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Meet Marlon Hoffstadt the Cheeky Daddy of 90’s-Inspired Trance

Marlon Hoffstadt playing Boiler Room in Melbourne
Screenshot from Marlon Hoffstadt's Melbourne appearance and Boiler Room Set

Marlon Hoffstadt is a 29-year-old trance DJ from Berlin who has gradually been taking over Europe and Australia with his spicy remakes of 90’s classics and happy trance.

He’s been in the industry since he was just 17 and has progressed from house, to electronic and is now taking over the trance scene – exactly why you should give him a listen.

Marlon Hoffstadt & his impressive beginnings

Marlon Hoffstadt, known by his other alias DJ Daddy Trance, debuted in 2012 with You and a Lovestoned Ghost. It’s a smooth house EP that instantly earned him praise from the likes of DJ Pete Tong, calling him a “future star.”

A year later he and Dansson earned the second most Shazamed song in Ibiza that entire year with ‘Shake That’. He’s since slowly moved from house to faster paced trance, and with multiple Boiler Room sets, sold-out parties, and incredible festival appearances, we now have a certified legend on our hands.

Such a legend in fact, he’s the 3rd most streamed electronic artist on SoundCloud of 2023 and 4th in trance on Spotify. If you hadn’t heard of him before today, you’ve been missing out – but that’s about to change.

Turning old tracks into new gold

His more recent releases are full of funky remixes, like his version of Drake’s ‘Hotline Bling’ which became his own ‘Call Me’ track- ending up with an authentically 90’s euro-dance taste to it.

He’s also worked on remixes of Oliver Heldens’ & Kylie Minogue’s ‘10 Out of 10’ and Kid Cudi’s ‘Day ‘n’ Nite’, which according to one YouTube commenter, “completely had Glasto’s pants down multiple times.”

Although you’re looking to get started, try ‘It’s That Time’. It’s his most popular track on Spotify – and for good reason. The remix of his own career-propelling track with Dansson adds a new energetic dance flavor to it, cementing Hoffstadt firmly in his trance niche.

You’ll need your parachute pants and bucket hats on for these.


So, what’s Marlon Hoffstadt been up to these days?

For starters, he’s been on three Boiler Room sets, in Berlin (Summer Session ‘17), Malta (for Glitch Festival ‘23), and Melbourne (on Boiler Room’s world tour ‘23).

As for festivals, well, it’s hard to miss him. From Glitch, to Teletech, Habitat to Intercell’s 2023 summer series – he’s everywhere at the moment.


Marlon Hoffstadt is also running clubheartbroken, a party series working its way around Europe focusing on sharing trance and house music with everyone. At one point he was known for running Savour The Moment, a party that strictly banned the use of phones, to get his audience to fully soak up the vibes.

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DJ Daddy Trance

Wondering why Marlon Hoffstadt is the daddy of trance? Aside from the moustache, occasional pink hair and euro-dance vibe, he’s also an actual father.

With him and his girlfriend having their first kid in 2020, this earned him official DILF status –  and thus was born the DJ Daddy Trance project.

Quality over quantity

A screenshot from one of Marlon Hoffstadt's HÖR BERLIN appearances
A screenshot from one of Marlon Hoffstadt’s HÖR BERLIN appearances

So now you want to see Hoffstadt live, and with that, we wish you the best of luck. His tours sell out insanely quickly – and they don’t occur frequently either.

He’s spoken openly about his confusion towards DJ’s touring nightly, and how he doesn’t understand how they manage to keep it up. He prefers to look after his health through meditation and yoga and take his touring easy.

Besides, this daddy is a family man, we shouldn’t keep him away from home for too long.

Looking for something a bit more niche?

We’ve got you.

Marlon Hoffstadt worked as a producer on the Tender Games album, released in 2014. You can pick-up on Hoffstadt’s trademark “happy house,” but it’s much more soul focused than his usual work. He’s also experimented with genres further with HRRSN, creating tracks that transcend music labels- producing whatever they want to.


My personal recommendation from his slightly lesser-known works? The melodic electro-house track,  ‘Skin and Bone’. Think of a late-night drive, sunrise yoga and cocktails on a yacht. Put those altogether, and you’ve just about found the vibe of Skin and Bone.

Need some more Daddy in your life?

Pull up to one of his festival appearances later this year. He’s showing up at Extrema Outdoor in Belgium, Sónar in Spain, and Emerge in Northern Ireland.

Marlon Hoffstadt Socials

Written by Alice Milne

Alice Milne is a music journalist for The Malta Independent and a graduate from the Malta College for Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST) with a Bachelors (hons) in Journalism.

Previously working with European Youth Press, Alice has experience producing other written content for different publications in Malta and Europe.

Versatile by nature, Alice specializes in writing about techno, trance and electronic music genres, has experience covering events in the field and is well-versed in writing about the different facets of underground and underreported culture.

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