Since purchasing his first pair of turntables nearly seven years ago, 30 year-old Daniel Mnookin (pronounced "Muh-new-kin") has gone from being just another kid learning to match beats, to one of America's hottest rising DJs.
Daniel's musical experience began well over a decade ago, teaching himself guitar and going on to play in a variety of bands throughout high school and part of college. It wasn't until 1999 that he would develop an appreciation and love for all forms of electronic music.
"While I bought various electronic oriented albums throughout high school," Daniel notes, "it wasn't until my junior year of college when I studied abroad and then lived in London - that I really began to listen to DJs - to really appreciate what they were doing."
Upon returning back to the states, Daniel immediately began fidgeting with various pieces of electronic equipment ranging from drum machines and sequencers to samplers and synthesizers. He then went on to perform as a live act.
"Playing live was always fun, but I found it hard to get booked in big cities as no one had the room or the willingness to accommodate an up and coming live act," says Daniel, "so I eventually decided it was time to go out and purchase a pair of decks and a mixer."
Since catching the DJ bug, Daniel has gone on to play at every major club in Chicago. He has also played outside of his hometown in cities as isolated as Columbia, Missouri, to the glitz and glamour of Los Angeles and New York - not to mention his international debut in Mexico (where he has played cities such as Guadalajara and Mexico City) in the fall of 2003 as well as spinning in Aruba on New Year's Eve 2004. He made his European debut that following spring, with gigs in Frankfurt, Germany and Paris, France. He has played alongside such top notch DJs as Adam Beyer, Danny Howells, DJ Garth, Green Velvet, John Tejada, Matthew Dear, and Sasha (just to name a few)...
Never one to rest on his laurels, Daniel has joined with Brian Ffar and world renowned techno producer Billy Dalessandro to form Siteholder Records, a Chicago based techno label. Since its inception, Siteholder has done extremely well, finding its releases in the record boxes of Adam Beyer, Laurent Garnier, Sven Vath, and thousands of others...the label has currently branched off into a variety of sister labels - Siteholder UnCut, UnCut Ltd., and the soon to be announced Facet.
In terms of production, Daniel's first record came out in 2004 and featured a track he did with longtime collaborator Brian Ffar entitled "Plinko". The recording was included on the "Xactofunk EP" and released by U.K.-based Beat Code Records. Swag Records charted the release at #1. He released his first solo EP, entitled "Spotted Cow", in 2007 on Siteholder UnCut. He also continues to release highly praised originals and remixes under the Slutbox alias (alongside Billy Dalessandro).
