Wherret grew up in Lacey near Olympia, Washington. He started collecting records as a child. He moved to Seattle from 1988-1990 to study fashion. During that time, he began hearing electronic dance music at the clubs there and in Tacoma like The Underground where he heard Randy Schlager and Donald Glaude. It was during this time he started experimenting playing on his own. 　　In 1991, he moved to Los Angeles, CA. After playing a few events with LA-based DJ Ron D Core - the two of them released a series of mixtapes together, including live mixes. He eventually made his way up to San Francisco, CA in 1993 where he joined forces with Funky Tekno Tribe. Together they massively influenced the West Coast Funky Breaks movement that then swept across the country. In 1996, the groundbreaking track "Loose Caboose" was released under the moniker Electroliners (Dan's partnership with Jim Hopkins). This track was picked up by some of the biggest DJs in the world at the time like Carl Cox, Sasha, John Digweed and Lee Burridge. 　　In 2000, Cox took Dan under his wing and brought him on tour. Also that year, Dan's track "That Zipper Track" was released on 4 different labels worldwide. It went on to sell over 100,000 copies on vinyl. In 2001, he created his own label, InStereo Recordings. 　　DJ Dan has since played every major club and festival in the world. DJ Mag named DJ Dan the #1 House DJ in 2006. And Urb Magazine named him "America's Favorite DJ" and "America's Hardest Working DJ"?. He is currently rated the #9 DJ in America according to the DJ Times America's Best DJ Poll。