Dixon (DE)

Few artists walk the line between past and future as well as Dixon. As a DJ, he cuts a striking figure
behind decks, rising from Berlin beginnings among the original pioneers of electronic music. Over a
career, he has evolved his sound into something visionary, running renowned record label Innervisions
with Frank Wiedemann and Kristian Rädle of Ȃme. His ear for the perfect mix eventually brought down
Resident Advisor’s Top DJs Poll, after taking out first place for its last four years running. However,
Dixon’s ambition has driven a calling into wider fields of fashion and technology, expanding what it
means to be a contemporary innovator.

Early on, a young Dixon was already remixing for the likes of Femi Kuti with his version of “Victim of
Life” in 2000. His reputation as a remixer sprung out of edits hidden within his sets, adjusting tracks to
give his own mixing an edge. Dixon’s edits were for himself, but became infamously in demand for
friends and high profile artists, with takes on The XX’s “Tides” and Disclosure’s “Boiling” in 2013. Major
recognition came in 2017 when Depeche Mode asked him to remix their iconic anthem “Cover Me”, and
the following year reworking LCD Soundsystem’s “i used to”. Recently, Dixon’s 2019 interpretation of
Kelsey Lu’s “Why Knock For You” revealed his genre-bending take on today’s dance music.
Translating this view into running Innervisions earnt success from creating constellations within the
label’s universe. To distribute their carefully crafted sound, Muting The Noise came to be in 2010. Dixon
remains key in their music selection, always saving unreleased tracks to bump his own sets above the
rest. Throwing parties from Innervisions’ essence led to Lost In A Moment forming as an events agency.
Leaving no trace behind, offbeat locations are prioritised as the backdrop for the label’s otherworldly
showcases. To gather other like-minded artists, a booking agency Temporary Secretary was born in
2017, where Dixon still sits among an impressive roster of talent.

However, his holistic interest in nightlife culture meant pushing the clubbing envelope further. In 2017,
he co-founded fashion label Together We Dance Alone, with its creative director Ana Ofak. The brand’s
vision translates clubwear into the digital age and gazes at a future melded with machines. All designs
are co-created with collaborators and friends in unique capsule drops, linked by the core concept of
layering. Dixon’s fashion conscience has since synced up with some of the best in the industry. He was
asked to provide soundtracks for four seasons of Riccardo Tisci’s Givenchy runway shows and in 2018
was handpicked as a muse for VirgilAbloh’s first season of Louis Vuitton’s Men’s.

With these projects building up a layered approach to clubbing, Dixon set to work on his technology
platform Transmoderna. Transmoderna is a hybrid collective situated at the intersection between
electronic music and digital arts. With its four core members, the creative director Ana Ofak, music
director Steffen “Dixon” Berkhahn, multimedia artist Timur Novikov and videographer Carlos Minozzi, it
cross-breeds competencies in the music industry, visual tech development, creative directing and
film-making since 2019. Born out of curiosity, it counter-acts the peripheric position the virtual inhabits
in culture. It was the first venture of its kind to offer a real-time virtual stream, to combine contemporary
and digital art in a virtual exhibition and to implementAI-based programming into a dance music video.

Using music to melt through other art forms, Dixon’s strength is found in his transcendent dancefloor
moments. Echoed in a flawless aesthetic, his performances feel both safe and unpredictable, with this
singular sense of balance seeing his global appeal widen year after year.