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At an age when most children are negotiating bedtime, DJ LeeLee delivered a festival set. And if Guinness World Records confirms what her family is claiming, she may soon hold the title of youngest female DJ to perform at a music festival.

DJ LeeLee, 5, is a kindergartner from the Salt Lake City area. She climbed onto a stage at Awaken Music Festival on August 15, delivering an unaided DJ set that ran just over 51 minutes and included spins of generational dance anthems like Swedish House Mafia’s ‘Don’t You Worry Child’ and Zedd’s ‘Beautiful Now.’

LeeLee’s setup, her parents tell us, included a Pioneer DJ XDJ-AZ controller, pediatric-approved earplugs, a 3D-printed sun shield for her screen and a 99-cent cat-themed folder positioned above the shield to block additional glare.

“My favorite part was dancing,” LeeLee tells EDM.com. “My other favorite part was when I didn’t give up.”

Guinness had approved the family’s application in early-July, clearing the way for LeeLee’s attempt. Documentation was submitted for review on August 25 and a decision could take up to 12 weeks, according to her parents, Ashley and Andrew Lovell.

If verified, LeeLee would unseat DJ Rinoka of Tokyo, who set the current mark in 2024 at 6 years and 351 days old. DJ LeeLee performed at 5 years and 157 days, more than a year and a half younger.

This is not her first brush with record books. RecordSetter, one of the largest alternative record-keeping organizations, recently confirmed that LeeLee and her frequent collaborator, 7-year-old CXRTER, hold the record for the youngest b2b DJ duo by combined age.

They often spin together under the name DJ Faculty Lounge. Two days after Awaken Music Festival, the pair performed at their elementary school’s back-to-school night in front of roughly 700 parents and students.

DJ LeeLee’s family says she now wants to break the Guinness World Record for the Youngest Female DJ to Perform at a Club. That record was also achieved by DJ Rinoka, who dropped a 70-minute set at Nakameguro’s Solfa nightclub on July 9, 2023.

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Tomorrow, Dash Berlin‘s Jeffrey Sutorius walks back onto a festival stage under a name he was legally barred from using. The victory is real but so was its cost, one that went beyond money and left wounds that, by his own admission, are still healing.

The Dutch DJ spent nearly a decade tangled in a legal battle over rights to the Dash Berlin brand, a clash that kept him sidelined from the iconic trance music project he helped build. Producers Eelke Kalberg and Sebastiaan Molijn acrimoniously split from Sutorius, the frontman of the influential trio, back in 2018 before a bitter trademark battle that left Dash Berlin hanging in the balance.

Sutorius announced in March 2021 that he’d legally lost the rights to the name and was forced to perform under his own, after which Kalberg and Molijn installed a new touring frontman. Music industry outlets have since reported that Sutorius prevailed in a subsequent appeal, though the underlying court ruling has not been independently verified through Dutch judicial records.

What is not in dispute is the toll the standoff took on a fanbase that spent nearly a decade watching a beloved act’s identity deteriorate in real time. In the world of electronic dance music, few sagas have been as protracted or as personal as the one ending tomorrow when Sutorius returns to the Ultra Europe stage and launches what he’s calling his “official comeback.”

“The loss of the brand name for 5+ years definitely has left scars and there are still unresolved issues that need to be clarified,” Sutorius tells EDM.com. “But for now it’s a happy and positive approach towards a fresh future perspective for Dash Berlin. I am super thankful for everyone’s patience and support. It’s been a hell of a ride.”

Prior to the inception of the project, Kalberg and Molijn co-produced Alice Deejay’s 1998 classic ‘Better Off Alone,’ a generational dance anthem. They parlayed that success into Dash Berlin and produced hits like ‘Till The Sky Falls Down’ and ‘Waiting,’ which became defining trance anthems as Sutorius dropped them live on the mainstages of the world’s biggest EDM festivals including Tomorrowland, Ultra and EDC Las Vegas.

Sutorius says he expects Dash Berlin to grow into something even bigger than before.

“The win is not only for me personally, but also for the hardcore Dashers who have been there since day one and are still here,” he gushes. “And there are many! Together with new fans joining us, we will grow to new heights.”

His return to the global stage is only half the story. On July 17, less than a week after his comeback at Ultra Europe, Dash Berlin will release ‘Lonely Man,’ the group’s first original single since Sutorius exited.

The track is the first in a planned run of new Dash Berlin releases, several of which will get their live premiere during the Ultra Europe performance. Sutorius also has a packed run of “major international performances” locked in through 2026 and 2027.

“My sole focus now is new music that I am really excited about,” he tells us, “and preparing many new shows to reconnect with the fans on an even deeper level.”

Dash Berlin’s set at Ultra Europe is slated for Saturday, July 11 at 8:50pm. Fans can purchase festival passes here.

