Photo Credit: Wax Motif
Wax Motif has spent all spring and summer this year bringing his sophomore album, House of Wax II, to dance floors around the world. But some of the dropped tracks filling his iconic sets have yet to be released.
The acclaimed DJ and producer, born Daniel Chien, says his current sets are packed with unreleased tracks, turning the dance floor into more than a place to preview what’s coming next. For Wax Motif, it’s also a testing ground for deciding which tracks may be worth an official release.
That process doesn’t stop when the lights come up. As social media increasingly shapes how music is discovered and shared, the influential modern house and bass tech DJ is also paying attention to how those live moments perform online. It’s the differentiating factor that creates a feedback loop between crowd, content, and potential releases.
Chien’s strategy is unfolding in an increasingly competitive landscape.
While social media has made it easier for artists to put their music in front of listeners, Wax Motif says that accessibility has also made capturing attention, and therefore standing out, all the more difficult.
Digital Music News caught up with Wax Motif ahead of his returning 2026 residency performance at Zouk Nightclub in Las Vegas to talk about unreleased music, testing tracks on the dance floor and social media, breaking through the noise, and what’s next.
You’ve been testing a lot of unreleased music in your sets. How important are live shows when deciding whether a track is worth releasing?
Yes! Every set right now just has a lot of unreleased music, because that’s the best way to find out if it’s worth dropping or not.
Once you test a track live, how important has the online reaction become in deciding what happens next?
Test it and get the content, and then kind of see how it reacts and then how it reacts online. I think that’s the best way to sort it: test songs before you decide to drop them.
Social media has made it easier than ever for artists to put themselves out there. Has that also made it harder to stand out?
I’d say right now, probably, that it’s like attention. It’s very competitive, and social media has made it very accessible for everybody to sort of get noticed. So because of that, it’s like sort of harder to stand out now.
What advice would you give younger producers trying to break through in that environment?
I think it’s important to stay consistent. I mean, all the normal advice you’ve probably heard, but definitely staying consistent and putting the music first. I think the quality of the music matters, and then just being able to sort of put yourself out there, self-promote, and like just get yourself on social media and do all that stuff.
With so much audience feedback available now, what still separates your sound?
I do a lot of house music, but it’s always like rap and R&B sort of influence. Probably just still on the same path. I mean, house music is what I love to do. It’s what I’ve always done and just produce for more artists. Usually, they like rap, R&B, and pop artists. But yeah, hopefully just staying on the same path.
You’ve released House of Wax II and still have a packed touring schedule. What’s next musically and on the road?
Music-wise, I mean, I don’t really have my next release plan. I’ve just been working on a lot of things right now, but I have a lot of unreleased stuff, so I’m just trying to work out what goes where. Show-wise, I still have a bunch of shows on this tour left, so I think Portland is up next. And then, in October, we’re going back to Asia through EDC Korea, EDC China, and then Australia and New Zealand. So yeah, lots of shows.
What do you ultimately want people to see next from Wax Motif?
More quality music, hopefully bigger shows, my own shows! I just put out a new song on Friday, “Naked Girls” with Spin Off. So I don’t have anything else set in stone yet. So, you’ll have to stay tuned.
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