Make a Dash For It

In high school,he became a fan of electronic music. Today,the world is a fan of his music. Jeffrey Sutorius,frontman of progressive-trance project Dash Berlin,is on an India tour for Sunburn Arena. Pune is his destination today. “India is growing tremendously in terms of music,in all genres actually. India has such a large,young population. As they get tuned in,and wired up,I think they are craving the language-less tunes and beats that international artists are dropping,” he says.

In his late teens,Dash Berlin (he prefers going by the project name) worked in a record store and became a collector of vinyl trance music. “My father has influenced and inspired my rhythmic sound a lot since he was a jazz band drummer. My sister too contributed as she would get a lot of cassettes home as she was a party dancer. But,my DJ-ing is mostly self-taught,” he says. He started mixing and producing his own music and in early 2006 he performed in the Dutch underground music scene. “Within a year,I teamed up with my fellow producers and close friends Eelke Kalberg and Sebastiaan Molijn to form Dash Berlin,with me as the frontman,” he says. The word Berlin in his artist name is an ode to the metropolis and “her engaging,urban landscape,where I have seen more than a million people dancing on the streets,in the spirit of an ever-evolving Europe,” he says.

Dash Berlin shot to prominence with his 2007 hit ‘Till the Sky Falls Down’. The single won him a deal with Armin van Buuren’s record label Armada. In fact,Van Burren was so impressed by the single that he included it in the third chapter of his acclaimed album ‘Universal Religion’. “It was an important step in my career. It created the right amount of buzz about the project,” the DJ says.

At his gig today,he will dish out his most popular singles. “I just released the mix ‘World Falls Apart’ with one of the most incredible vocalists that I know,Jonathan Mendelsohn. We’re very proud of the track and are getting great feedback. I am working on some more interesting tracks at the moment,but you’ll have to stay tuned to find out more,” he adds.

(Dash Berlin will perform at Mi-A-Mi,Pune Marriott Hotel and Convention Centre,today)