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John Summit is heading to the Macrodata Refinement department.

Ahead of a North American arena tour, the dance music superstar announced plans to transform its venues with a stage production drawing creative inspiration from the hit Apple TV+ series Severance.

Summit revealed the plans in a panel for the ‘Spotify Beach’ event during the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in France, where he appeared alongside artists, brand executives and Spotify leaders to discuss the cultural influence of fandoms. The panel also featured chart-topping South Korean artist EJAE, LinkedIn Chief Brand Officer Heather Freeland and Gap Global CMO Faby Torres, as well as Spotify’s Head of Creative Lab Kay Hsu and Head of Artist Partnerships Ashley Graver.

Summit’s upcoming ‘CTRL ESCAPE’ tour comprises 20 dates and is scheduled to kick off October 1 at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois, the college town where he studied accounting before launching a career in the field. The tour takes its name from his sophomore album, which dropped on Tax Day, effectively turning the date he once dreaded into a celebration of the career that replaced it.

The DJ said his team is developing custom set design rooted in the signature Severance aesthetic of sterile cubicles and fluorescent-lit office bureaucracy.

“I’m going to bring the corporate cubicle kind of lifestyle to the stage,” Summit said. “It’s kind of like a Severance-type vibe, but turning these arenas into giant corporate offices and also a rave.”

The scale of the production, he noted, is made possible by the size of the venues themselves: “It’s going to be something super special that you can’t do at a traditional nightclub.”

Check out footage of the interview below. You can purchase tickets to Summit’s ‘CTRL ESCAPE’ arena tour here.

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Most anonymous acts lean too hard on the masks and too little on the music. Modal Nodes, the menacingly masked duo quietly ascending through the bass circuit, are proving they have both.

Their early catalog makes a strong case on its own. The duo’s Alone EP, released on INFEKT’s Port Zero imprint, introduced an act hellbent on uncompromising production before a follow-up collaboration with the artist himself, ‘INFECTED,’ effectively crystallized it as one to watch.

Dubstep superstar Subtronics, who has rinsed Modal Nodes’ track ‘Unnatural’ in his sets, then echoed that sentiment in a backstage interview with SPIN during the first weekend of Coachella 2026.

In a relatively short window, the duo has assembled a coherent brand across visuals, release strategy and sonic identity in ways that most artists take years to develop. And while the masks naturally read as a gimmick, their pristine riddim production signals real staying power in a scene that has traditionally rewarded anonymous duos with storytelling at their bedrock (looking at you, Deathpact).

Modal Nodes are moving fast and saying very little. The latest breadcrumb was a pair of heavy-hitting tracks, ‘Destiny’ and ‘Jawa Dub,’ and the trail is now leading fans to Lost Lands, Excision’s massive EDM festival in Ohio where head-bangers flock like seagulls to a Dorito. They appear on the undercard of a lineup that features ILLENIUM, Subtronics, NGHTMRE, Liquid Stranger, Ganja White Night, Crankdat and many other dubstep and bass music heavyweights.

They’ve also performed at Rampage in Belgium, the world’s largest drum & bass festival, and Northern Invasion in Montreal, bookings that don’t just fall into emerging artists’ laps by accident. These are major placements, and they’ve only sharpened curiosity around who is actually behind the project.

You can listen to ‘Destiny’ and ‘Jawa Dub’ below.

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Dave Asprey’s BEYOND Biohacking Conference wrapped up last week in Austin, drawing thousands of curious health-centric individuals from around the world. This year, the overarching theme was expanded from prior years to include the word “beyond.” In the words of the creator of the biohacking movement himself, the intention was to create “an upgraded experience for those committed to elevating both body and mind, performance and consciousness.”

It did just that. With over 5,000 attendees, 100s of speakers and 150-plus exhibitors, the three days hosted at the Fairmont were jam-packed with conversations around longevity. New this year, however, was the inclusion of psychedelic medicine discussions on the mainstage.

This topic has been a touchy subject for decades. But now, as doctors and clinicians experience first-hand such positive results from psychedelic-assisted therapies for those navigating what has been deemed “terminal lifelong illnesses,” it is fatuous to ignore the fact that these molecules belong in the conversation.

EDM.com sat down with Dr. Dave Rabin, MD, PhD, whose research focuses on understanding the mechanisms of action of psychedelic drugs and developing evidence-based guidelines for unregulated medicines and therapies. He is an advocate, even going as far as to say, “I firmly believe we can cure the first mental illness by 2030 if we focus on psychedelics and technology and music as part of that.”

It’s a bold statement, but one Dr. Rabin stands firmly behind. “People understand that [psychedelics] are so powerful,” he continues. “They’re a ‘molecular boost, like an antibiotic…’ We can use [psychedelics] to help people accelerate learning of safety and extinction of fear, and then that results in trauma healing.”

