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Live Electronic Music & Production

Live performer connecting machine worlds with humanity.

Known for his tightly crafted, hypnotic performances built entirely in real time.

BOOKINGS

Bring an immersive electronic performance to your festival, club, or event

PRESS KIT

A complete media kit with approved visuals, background info, and release material for press and promoters

SHOP

Courses, tools, and downloads to help you finish tracks faster and level up your sound.

ABOUT DAVE MECH

is a Netherlands based electronic music artist whose lifelong music journey evolved from being an instrumentalist playing flamenco guitar, bass guitar and drums, into electronic music live performer and music producer.


Dave Mech's underground techno sound is driven by a hardware performance approach on stage and in the studio. His love for detroit and dub shines through in his uptempo grooves and dynamic live performances. His music productions are largely based around live recordings, making his approach to creating music both technically sound, and humanistic.


As an instrumentalist he has played in prestigious Dutch venues like Tivoli / Vredenburg, Paradiso, and VERA, as well as festivals such as Oeral and Noorderslag. As a solo live performer Dave performed across Europe in renowned clubs like Sisyphos, :// about blank, Oxi, and Aeden in Berlin, NADA Temple in Lisbon and Club Basis in Utrecht. Sharing lineups with renowned artists like Steve Rachmat, SLAM, the Advent and many others.

Dave recently released a live performed album and vinyl release on Diffuse Reality Records and released music on respected labels like Nothing But, Tribal Pulse, and SOMA Labs Music.


Beyond his artistic endeavours, he is dedicated to education and community building in the electronic music scene through his teaching, and creation of resources like samples, presets and courses for other musicians.

Upcoming Gigs

  • Depot - About Blank - 16-10-2026 (as Control // Modify)
  • ADE Masterclasses - 21 -> 25-10-2026
  • ATR - Oxi -06-11-2026
  • ATR - About Blank - 12-12-2026


Past event highlights

  • Outdoor Tunnel Sisyphos - 2-8-2026
  • Hammerhalle Sisiphos - 4-4-2026
  • ATR - About Blank - 30-7-2026
  • Depot - OXI Berlin - 11-6-2026
  • ATR - OXI Berlin - 7-5-2026
  • Depot - :// about blank Berlin - 4-4-2026
  • Club Basis - Utrecht - Oct 31st 2025 (with SLAM and The Advent)
  • NADA Temple - Lissabon Portugal - Oct 2022 (with STERAC & Oliver Kucera)
  • Tartini Electronic - Salt Warehouse Piran, Slovenia - September 2022
  • ATR events - About Blank - Berlin - Dec 13th 2025
  • Amsterdam Dance Event - Q-Factory - Oct 23rd 2025
  • ATR events - About Blank - Berlin - October 17th
  • ATR - Oxi - Berlin - July 17th 2025
  • Cenote - Aeden - Berlin - June 28th 2025
  • Kabulagogo - Utrecht - May 3rd 2025
  • Onkruid Techno at the Chapel - Harderwijk - February 6th 2026

Resident Advisor Archive

THE SETUP

For his live performances Dave uses a combination of compact samplers and synthesizers together with a complex DJ mixer with flexible routing options, loopers and FX per channel. With this setup he blends live performance with some aspects of DJing. He can play to the crowd and have total control over the arrangement of his grooves.


Most of the time the setup consists of an Elektron Digitakt, Digitone, Syntakt, and an Allen & Heath Xone DB4. It's a fairly compact setup that can be made to be plug & play because everything is wired up within in a flightcase.


The setup has changed over time and then looped back to its current form. At the same time he is exploring and using other setups for live performances as well for example because of being one half of a project called Control // Modify which evolves around full improvised electronic music performances.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Biography, the personal side of things

The beginning

I was only just 7 when I picked up a guitar for the first time. I chose to learn guitar because I my mother played me a record by the Flamenco guitarist Manitas de Plata and I found it beautiful. I was drawn to the rhythmic structures and high energy. Learning to play Flamenco guitar, visiting many concert and then performing myself and playing in bands was a wonderful experience. When I was around 12 years old I read an article about the start of a new academy: The Rockacademy. That’s when I knew I wanted to go and study there when finishing mid school. During my teens I played drums for a few years as well and then came into contact with DJing via a friend and was immediately hooked.


