A new Berlin generation favourite D.Dan – for the first time in Riga at the WERK party

On December 8, the next WERK techno party will take place in the Laska V21 space. Its headliner will be a Korean-American artist, a big favourite of the young Berlin generation of clubbers – D. Dan, a resident of the Mala Junta parties. Along with the headliner at the event, with the support of Beefeater, DJ sets will be played by E91, Queer On Acid, mOZ & Herren Ivo and Paul Hnikin. 

Born in Chicago, D.Dan moved with family from Seoul, South Korea to British International School before finally landing in Seattle at age 11. Music was central to his early life — his dad spent his free time playing jazz saxophone and piano around the house, and his mom played piano too and often listened to disco records.

Musically trained as a percussionist, D.Dan had been producing deep techno as Fugal until 2013. The appearance of Boiler Room and his first visit to Berlin opened a window for him onto the European scene: in 2016 he made 50 tracks, four of which were signed to Lobster Theremin label by Jimmy Asquith – the release of “The Danger Zone” EP officially launched D.Dan into the world. Following that, he moved to the German capital to organically integrate into the city’s musical life: he has a lot of sets at HÖR, and his performance at the Boiler Room in Warsaw was watched 1.6 million times.

D.Dan is part of a movement in Berlin bringing new energy to the city’s famous techno landscape. A groovy, kaleidoscopic touch to his selections, as he rides waves of loopy, often trance-inflected techno with assassin-like precision in the mix, is a style that has become a trademark of the Berlin party Mala Junta, where D.Dan is a resident. After standout releases with Lobster Theremin, Standard Deviation and Amniote Editions, the launch of his label marked a new milestone for the American artist. As a DJ, he catches listeners hinging on every transition, as his kaleidoscope twists and morphs. This is a catchy techno at its best.

At WERK, techno of various shades will be played by party promoters Queer On Acid and mOZ & Herren Ivo, as well as two other prominent representatives of the local scene: E91 and Paul Hnikin from the Phenomenon project.