DJ Dan, a foundational figure in San Francisco’s dance music scene and a pioneer of West Coast house, has died at 57.
“It is with profound sorrow, deep admiration, and an enduring sense of gratitude and love that we announce the passing of Daniel Wherrett — known professionally to the world simply as DJ Dan — one of the most beloved, genre-defying, and genuinely influential pioneers in the history of American electronic music,” his representatives said in a statement Sunday, March 29.
Born Daniel Wherrett in Lacey, Washington, DJ Dan became closely associated with San Francisco’s underground electronic movement after moving to the city in the early 1990s. Here, he co-founded the Funky Tekno Tribe, a collective that helped define a distinctly West Coast sound blending house, techno and breakbeat…