Electronic dance music wouldn’t be the same without the “Dash Berlin” touch and sound. With many dance music anthems and tracks that are still held close in the hearts of many music fans around the world, Dash Berlin continues to make that amazing music we’ve all come to know and love. Ascendance Radio had a chance to catch up with Dash Berlin recently, check out what was said.
Dash Berlin Interview
Dayanna Ramirez (Ascendance Radio): Hi this is Dayanna with Ascendance Radio and we’re backstage at Mansion Nightclub in Miami right now with the one and only, Dash Berlin! This is actually your second show in Miami this weekend, last night being your first at Club Space. How has Miami been treating you so far?
Dash Berlin: Very, very well. I always love to come to Miami. It’s a really iconic place, where people really know their music and since the beginning I have been coming here. There’s a lot of positive feedback and a lot of great support from the people in and around Miami.
Dayanna Ramirez (Ascendance Radio): There seems to be a trend with some dance artists to experiment with new sounds. Oddly enough, this experimentation always seems to happen with the sounds that are raking in the big money like “EDM”. As much as fans want to believe that every producer is in this because they want to create works of art, artists also have a business to run and what works creatively doesn’t always work financially. So my question to you is, where is the line between being an artist and being a business?
Dash Berlin: It’s a very long story and a very long question, but I think it’s a good one. I think, if I can speak for the majority of the artists in EDM, it starts with a certain passion for music. I don’t think everybody can make a claim to fame from the start, from the beginning. It’s simply impossible, so I think, as far as I see it, that for every musical artist, which is in EDM, and EDM is not a dance style, but I see it more as a lifestyle. EDM, every style of dance music can be EDM, so EDM is not a specific sound to my life or a type of music. It’s a dance music lifestyle, and it starts with a passion for music and I think everybody will give you the same answer about that, because that has to be the trigger. Although, with the growth of EDM nowadays, I think a lot of people are looking at a lot of artists and thinking, “Oh, that’s what I want.”
I talk it over with my manager many times, that there’s a lot of parallel with professional soccer, and you would say, “Hm? Why?” Well, in the Netherlands, we have professional soccer players, and I see a lot of parallel go in there, in terms of professionalism, in terms of giving up something, to do what you really love to do, taking chances, and that goes all for people who are looking at the big EDM artists right now. But still, again, it has to start with a good spark, a good passionate spark, for liking music.
Dayanna Ramirez (Ascendance Radio): You just released your latest single with Rigby called “Earth Meets Water”. Fans may not know this but the original “Earth Meets Water” with Ribgy was a huge hit in the Netherlands, where the band hails from. What was it about this song that spurred you to give it that Dash Berlin sound?
Dash Berlin: We found Rigby after some scouting on Internet. The funny thing, is that there were some critics from the Netherlands, actually slashing Rigby, while we thought they were fantastic. At first, we made a bootleg of “Earth Meets Water”, and I started playing a new version, which possibly could’ve been released, somewhere in the last year.Then we contacted the band, and they were really enthusiastic about the song, and at that time, there was already a different version of “Earth Meets Water” being released. If I’m not mistaken, that was done by Wildstylez or it was another track of Rigby.
Either way, a lot of people were focusing on Rigby at that point and well we had good chemistry and good feedback regarding the track that we wrote and we wanted to top that, the version we had, and I played last year. So after refining and re-cutting and re-editing finally we found ourselves in the studio looking at each other and saying “Yes. Okay. This is the end point, and we’re going to keep it like it is right now,” and that’s the result; what people are hearing.
Dayanna Ramirez (Ascendance Radio): Earlier this year, you released a track on “Revealed Recordings” with Carita La Nina – called “Dragonfly.” This was probably the most different sounding track you’ve released. Why the departure and will there be more releases like this in the future?
