Daniel Wang

Daniel Wang, recognized for his forthright stance as a longtime dance-music producer and his fascination with the theremin, has traveled widely across continents from his earliest years onward. He absorbed the atmosphere of multiple club environments before founding his own imprint to release his inventive and daring work. Born in Tibet, he passed segments of his childhood in Taiwan and California. In the late 1980s he relocated to New York for college, immersed himself in the local nightlife, and began working as a house and disco DJ. After graduation he moved to San Francisco, where the prevailing emphasis on aggression and repetition over enjoyment and variety left him impatient. He proceeded to Chicago and formed ties with several residents who had followed house music from its origins. Seeking club bookings, he resolved to produce the most eccentric sample-driven 12-inch possible as a means of attracting attention. That impulse prompted him to launch Balihu, which became his chief outlet. He also cultivated a close alliance with Morgan Geist, who placed several of Wang’s productions on the Environ label, among them the full-length album Idealism issued in 2000. In 1996 Oxygen Music Works issued the CD compilation I Was a Disco Malcontent, which gathered the Balihu discography. Beginning that same year Wang stopped using samples entirely so he could emulate the producers who had shaped his approach.