Last time we spoke with Dash Berlin he was working on the release of his new Album and would not divulge album information. Now that the album has been released, we caught up with Dash to discuss that and much more. You don’t want to miss this.
Dayanna Ramirez (Ascendance Radio): This is Dayanna with Ascendance Radio, and we’re here at EDC Orlando with one of the sweetest and most talented artists in dance music today, Dash Berlin. Now Dash, you’ve toured the world, playing countless venues and festivals, gaining new Dash Berlin fans by the boatload, but I want to know, what runs through your mind right before going on stage and at this point in your career, do you ever get nervous anymore?
Dash Berlin: I never get nervous. I never got nervous, ever, because I don’t see any point in that. Usually, always something goes wrong. People don’t really realize that, but it’s just a part of doing a show, that usually things go wrong and that’s the part of doing live things. It comes with the territory and I’m cool with that.
Dayanna Ramirez (Ascendance Radio): What runs through your mind when you’re going on stage?
Dash Berlin: What runs through my mind is, I want to do a great job, as far as I can do that and I want to just give 100 % and enjoy as much as I can. Because I see myself as the biggest party animal, but I’m on the other side of the DJ booth.
Dayanna Ramirez (Ascendance Radio): Along those lines, we’ve heard many stories about funny or strange things on artists’ riders. Is there anything on yours that you can think of that may stand out or come off as an odd request, on your rider?
Dash Berlin: Well, actually, that’s really funny because this is the night before my birthday.
Dayanna Ramirez (Ascendance Radio): Happy early birthday.
Dash Berlin: Thank you, thank you. A friend of mine from New York, he brought me a dozen pair of socks and you have no idea how welcome that is when you travel constantly and you’re actually really in need of fresh socks. So, we were talking that over, while he gave me that present, and I said that I knew from some artists that they have actually underwear and fresh socks on their rider. Maybe that’s something I should do in the future as well.
Dayanna Ramirez (Ascendance Radio): Maybe you should. I have a feeling you’re going to get a lot of that from now on.
Dash Berlin: Could be, could be.
Dayanna Ramirez (Ascendance Radio): Throughout your career, your face has appeared on everything from album covers, t-shirts, billboards, and now, of all things, a stamp in the Netherlands. People have to lick the back of your head and stick you to a letter in order to send mail. How surreal was it when you first found out you were going to be turned into a stamp?
Dash Berlin: Really surreal and why is that? A lot of people don’t know that I don’t do a lot of shows in the Netherlands (where I come from) and that makes it even more unique that you can be on a stamp, sharing this with Hardwell, Tiesto, Armin, and AfroJack. I mean, everybody in the Netherlands knows those guys, but they don’t know Dash Berlin and that’s what is making it so exclusive also for me. Great props to PostNL, who took kind of a guess with Dash Berlin, introducing me that way to the Dutch crowd and a lot of people in the Netherlands are finding now out about what Dash Berlin is or what we stand for. So, that’s really, really cool and it’s a one-time deal, so never, ever in the future on stamps in the Netherlands there are going to be DJs. It’s an incredible honor and I feel very privileged that I am one of the five.
Dayanna Ramirez (Ascendance Radio): That’s awesome. Onto the music, last time we spoke, we asked about your upcoming album and your lips were sealed. At that time, you couldn’t reveal anything to us, but since it came out, back in August, what can you tell us about ‘We Are Part I’, and why the split into two different parts?
Dash Berlin: ‘We Are‘ is about everybody in the music industry and surrounding. I mean, it’s really easy when you don’t have transportation to come to a festival, you cannot go onstage. So, everybody’s involved in ‘We Are’. Everybody’s important. You are important. The driver is important. The stage management is important. Bloggers, internet radio, everybody who supports electronic music is a part of what ‘We Are’ stands for and, since the release, end of August, it just went out of proportion. It went straight to number one in various countries all over the world and it shows that there is a lot of demand and love for Dash Berlin music.
I’m really proud of that and, that’s something that I want to continue and that’s a nice bridge to Part II because that’s what we’re aiming to do with Part II. I think We Are Part I is definitely a new highlight in a career of Dash Berlin, it’s a new phase we’re in. It’s a new sound, but still Dash Berlin and we want to bring that to an even better level if we can with Part II.
Dayanna Ramirez (Ascendance Radio): Awesome. How do you go about choosing what songs from the album will become singles and in what order they’ll be released? Is it purely crowd reaction, a team of experts that sit in a room hammering it out, or is it eeny meeny miny moe?
Dash Berlin: Besides the last one, it’s a little bit of everything. Definitely the crowd gives a lot of feedback, which I find very useful in doing tryouts and getting feedback, because eventually, I want to know that the people, what they are listening to, they are comfortable with it. The inspiration’s always the dance floor, that’s far from most, and we make so many versions. We have dozens of tracks on the shelf, but we don’t think they’re good enough because we know, from each other, that we can push it to a next level. That can be with a idea, or a different beat or a different melody, and we are always highly critical towards each other.
That’s where you have the team effort and where we grow, also as Dash Berlin, because we don’t say just yes to each other. We want to get the best out of every single body who’s working on the album or on the music for that matter. It’s really a team effort and that’s what sticks out for Dash Berlin music, for eventually what comes out and, you know, basically that’s it actually.
Dayanna Ramirez (Ascendance Radio): Perfect. Your latest single is “Somehow” with 3lau and Bright Lights. Can you tell us how this collaboration came together?
Dash Berlin: I did a show in Vegas. I’m doing my residency in Marquis, in Las Vegas, for three years now and I’m going to continue with the fourth year. I’m very, very happy for that. I think Vegas is very inspirational, and I did a show together with Justin. I saw immediately that he was a very talented artist, not only as a DJ but also as a producer. He stands out for what he does. It’s not for nothing that also Deadmau5 really supports what he is doing. I think a lot of people are seeing that now.
‘We Are’ is also about supporting and, in that way, supporting 3lau in the next step of his career, where he can leap to a new, hopefully for him, bigger crowd, and to get his name made and spread his music to that crowd as well. That’s also what ‘We Are‘ is about actually. Justin and I, we have a really good chemistry, and also with the team and that’s really working for us. We started working on “Somehow” together with Heather, Bright Lights and, she’s doing so many great tracks. She’s just fantastically talented as well.
I think when you pack that in one room, you get something really refreshing out. I think it stands out for Justin, it stands out for 3lau, and it definitely stands out for Dash Berlin as well. That’s what is making this collaboration so unique.
Dayanna Ramirez (Ascendance Radio): Aside from “We Are Part II” coming out, what can we expect from Dash Berlin in the future?
Dash Berlin: A lot of new music. Definitely, I know the crowd is waiting for a lot of new dash-ups (the way I like to call my mashups.) I’ve been touring really, really, really intensely this year. By far, this was the most hectic year, with also dropping an album with that. I have to gather my strength, to see how I can divide properly, where I can put energy for producing and doing shows and we’re going to push for “We Are Part II”, to release that somewhere next year. I’m very excited about that. It’s looking fantastic and I cannot wait, actually.
Dayanna Ramirez (Ascendance Radio): We can’t either. Thanks so much Dash. It’s always a pleasure to interview you. Thank you so much.
Dash Berlin: Thank you for having me.
Be sure to buy ‘We Are Part I‘ today.
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.