Dash Berlin: The cool thing about “Dragonfly” is it’s actually kind of a story because I know Carita for a very long time, even before Dash Berlin existed. When I heard she was working on that track I thought it was really interesting one, and the second thing in a way, the circle came around again, because we met each other again and we started working on the track with both our own ideas. And the thing is, is that we both went really experimental on this track. Normally, when I personally get experimental with the guys I’m making the music with, we call it “4 a.m.”, because it stands out from the regular Dash Berlin sound, and it has a little bit more of a bite to it, a little bit more of an edge.
This is even a step further, but that also is because of the combination of Carita. I think when you make new experiences in music that’s always refreshing. I think when you are doing what you’re doing, in the Netherlands, we say “stilstaan is achteruitgaan” which means “If you’re standing still, you’re just going backwards” literally translated. So you want to keep progressing what you’re doing and in a way that’s what we did with Carita and the collaboration with Carita. I’m really happy with the result because it really stands out in my sets as well. So, it’s also very useful for me as a DJ. We made really cool edits, so usually everywhere I go I have special city edits of “Dragonfly.”
And again, it really stands out in my sets and I really love it. And for the future, I will never say “No,” to experimenting with new ideas or new sounds, as long as I can use it in my sets.
Dash Berlin: At this point, no.
Dayanna Ramirez (Ascendance Radio): [laughs] Well, thank you.
Dash Berlin: You’re welcome. [laughs]
Dayanna Ramirez (Ascendance Radio): So, it’s been a while since we’ve seen one of your famous “4AM” remixes, that is, until earlier this week when you released a preview of your Cash Cash “Lightning” remix. Why the long wait between remixes and what was it about “Lightning” that made you dust off the “4AM” moniker?
Dash Berlin: The cool thing with Cash Cash is that they’ve used the singer John Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls, who, he has a fantastic voice. People know that Dash Berlin really likes vocals. So, it’s the icing on the cake, cherry on the cake, whatever you want to call it. The thing is, why a remix takes so long, in this specific situation is we were working on the album already and we are still working on the album. Although we got the fantastic vocals of John Rzeznik for the Cash Cash Remix, we are still working on new material. So, we had to squeeze that in between everything we are already doing because the album itself is not even finished. And we were working already on the album while we did the last remix, I think the last remix .. is it Apollo?
Dash Berlin Manager: Zedd.
Dash Berlin: Oh, of course, yeah. So, actually, if you take that in mind, we really crammed a lot of our creative minds and possibilities in a very short amount of time. Also, keep in mind, that we are also still working on the album. Yeah, if you compare it to the Zedd remix, I don’t even think it’s such a long time. Especially for the people who are following Dash Berlin, it’s actually a super quick follow-up because usually we always think about quality over quantity. So, we’d rather take a longer time to produce a remix or a track or a dash up, or whatever and be really happy about it and absolutely look at each other, like, “This is the end point.” Instead of just pushing out something and “Yeah, we have something.”
We want to be really happy about it and just super confident and it takes time. But again, if you take that in mind and you take the Cash Cash Remix in mind, it’s a super short time. But we’re on a creative roll right now, so it’s good.
Dayanna Ramirez (Ascendance Radio): Awesome. So, what does the rest of 2014 hold for Dash Berlin?
Dash Berlin: Besides the new album that’s coming out at the end of summer, new videos, obviously new remixes, also remixes of the singles we are going to release. A super-extensive touring schedule, I’m looking at already, so, it’s going to be a super-hectic year but nevertheless, I’m really looking forward to it. I like challenges. Once again, I think within our team we pushed ourselves, again, to go to another level and we’re getting there. So, I’m a happy camper.
Dayanna Ramirez (Ascendance Radio): Awesome. So, it’s always a pleasure getting to talk to you. Thank you for always supporting the stations, and we hope to see you back in Miami very soon.
Dash Berlin: You’re very welcome, and thank you for your support.
For more information on Dash Berlin, check out the Dash Berlin Website, visit the Dash Berlin Facebook Page, or keep up to date by following Dash Berlin on Twitter.
