibe that you get back from the audience when you play for them is just super amazing. The warmth and hugs and gifts that people have showered on me shows their love. They know what I do, what I like. Thank you Mumbai! you remain special in my heart.

Interviewed by Verus Ferreira