Article by: Jessica Duncan
Dustin Husain is a Los Angeles–based Trance producer who has opened for Trance legends like Gareth Emery and Paul Van Dyk. He played the main stage at Dreamstate SoCal in 2022 and the Quantum Valley stage at EDC Las Vegas in 2023. At 31, he has already accomplished more than many could dream of, yet his journey has only just begun!
When Dustin was younger, he enjoyed playing video games such as Snowboard Kids, Mortal Kombat, Tokyo Xtreme Racer, & DDR. Although these games are very different, they all have one thing in common — dance music soundtracks. This is where Dustin’s affinity to dance music began; starting with Euro Dance, then evolving to Pop Dance, before finally falling in love with Trance. The first EDM show he went to was Hard Summer in 2012. His friends dragged him along and he got to see Skrillex, A-Trak, and Danny Brown.
Photo by @gucciphoto
In 2014 he was working as a concierge at a hotel when he decided to learn to DJ. He taught himself and practiced by “having little parties and kick-backs where a couple of my friends and I just would play on the fly.” When he was deciding on an artist name, he kept it simple and went with his actual name because “my name rhymes and is memorable, so why not use my first and last name?” Early on, Dustin got gigs playing Top 40 in San Diego, but he truly wanted to switch over to Trance. He started learning to produce in 2015 after “a drunk chat with a fellow artist in the industry. That little push was what I needed to pursue music production in the EDM realm.”
Photo by @gucciphoto
Dustin already knew how to play piano, but to learn music production he spent “various hours in multiple online classes from Sonic Academy which helped build the foundations of Trance music” for him. On the technical side, he runs “a 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7, which I will be upgrading later on this year as the M2 Chips models are out! I run Ableton with FL if I am feeling spicy outside of EDM. I also run various VSTs but my favorite ones to use are Spire and Sylenth1.”
His musical influences include “Andrew Rayel’s earlier years with his remix of “Tenishia – Where Do We Begin,” Gouryella’s Euphoric Trance feeling catalog, and Armin van Buuren’s Intense album which pushed the faster sounds of Trance Music.” To create his own brand of Trance he “took something from each influence I came across to help mold what my sound is today.” In his own words, “The best way to describe my style is Modern Trance which to me, will be a blend of genres that use Trance elements.”
Photo by @gucciphoto
He has released tracks on Ferry Corsten’s Flashover Recordings, Armin Van Buuren’s A State of Trance, Black Hole Recordings which was founded by Tiesto (back when he still produced Trance), and its sub-label In Trance We Trust, as well as Insomniac’s Trance imprint Dreamstate Records. If you have not yet listened to any of Dustin’s songs, he recommends checking out his ground-breaking collaboration with Ferry Corsten, “Timeout.”
While he has already crossed performing at major festivals off his bucket list, there are still a few more he would love to get booked for. The first is A State of Trance in Utrecht because it “is the granddaddy of all ASOT shows.” The second would be Tomorrowland in Belgium because it is one of the largest and most well-known festivals in the world.
When he isn’t making music or performing, Dustin can be found outside exercising or watching an NBA game. He doesn’t have a favorite team because he is “more of a player fan since I grew up playing the game at an early age.” His current favorite players are LeBron James, Jimmy Butler, and Jason Tatum.
Dustin has a lot more coming in the pipeline, so be sure to check out his music and follow him on social media using the links below. To sign off, he says “See ya at the next show!”
CONNECT with Dustin Husain:
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Twitch
LISTEN to Dustin Husain:
Spotify | Apple Music | Beatport | SoundCloud
