Dash Berlin’s omnipresence is astounding. Although the DJ group (ranked eighth in the world, according to DJ Mag’s list) is a collaborative project by Eelke Kalberg and Sebastiaan Molijn, the definitive frontman is the cleft-chinned DJ Jeffrey Sutorius. His tracks (most recently the Jonathan Mendelsohn-collaborated Better Half of Me, a rousing synth pumper featuring quivering vocals, worthy of being on a blockbuster soundtrack) are played in clubs all across the globe, he’s remixed high and holy names such as Justin Timberlake, NERD, Janet Jackson, Mylo and Annie Lennox, and he’s won countless awards to boot.

Dash’s online influence is undeniable as well: the popular ‘Dash Berlin World’ is a bit like a hip online hostel where the musically like-minded meet, and his Twitter feed is a-flutter with daily activity and re-tweets. Fans may remember his 42-minute Flashback video, collating visual clippings of club tracks in a professionally rendered timeline, which smashed records by attracting hundreds of thousands of viewers in just weeks after it was posted virally in 2009. Prior to that, his record Till the Sky Falls Down rocketed up trance charts and garnered the attention of the legendary Armin van Buuren, who signed Dash Berlin to his Armada Music label.

The rest, as they say, is history. We have Kalberg and Molijn to ‘thank’ for the Vengaboys as well − they’ve been in the international dance scene for more than 10 years. Sutorius is no novice to trance music either. His many years polishing his music tastes while working in a record store and performing in the Dutch underground scene makes him close to a veteran – and suitably qualified to help Hong Kong trance-heads enter the Year of the Dragon at his upcoming W Hotel gig.

Ysabelle Cheung
Dash Berlin plays a set at the W Hotel on  Sunday January 22. Tickets: $880 from hkticketing.com