In addition to the support provided by these ancient “antibiotics,” technology and music play a significant role in healing. However, even technology is limited.

During a press conference, we asked Asprey: “What is it a dancefloor can do that tech can’t?”

“If you look at the numbers for longevity, having a community makes you live longer,” Asprey said. “And so does movement. And so does dance… People come here to change their state… And then you get to go and play because play is missing for most adults.”

Dr. Rabin echoed the importance of play as well. “Play is essential to mental health because it allows us to freely explore and be curious about the world without self-judgment and self-criticism… It’s like the ultimate creative flow state, where we have full access to ourselves, meaning that very little to none of us exists in the future or the past.”

The present moment is a gift, but for many of us, it can be difficult to root in it. Curated festival environments and musical experiences are great opportunities to drop into presence. “The rhythm of the music and the familiarity of the music remind your nervous system that it’s safe to drop in to resonate with the music,” Dr. Rabin adds. “And when you do that, your whole nervous system shifts into a state that favors recovery and healing.”

The only thing is that we can’t always be listening to music, which is how the idea of Apollo came to be. Named after the god of music and medicine, the technology “enables the ability to use technology to create music wearable and give people the ability to take the benefits of music to adjust their mood and calm their energy wherever they are.”

It’s reportedly clinically proven to calm people down and enable more restful sleep, all through the power of vibration and inspired by music. And since 2025, Apollo has been available for free on the iPhone so anyone can access it’s healing powers anywhere. “It actually helps people struggling in those kinds of festival or bad trip experiences where they’re like really overwhelmed,” Dr. Rabin said, “and you just need to like zone back into your, to your body for a minute, and calm and settle down.”

The BEYOND Biohacking Conference is scheduled to return June 2-4, 2027. You can find out more here.

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11 years after drawing one of the largest crowds in Coachella’s history, Kaskade returned to the Indio desert on Sunday night to close out the festival’s final day on its iconic Sahara stage. The set was widely expected to be a career-spanning victory lap for the dance music icon, built around his 2025 album undux and the kind of soaring, vocal-driven house music that made him one of the genre’s defining figures.

For most of the night, that’s exactly what it was. Then Crankdat walked out.

After playing many of his fan-favorite progressive house anthems, like ‘Eyes’ and ‘Disarm You,’ Kaskade summoned the rising dubstep superstar to the stage to debut an unreleased collaboration that stopped the crowd cold before sending it into a full eruption. With its heavy-hitting melodic dubstep drops, the track is a stunning left turn from two producers who, on paper, should not fit together this well.

It was a big moment for Crankdat, who was recently named by EDM.com as one of the best music producers of 2025.

“I think it’s every artist’s dream to work with one of the artists that got you into making music,” he wrote on social media following the performance. “I used to shovel my driveway while listening to ‘I Remember.'”

Check out footage of the track’s debut at Coachella below. Neither Kaskade nor Crankdat has formally announced a title or release date at the time of this writing.

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Hawaii has no shortage of natural beauty, but purpose-built spaces for large-scale live music have been harder to come by. Echoa Ridge, a new 5,000-capacity outdoor venue opening this spring on Oahu, is looking to change that.

The project is a partnership between Metta Group, the company behind Honolulu electronic music brand Audiophile and live entertainment imprint Rise Up Live, and Wet N Wild Waterpark. The two organizations have spent several years producing concerts together at the Pavilion, drawing acts like Porter Robinson, Sullivan King and Steve Aoki before deciding the island deserved something built specifically for the job.

“This is a brand-new outdoor music venue built from the ground up with entertainment in mind,” Talent Buyer Jason Sikorsky tells EDM.com. “The best part is it’s along a beautiful ridge line that also overlooks the ocean taking advantage of Hawaii’s natural beauty. What more can you ask for from an outdoor island venue?”

Organizers cite ample parking, easy access and open sightlines as features that set it apart from existing options. A larger stage means more room for production, and the elevated outdoor setting gives the space a natural anchor that’s difficult to manufacture.

“Outdoor spaces on island are limited,” the rep added, “and something new and fresh for audiences to enjoy will be a breath of fresh air.”

The venue’s opening season offers a glimpse into the ambitions of its proprietors. Chart-topping dance music superstar Gryffin is poised for a can’t-miss performance on May 23rd alongside the fast-rising Łaszewo trio. EDM.com Class of 2025 artist Tape B is also primed for a big set at Echoa Ridge as the venue plans to reschedule his headline set, which was originally planned for March 21st.

Echoa Ridge’s summer highlight arrives June 6th with ‘Cyclops Island,’ a major event headlined by dubstep superstar Subtronics. That show will also feature DJ sets from OMNOM, Smoakland, DENNETT and Canabliss, among others.