First contact with Techno

When I went to my first real big stage party (Shockers) it felt like a revelation when I walked into the techno room while being there for the hard house originally. I was completely blown away by the immense energy. I remember one set in particular by Thomas Krome that made me realize I wanted to create techno. So I picked up a DAW, (Reason), and started producing. Not long after that I became a fervent idm listener as well. Which is a genre that has had a big impact on me. Great artists like Autechre, B12, Ochre, Abfahrt Hinwil, The Black Dog and many more were a big influence to me.


School years and collage

Let’s just say my school years weren’t exactly a pretty story. I never really felt comfortable at school and felt out of place. After finishing mid school I had to work a few years before I was able to apply for the Rock Academy and by then they had started with a new producer focused program. I went to the audition and was accepted. Unfortunately the combination of not feeling home in that city and the focus of the school being a bit too mainstream made me decide to look further. I changed to the Academy for Popculture in Leeuwarden and it turned out to be one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life. The alternative vibe, and the freedom of being able to set up your own projects was exactly what a lot of creatives that went there needed. It was a real breeding ground.


At the academy I picked up bass guitar, recorded and mixed bands, did some song writing, and performed with various bands as a (bass)guitarist through the entire country. And all the while I kept creating electronic music. It was a joyful experience.


Troubles with the whole promoting thing

As with many creatives I had a tendency to be pretty insecure and have known long periods of depression. I think this contributed to the fact that I wasn’t that set on promoting myself or sending out demo’s. It’s something I still find tough to do actually. Unsurprisingly after graduating from the academy I fell into a black hole, not really knowing where to go next. Luckily my computer nerdery helped me get a job in IT and so I moved back to where I came from, Utrecht. Working full time and not feeling very fulfilled took it’s toll on music production. Those were some of my least productive years.


Encounter with Digitakt & Xone:DB4

After a couple of years of working full time I made the choice to get my focus back on music and found a job where I could work 3 days. This gave me plenty of time to create music and keep learning. This was around the time I bought my first piece of hardware: MFB Dominion 1, which I still have and love. During these years I was already starting the long journey of finding out how I wanted to perform live after having decided pure DJing wasn’t really for me. I tried everything from digital DJing with loops and a bunch of controllers to Ableton live clip launching in combination with Native Instruments Maschine.


It was when Elektron released the Digitakt that something clicked in the back of my mind. Compact yet powerful. That’s when I came up with the idea to combine the things I loved about DJing with performing own music live. I started looking for DJ mixers that would combine these worlds and stumbled upon a mixer I had seen years before that when I was still DJing but kind of had forgotten, because it looked like a bit “too much”: The Xone DB4. Looking at it again and reading the manual blew my freaking mind. It was that moment that it became an immediate and very clear picture in my mind. The combination of two Digitakts and the power of DB4 would give me everything I needed to produce and perform a live set with aspects of the DJ workflow combined.


YouTube

So when that connection set of the feeling of being back on track, I knew there an essential thing I really needed to get better at, and that was showing my work. Getting rid of perfectionism and just show work! You might know the book that was at the heart of this: “Show your work!” by Austin Kleon. If not, I can really recommend it. It’s small, easy to read and super useful. That’s when I started with the whole YouTube thing. At first the idea was to share how I was going to try and get better at showing my work via a vlog. But it quickly grew out to be more of a music channel where I could be creative and basically do anything I want by adding video into the mix. It opened an important door that freed me of any boundaries. A completely open playing field to do with what I want. This was the environment and mind set where I started recording sampling sessions, tutorials and more.


And now

So here we are. Quite a few years into this wonderful YouTube story and the love I got from fans that enjoyed the video’s and learned from them has been nothing short of amazing. It has been such a big motivator to keep working hard and share as much as I can. Because of all this I now teach, create, perform live regularly, and have been able to make this venture a full time one now. Which is a really a dream come true.


And really, I have to thank my family, friends, and you as a subscriber for that. The positive reactions and love I received for just showing what I love to do has been the biggest motivation and joy. So sincerely, thank you for listening, watching and following me.


Cheers,

Dave