D:Fuse

D:Fuse hails from Austin, Texas, the self-proclaimed “Live Music Capital of the World.” Given that DJs are the enemies of live musicians (at least according to bar-band rhetoric), it figures that D:Fuse had to hustle hard to score gigs. The fact that New Kids on the Block monkey man Danny Wood released a trip-hop-slash-smooth-jazz album under the alias D-Fuse couldn’t have helped. But the man born Dustin Fuslier decided to cowboy up, donning a ten-gallon hat and making his name synonymous with hypnotic trance. In recent years, D:Fuse has expanded his repertoire, showcasing his skills as a producer on last year’s Begin and devoting his series People to an encyclopedic exploration of house, techno and trance beats. People 3: Both Sides of the Picture, a September 20 release, unveils 28 new tracks, with a second disc long on seismic rhythms. D:Fuse learned a few things about stage showmanship from his concert-saturated city, which is why his club gigs feel arena-ready, down to percussion-isolation passages that play like massive drum solos.