Check out the official teaser trailer for Echoa Ridge below.

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Have you ever stopped mid-set and looked around in complete awe of the festival and people around you? Most are not familiar with this particular brand of EDM magic, and its lack of on-screen representation is what sparked Brent Pella’s upcoming feature film, PEAK STATE.

Pella is a writer, director, stand-up comedian, filmmaker and cast member on MTV’s Wild ‘n Out, but he’s also a longtime festival attendee.

“[PEAK STATE] is simultaneously a love letter to the festival space while also poking fun at it in some ways,” Pella tells EDM.com. “We want to invite people in while also honoring the people that make this scene what it is.”

The intention, Pella tells us, is to throw a music festival to showcase the “beautiful chaos and creativity” that we all know and love, and capture it’s essence in an authentic way. To accomplish this, he has organized a music festival experience in Texas that doubles as a feature film shoot, with a goal to “film the natural environment of a music festival as our characters go through their journey over the course of the story.”

Pella has tapped Nikki Howard, his longtime friend and fellow comedian, to co-star in the comedy, which follows a couple trying to rekindle their spark at a remote music festival.

“It is a music festival experience to enable the film shoot, there will be DJs, clothing vendors, food vendors, workshops, art installations and immersive experiences similar to a festival,” the event’s official website reads.

While the lead cast has already been selected, there’s an open invitation to attend. PEAK STATE is set to take place at the Valkyrie Ranch in Austin from April 15-19, 2026, with headlining performances from Equanimous, Goldcap, Ruby Chase, Savej and Skysia, among others.

It is a donation-based event with differing tiers. By donating $222 to their Kickstarter, you can secure a ticket to attend.

“We have already raised separate money for the film,” Pella says. “The Kickstarter is meant to allow us to cover the heart of producing the festival, and it also acts as the ticket source for anybody that wants to attend.”

Check out the lineup below. If you want to get involved, you can fill out this form.

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Thailand will host the first Asian edition of Tomorrowland in December 2026, festival organizers announced Tuesday, selecting a coastal venue that will accommodate more than 50,000 daily attendees.

The three-day festival, which Thailand’s Prime Minister confirmed back in June 2025, will take place December 11-13, 2026 at Wisdom Valley in Pattaya, a coastal city about 90 miles southeast of Bangkok. Organizers expect more than 50,000 visitors daily at the 237-acre site in Chonburi Province, according to a press release shared with EDM.com.

The formal announcement comes after negotiations between Tomorrowland and the Thai government, which selected the country from among several Asian nations vying to host the event. The Tourism Authority of Thailand participated in the partnership discussions.

“Hosting Tomorrowland in Thailand marks an important milestone in our ambition to position the country as a leader in global tourism and creative experiences,” the Tourism Authority said in a statement. “We look forward to welcoming people from all over the world to discover the beauty, culture and hospitality of Thailand.”

The inaugural festival will feature multiple stages, including Tomorrowland’s CORE and Freedom stages appearing in Asia for the first time. Additional stages will be designed specifically for the Thailand edition, according to Tomorrowland, and organizers are coordinating with a local Thai team to adapt the festival’s production standards, stage designs and storytelling elements for the Asian market.

Unlike Tomorrowland’s European festivals, which offer onsite camping through DreamVille, the Thailand event will rely on hotel accommodations with shuttle services. Hotel packages go on sale February 28th at 4pm local time, followed by general ticket sales March 7th.

Four ticket types will be available: Full Madness passes for three-day access, Full Madness Comfort passes offering VIP amenities and single-day versions of each option. Pre-registration for tickets opens Wednesday at 4pm local time.

The festival has not yet announced its lineup or theme. You can watch the official trailer below.

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A generational dance anthem transformed into high art during the 2025 Nobel Prize ceremony as Swedish House Mafia‘s 2010 debut single “One” received a complete symphonic overhaul.

Arranged by renowned Swedish composer Jacob Mühlrad, the orchestral performance took place last week inside Stockholm City Hall. While the original recording featured Pharrell Williams and helped define a decade of EDM, Mühlrad applied the same contemporary classical rigor that earned his choral work Anim Zemirot global attention, stripping away its synth-heavy production and reframing it through a symphonic lens.

Meanwhile, Alexander Wessely developed an atmospheric visual backdrop designed specifically for the venue. Acting as the creative director for the 2025 ceremony, Wessely, a longtime creative collaborator and visual designer for Swedish House Mafia, “created a series of installations that trace the evolution of light,” according to a press release.

The 2025 Nobel Prize ceremonies took place December 10th in both Stockholm and Oslo, celebrating this year’s laureates by virtue of speeches and Norwegian Nobel Committee’s iconic banquet. Venezuelan politician and opposition leader María Corina Machado received the Nobel Peace Prize.

You can watch the symphonic performance of “One” below.

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