A black van pulls up behind Scottsdale’s INTL nightclub. The club is still sparkling new to the Old Town scene, but the van houses a longtime legend to true trance sound. Jeffrey Sutorius may not be a name known to even the most loyal members of the trance family, but his stage name is most certainly recognized by anyone who’s ever paid attention to electronic dance music in the last decade. Dash Berlin.

“I see myself as somebody that goes out, but standing on the different side of the DJ booth,” says the worldwide icon. “I feel the same thing. I feel enthusiastic, I’m happy, but I’m really in a privileged position that I can share my music with others.”

This adrenaline is evident as he strides behind the decks, hands permanently pumping into the air, like a aggressive marionette, jumping and dancing to the music more than the wall-to-wall crowd in front of him.

Though a deeply vocal trance producer in fame, Dash immediately cranks up the W&W remake of his slammer with Emma Hewitt, “Waiting”, much to the love of the screaming Wednesday-nighters. The song has Dash’s name in the credits, but it’s a different sound than the one people assumed from the melodic tear jerking Dash sets of the past. This vibe pounds. Hard.

“We are still the same as Dash Berlin, but we’ve evolved to where the sound is going to. If you analyze my sets when I play, there’s a lot of variety right now in my sets, which kind of flows back to the production process,” says Dash. “So much technology has developed. If you developed that into some kind of algorithm, it’s crazy, you’d have to be Einstein to fully understand what’s going on. Everyone is still on their toes about making new music.”

http://youtu.be/n3wyG_8zMR0

Dash Berlin feat. Emma Hewitt – Waiting (W&W Remix)

Being Dutch, there’s an advantage for Dash to be on that cutting edge of electronic music. The Netherlands is at the epicenter of the international dance movement, in large part because of its long history in the electronic realm. It’s been simmering much longer than the rest of the world, resulting in massive names and massive tracks that export from the nation almost daily, demanding respect from all regions of the digitally enhanced globe.

“From 1993, huge parties came on, and it seemed like a lot people were drawn to these parties quite a bit. With every year, (DJs and producers) were pushed to go to a higher level,” Dash recounts. “The people in the Netherlands, they demand a better lineup, a better stage production, better logistics, you name it. Dutch folks can be critical. They make you push yourself to new heights.

“For such a small country as the Netherlands is, the amount of DJs that we have, there’s obviously a lot of competition. It brings the best out of people.”

He need not only rely on his home country for inspiration though. With the evolutionary progression of vastly different styles, the tub of influence brims with ideas and an elevated level of motivation to create something new, something fresh.

“Boundaries, when it comes to dance music, are a little bit fading, which is good. it’s getting more attention of radio, because there’s so much to share. With the sharing of the internet and people being able to teach themselves how to make music, how to experience music, it’s all over the world. If you were to pick my brain, a few dozens from which I think, ‘Whoa, cool’,  ‘Well done’, ‘Super interesting’, so on, so on. That’s what I really respect, that there are still creative minds out there they’re trying to do something which obviously has not been done yet.”

Hardwell feat. Amba Shepherd – Apollo (Dash Berlin 4AM Remix)

Set for a late summer release date, Dash Berlin’s latest album will be full of that signature sound, but expect to be surprised with the type of spins and directions that will be taken from the ever changing Dash-scape. In the mind of Sutorius, the experimentation is always a welcomed challenge.

“I’ve been talking about presenting new music with Armin, and he had a very interesting statement saying,” says a smiling Dash. “If you’re producing music and you release a record it’s just like you’re hanging up a painting, because when you’re finished, you’re just putting it out there people are walking by and they’ll give their reaction to what they see. It’s kind of similar. When you’re album’s out, everybody’s listening to it. They’re giving they’re opinion, and I just hope they’re just as satisfied as I am.”

Certainly, Dash Berlin’s brush strokes will be worthy of the Prado.