Meet Dowden – the Canadian-born progressive artist now based in Berlin. We first met him at Beats for Love in Ostrava, where we had a quick chat (and a laugh over how to pronounce his name) and agreed to catch up later, as there simply wasn’t enough time that day.
What started as a short festival conversation turned into a thoughtful interview about touring, teaching, piercings, and why Europe really does know how to throw festivals.
Kouzelná: Last time we met at Beats for Love, I actually had a little trouble saying your DJ nickname correctly, and you were patiently trying to teach me the right way. Ca you tell us the story behind your name “Dowden” and how do people usually mispronounce it?
Dowden: Haha, I remember that! So my name ‚Dowden‘ is pronounced in two parts. The first ‚Dow‘ sounds like the english word for ‚cow‘ the animal that people drink milk from and the ‚den‘ is like the word ‚in‘ with a d or the first half of the word ‚dinner‘. I hope that makes sense! It’s actually my last name, and I chose it when a respected DJ friend of mine said ‚why not use your last name? It’s super proggy sounding!‘
Photo: Interview Dowden & Kouzelna @Beats for Love Ostrava
Share with us something you’ve never been asked before in an interview.
Something I’ve never shared in an interview before? Hmm.. I’ve had almost 25 piercings! Random, I know!
Quick fun one: would you rather go on a date or go to a party?
Luckily for me, my wife and I consider a party a date! But I do love going on dates with her, and we get to party all the time, so I would say dates are more valuable to us since we’re so busy.
If you weren’t a DJ/producer, what do you think you’d be doing instead?
If I wasn’t a DJ I think I would be playing music and performing, still. I’d likely be in a band or doing something solo. But if I wasn’t doing music, I would be doing mechanical engineering. That was what I was studying as a backup in case music didn’t work out.
Now, to refresh your memory – my colleague from rave.cz asked me to ask you about Balance Croatia. Apparently you played on a smaller stage there. How did that happen, and what was the experience like?
Yes! I was asked to play Balance as a surprise guest set on a pop-up stage along with Mike Rish and a few others. It was great to be included in such a historical moment for Progressive House. Noone really knew I was going to play, but when the notification sent out over the festival app, a small crowd rushed over to catch my set. It was really nice to have people be a part of that set because it was unexpected and not everyone was aware of it so it made it special for those that ended up catching the set. I am already excited for next year!
Another memory: do you remember the Prague Boat Party on 23.08.2024 with Martin Roth, Ezequiel Arias, Dowden, and ProggyBoy by PGM Events? How did you enjoy the cruise itself and what did you think of Prague.
Of course, I remember! That boat party was lovely. Prague is a beautiful city. To be honest, I did not expect such beauty outside the city. It was so rural and full of lush nature. I love the city of Prague, and am always happy to visit again and again. To perform on a boat through the city was a great experience. Playing with such scenery makes choosing music much different than inside a club to reflect the vibe of being on a boat in a beautiful city.
Photo: Dowden at Prague Boat Party 2024
And of course, back to Beats for Love the festival where we met. How did you enjoy it? What was your impression of the crowd and the vibe in Ostrava?
I really enjoyed the festival! Europe definitely knows how to throw festivals. The people were nice and really enjoyed themselves! Always a pleasure to play to crowds who appreciate all types of music.
There’s been a growing movement around the idea of “no phones on the dancefloor.” What do you think about it?
I always say ‚do whatever you want as long as it’s not hurting anybody‘. I think that bringing phones out on the dancefloor can be a bit of a vibe killer. It distracts others, it can degrade the vibe of the dancefloor and the event, it can obscure peoples view, and as a DJ sometimes the flashlight can be blinding, haha. So, in my opinion, it’s totally fine to take some photos and videos, but having hundreds of phones out and everyone recording can be a bit of a detriment to the vibe of the party. So, in short, I think phones are harmful to the vibe and should be used sparingly, but I always think that if recording videos makes it more enjoyable for you, do it without impeding on someone else as best you can.
You’re originally from Toronto but now based in Berlin. Can you give us your personal Top 5 from each city whether it’s clubs, food, favorite places, or even little hidden gems?
Of course, so I grew up in a small town, moved to Toronto for a few years, moved to Berlin for a few years, and am finally back in Canada for a bit before I move permanently to Italy. It’s been a lot of moving! Toronto, you’ll definitely want to check out CODA nightclub, Rebel nightclub, Dave’s Tacos, Rhythm Space, and Electric Island.
As for Berlin, I would highly recommend the nightclubs KitKat, RSO, Berghain, and Tresor, and for food, definitely get some Doner Kebab!
Photo: Dowden @ Beats for Love 2025
You also do private coaching and production courses. What motivates you to share your knowledge with others, and what’s the most common mistake you see upcoming producers make?
I genuinely enjoy helping people – it makes me happy and I find it very rewarding. I also wanted to start teaching because I knew I wanted to start pursuing music full time so I needed a way to earn an income that wasn’t my full time job. I needed time to focus on music and take the plunge into full time focus on music. I spent almost 2 years writing my courses, website, and recording and editing my first few courses. It was a much bigger amount of work than I anticipated because I have a very high standard for my work. I’m very happy with how everything turned out and I genuinely still really enjoy teaching and creating content for others to learn.
The most comment mistake I see producers make is trying to teach yourself everything. I learned everything by teaching myself and it honestly took way longer than it needed to. I wish I learned from someone else when I was still a beginner because it would have saved me a lot of time that could have been spent focusing on writing better music. Highly recommend doing some online coaching, courses, or collaborating with as many skilled artists as possible when you’re still learning.
To wrap it up with production: you once teased that one of your tracks has a very special story behind it (I saw your Mango Alley post). Can you tell us about that track and the story connected to it?
Perfect timing about this as I just signed the track to a big label a few days ago! Basically, I wrote a track about 4 years ago. Since then, I never changed it, but I knew that it was a very good track and I wanted to make sure that it went to a good label for a home. I only sent it out to 3 or 4 labels that I trusted with it. Since it was a bit of a unique track, the labels have passed. Finally, a great label has signed the track and I am very excited to announce who it is, when the time comes. The track is titled ‚Iris‘ and I have included it in some of my live sets and mixes, but you’ll have to wait for the release to find out who it’s signed to!
Thanks very much for having me and it was great to meet!