“We were trying to put blues riffs on dance beats. We wanted to see what happens if you fuse those two worlds”: Meet Daniel ‘Dafreez’ Johnston, the “blues rave-up” pioneer combining folk fingerstyle and EDM

Daniel Dafreez Johnston.

With the technical skillset of a folk-blues fingerstylist, but the heart, soul and effects rig of a raver, Daniel ‘Dafreez’ Johnston is a rare and interesting breed of guitarist.

He makes up the Kiwi contingent of Dutch/New Zealand trio My Baby, who specialize in creating roots-driven alternative dance music without the use of synth, sequencers or other electronic equipment. Formed in 2012, the lineup is completed by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Cato van Dijck and drummer Joost van Dijck.