Today we’d like to introduce you to Dakota (KODA) Bernhart.
Hi Dakota (KODA), so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Music has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. I was eight years old when we moved into a new house and found a keyboard left behind in a closet; I taught myself to play by ear, picking out songs I heard on burned CDs. A little later I found Skrillex and Adventure Club on YouTube and that’s all it took. Years later, as soon as I had a job that left any money over after bills, I walked into a local pawn shop, bought a DJ board, and started teaching myself for real.
A year in, I was throwing the biggest parties at my college. We went to school in a beach town, so instead of house parties we’d post a mile marker on the sand and DJ off the back of a truck. It got big enough that the local police put us on a watch list; they’d try to guess which mile marker we’d hit next and build sand walls to keep us from getting there. Looking back, it’s one of my favorite stories.
I did about three years of school before deciding it was too expensive, so I joined the military. That decision took me to Tokyo, and it changed everything. The music, art, and culture there operate on a completely different level; it’s normal to start a night at 8pm and not get home until noon the next day. Where Houston has maybe four or five major venues covering house, techno, and everything else combined, Tokyo had thirty-plus per genre. That city became my real training ground. It’s also where my sound shifted; I’d gotten into DJing through dubstep and bass music, but Tokyo is where I found house, which is a bit closer to what you’ll hear from me as KODA today.
I moved back to Houston about two years ago after finishing my military contract, and I’ve spent that time trying to bring that Tokyo energy, the sense that literally anything can happen on a dance floor, back home. That’s what led to building Kulture Collective, which is my way of creating that same world here.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
No, it hasn’t been smooth at all, but that’s kind of the point. You learn the most from the parts that suck.
When I first started in Tokyo, nobody cared that I’d been DJing back in the States. I’d ask promoters for a shot, I’d befriend everyone I could, and I kept getting turned away. Then one night I was sitting at a bar and met a guy named Toshi, who turned out to become one of my closest friends. He was a promoter at two of the biggest clubs in the city, and after a night of drinking he offered me a deal: he’d help me out if I came on as a sub-promoter under him.
Here’s the thing, I don’t actually like being in clubs. Never have. But I wanted to DJ badly enough that I showed up every single weekend anyway. That grind forced me to learn the Tokyo nightlife industry from the inside and forced me to build an actual brand, not just a hobby. I did that for about seven months before Toshi worked his magic and got me my first real gig. I knew I only had one shot to make it count, so I did. That one set turned into more, and eventually I was playing all over the city.
Funny enough, I assumed coming back to Houston would be the easy part, that breaking into the scene here would be simple after what I’d built in Tokyo. It wasn’t. If anything it was just as hard, maybe harder. It’s gotten a lot better since, but that first stretch back was its own grind all over again.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m a DJ, a music producer, and an event coordinator, three things that all feed into each other thankfully. Electronic music is home for me, so I naturally lean that direction, but I love getting pulled out of my comfort zone. I’ve been working with some rappers lately who’ve taught me a ton, shoutout to Jay Miyagi and Waz.
If I had to name the thing I’m actually known for, it’s energy, not a sound. I don’t think I have one signature genre, when friends send me tracks they think I’ll like, it’s always something loud and in-your-face, bang-bang-bang, and honestly that tracks. That’s what I’m chasing too. My job is to get the floor moving, whatever it takes to get there.
One of my heroes is Four Tet; I love that he can move through completely different genres in a single set and never lose the room. That’s the model I build my own sets around: not a sound, a vibe. On top of the DJing and production, I also run Kulture Collective and a gear rental business on the side, so I get to shape the whole experience, not just what’s coming through the speakers, but the room it’s happening in.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
Honestly, I kind of stumbled into my mentor. We met in Tokyo and just hit it off; he’s an incredible producer, and he’s the person who first showed me that the goals I had in my head were actually achievable, not just something I was chasing for fun.
If I had to boil down my advice, it’s this: be seen. I was out constantly, and like I mentioned earlier, I’d already put in the work to build my own brand. So when he came through Tokyo, he reached out asking what was going on, and not long after that we ran into each other at a party, and it just clicked from there.
My real advice for anyone looking for a mentor: put yourself where the person you want to learn from would actually be, and then make sure the people in that room know who you are, what you do, and how to reach you. You’d be amazed who you meet just by being willing to start a conversation.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @Deejay_Koda
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/dakota-bernhart
Image Credits
@positiven8 (Nathan Perez)
@jenezythoo (Joyce Onyenezi)
@tiffphotography_tiff (Tiffani)
