Infectiously upbeat and powerfully emotive, the music of Washington D.C.’s Dave Cortex fuses funk and melodies with driving grooves to create unique yet relevant house beats. In just a few short years Dave’s releases have gained the support of a large and diverse amount of A-list taste makers - such as Top 100 DJs Eddie Halliwell and Groove Armada, Grammy winners Dirty Vegas, and respected underground names like Jaytech, Thomas Penton, Pole Folder, and many others.

His music has been charted by publications like DJ Mag and Ibiza Voice, and heard on FM radio throughout the world. Dave’s story starts much earlier, of course. A child of the 80’s, Dave grew up listening to the commercial sounds of the era, which heavily influences his music today. In high school he discovered house music thanks to Daft Punk’s ‘Around The World’, and he was soon enjoying other electronic acts such as The Prodigy and the Chemical Brothers.

It wasn’t long before Dave was attending raves and learning to DJ himself! In the early 21st century, Dave rose to local prominence by hosting his own parties and winning several area DJ competitions. He quickly caught the attention of DC’s largest promotion companies and nightclubs, and was frequently invited to perform as the opening DJ for artists like BT, Josh Wink, and Roger Sanchez. Dave was often booked at the famed Buzz parties at Nation - the US’s most renowned superclub night of the era - and he played other high-profile events such as Baltimore’s Starscape festival.

To this day Dave Cortex’s memorable DJ sets consist of complex harmonic layerings that maximize energy while completely immersing the listener. By the mid-2000’s, Dave felt he had done everything he could with local DJing and was no longer feeling challenged. So he decided to finally learn something that had long both fascinated and intimidated him: music production. Taking a large break from the constant clubbing of his youth, Dave isolated himself and constantly worked on learning his art.

After a few frustrating years, he eventually gained confidence in his abilities and saw his first release in 2007. Since then, Dave has quickly established himself as one of the most exciting up-and-coming names today. His stand-out music takes influences from a wide variety of genres and rolls them up into a distinct sound that doesn’t fit nicely into any existing subset - resulting in fans and playlistings from across the dance music spectrum.

The key to Dave Cortex’s success is simple: he spends as much time as possible in his studio, loving his time with the craft, and is always challenging himself to raise the bar.