If you ever find yourself on a dance music version of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” and find yourself needing to use the “phone a friend” lifeline, Dani Deahl is the friend you’d want to call. Growing up in Chicago, the birthplace of house music, Dani developed an interest in dance music and DJing at an early age, landing her first gig while she was still in high school that would later on expand into producing her own music. Over the years, she’s gone on to play capacity crowds in major cities throughout the Americas and Asia and even headlined Lollapalooza in 2011. Developing a sound that crosses house/twerk/trap, her work has been praised by the likes of Valentino Khan, Krewella, and Meaux Green. Over the past year, she’s even had releases on popular labels like Monstercat, Armada, and Flamingo Recordings.
On top of her DJ career, Dani has also established a name for herself as a music journalist, interviewing big names such as Pretty Lights and Yellow Claw for major publications like Insomniac. In 2009 she started her own blog, DSquared on Hype Machine, featuring artist-approved high quality free downloads, which she offers detailed reviews for. Late last year, Dani was invited to give a TEDx Talk lecture titled “Women, STEM, and EDM,” applying her well-rounded perspective of the industry to the subject of women in EDM and what she calls the “gender canyon” that exists in the industry.
Check out the latest episode of her DSquared podcast here: