Marlon Hoffstadt
Genre: Techno · Trance
Origin: Germany
In May of 2025, Marlon Hoffstadt, AKA DJ Daddy Trance, played in the US for the first time—on the mainstage at Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas, for 70,000 people, right between Tiësto and Amand Van Buuren. That same week, he signed a deal with Capitol Records, who released Supersonic / Hands Up In The Sky, his first singles on an American label. Before heading back to Berlin, he headlined a sold-out show at Knockdown Center in Brooklyn, his first gig in New York City.
This was just the latest chapter in Hoffstadt’s global victory lap. Playing clubs in his home city of Berlin from the age of 15, the perpetually smiling, neon-haired DJ has been on fire since 2020, when he reinvented himself as DJ Daddy Trance and started breaking all the rules of the scene that raised him. Marlon’s productions bring the shameless fun of pop into storming club music, whether in edits (like his breakthrough version of Kid Cudi’s “Day n’ Night”) or in original productions like “It’s That Time.” More than the singalongs they inevitably inspire, tracks like this influenced a young generation of producers and pointed toward a new direction for European dance at large. The DJ sets, of course, are just as electrifying, an explosive burst of pure energy every time. Marlon’s dance floors always lose their shit—fists pumping, sweat flying, everyone savoring every last moment of an emotional release they simply don’t get anywhere else.
“Feel everything,” Hoffstadt says. “Complete joy, completely letting go, raise your hands and sing along. Don’t be too cool, just play whatever you want.”
“There is no guilty pleasure,” he says. “Only pleasure.”
It turns out this was just what we all needed: an anti-purist dance floor hero, too poppy for the underground, too ravey for the mainstream, never really fitting in, and never really caring. Dead serious about what he does but never taking himself too seriously. A man dedicated to the simple mission of making you feel more than you’ve ever felt, Marlon is and always will be unapologetically Marlon.
Marlon quickly became one of Berlin’s biggest DJs. Club Heart Broken, the label and party he founded with MALUGI, was a sensation, drawing endless queues every time (with Marlon usually walking out to greet everyone, passing out shots to punters while they waited). His back-to-back sets with Malugi blew the roof off, resonating well beyond Berlin.Their Boiler Room London set, with close to 3 million views, was the streaming giant’s second-strongest debut 2024 (the only one to beat them was Charli XCX, but hey, it was Brat summer). And there were always new songs. Marlon cranks them out at a crazy fast pace. Whether he’s teasing new material in his sets, uploading new tracks to SoundCloud unannounced, or unexpectedly dropping five new tracks at once, (like he did with his All Yours EP), his music always feels like a loving dialog with his hardcore fans.
Things moved quickly from there. Marlon did remixes for Madonna and Kylie Minogue. Sony Music decided to back the label arm of Club Heart Broken. Marlon sold out back-to-back events in Australia with 10,000 people each. This August, he’ll share the decks in Belgium with KI/KI for a show that sold out within hours (20,000 tickets for that one). On the other hand, he’ll also play a free party at Prince Charles, an intimate club in his hometown. No matter what, Marlon always treats his fans like friends, bringing a vibe of pure warmth and openness, sending everyone home totally happy and soaked with sweat.
As Marlon made more and more tracks, it turned out that was the main thing his fans wanted from him. Enter DADDYCATION, a new show concept that’s part DJ set, part audio-visual show, with Marlon playing entirely his own material alongside guest performers. Sometimes he shows off tunes he’s just finished, getting on the mic to tell everyone this will be the first time anyone hears it. And of course he plays what are now his own classics, getting ocean-sized crowds to chant along, while he smiles shyly, still looking just a little surprised this is all really happening. At the same time, it’s what he’s been working for all along.
“I’m so damn ready for it,” he says. Too much is not enough. And he’s just getting started.
