DANIELA

When it comes to emotional architecture in musical journeys, Daniela is unmatched. She is the Soundtrack of Sunrise.

Daniela is undeniable. She is the spark, the firestarter, and the torchbearer. The "Sunrise Queen", Daniela is known for her marathon sunrise sets in gorgeous natural environments, from beach stages in Brooklyn and Miami, jungle altars, forest stages, and open-air gatherings. Her opening and closing tracks are always statement pieces, intentional and commanding, and you'll often hear an unexpected classic that creates collective release. No matter if her sets are 90 minutes or 7 hours long, Daniela always crafts emotionally-driven, cinematic journeys that move audiences through tension, release, and expansive states, blending shadow, euphoria, and cosmic depth into a transformative dance floor experience.

There are few artists in the world with as much range as Daniela, yet her style defies any single genre. While late-night transmissions can dive into emotionally hypnotic tribal depth, during daytime all possibilities are on deck, literally– you might catch her playing French house, Fleetwood Mac, or big room techno, amapiano or bass music. But one thing's certain: she crafts powerful, cathartic journeys that feel both collective and deeply personal. They become ceremonies of remembrance, musical awakenings that help people reconnect to their true essence.

Daniela's already made her mark on NYC culture and dance music history. She founded the Deep Playa NYC community in 2020, and soon she and her crew produced the largest overnight outdoor rave in NYC history. She produced and DJed at over 50+ Deep Playa events in and around NYC– each event with anywhere between 300 and 1200 attendees– and supported artists such as Yokoo, Manumat, Unam, Wild Dark, and Lovecraft at various clubs and venues in Brooklyn such as Elsewhere, Xanadu, Brooklyn Monarch, The Meadows, The Chocolate Factory, Gaia Nomaya, and more. She is also creator of the all-female talent platform Her Name Is Shakti.

Daniela is no stranger to DJing for large crowds at festivals and Burning Man, either. She was selected to play at Elements Festival and CAMP Festival has DJed on several large art cars at Burning Man, including Blockhaus and Mystic Flyer. From 2022–2025 she also served as Music Director and stage designer for Calling All Magical People aka CAMP Festival, where she was one of the headlining DJs each year, and designed sound stages for and DJed at Love Burn and other unofficial regional Burns, currently serves at NY Regional Contact for the Burning Man Organization, and has been burning since 2012.

In 2025, Daniela was commissioned by the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia to perform a four-hour immersive Halloween set inspired by the Dancing Plague of 1518. With creative control over lighting, décor, musical arc, and performance cues, she meticulously designed her set around the four Medieval humors and the four seasons, emerging as both creative director and performance artist within the museum's historic ballroom.

Daniela holds over 30 years of NYC dance music history and cultural codes in her blood and bones that reverberate in her sound. She was shaped by the golden era of NYC nightlife— the Disco 2000 era— studying the architecture of dance music on the floors of Limelight, Twilo, Sound Factory, The Tunnel, Vinyl, and David Mancuso's legendary Loft parties. Her foundation was shaped by New York legends like Danny Tenaglia, alongside the storytelling of Sasha and John Digweed as well as Deep Dish, and her artistic lineage and inspiration draws from living legends like Laurent Garnier, DJ Harvey, Kölsch, and DJ Koze, and more recently, unders.

Beginning at the age of three, Daniela spent 20 years as a classically-trained pianist. Her love of dance music began around age ten, when her older brother introduced her to techno and house at home, while annual trips to visit family in Italy immersed her in Euro dance culture that left a lasting imprint on her sound. In the early 2000s, she learned how to DJ on vinyl while working at Satellite Records in NYC, then the largest independent dance music record store in the US. Living in Berlin and Milan between 2006 and 2010 deepened her connection to European club culture. Global travel, from UK festivals in the 2000s to Germany's Love Parade, expanded Daniela's sonic perspective, developing it into her sound. As a music producer, she's devoted to breathing new life to older classics with updated bass lines and creating ethereal yet emotionally profound progressive house tracks.

In between her early years working at a record store, she built an accomplished career in academia as a professor and later moved into corporate leadership before ultimately returning to her roots in music. Today she directs a Brooklyn venue and DJs, bringing a rare blend of intellectual rigor, business acumen, and deep dance floor intuition back to the culture that first shaped her.

Just like her Playa name, Stardust Catapult, Daniela channels shooting-star energy— radiant, expansive, and transformative.

Easter Egg ✦

Always Had the Crown

Daniela has always been a fan of headpieces, as you can see. The queen energy? Lifelong.

The purple iridescent jacket was clearly a sign of things to come ✦