Cue Point is a series in which artists illustrate the early dance floor experiences of producers and DJs. Our latest snapshot puts ink to Golden Pudel resident Phuong Dan's career-shaping early years.

Phuong Dan grew up near Bonn, a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the birthplace of Beethoven.

As a teen in the '90s he frequented Stadtgarten in Cologne—getting down at hip-hop jams and MC battle nights like Beatz aus der Bude and Köllefornia. When they weren't there, Dan and his crew searched for soul, jazz and original hip-hop samples to impress with at their own parties and breakdance battles in Westphalia.

His studies took him to Hamburg in 2002, where the allure of the city's dance floors piqued his interest. Weekends were spent at Mojo Club, Click and Golden Pudel with greats like Ellen Allien, Carl Craig and Detroit Grand Pubahs behind the booth.

Even then, Golden Pudel was the apple of Phuong Dan's eye. The first time he went, the club was so busy he couldn't get in at the door. Undeterred, he simply snuck in through a window.

At half the size of what it is now, Pudel's dance floor was sweaty, smelly and extremely wild. Packed to the rafters with all kinds of people—old, young, sober, rolling, elegant, scruffy, eccentric. The spontaneity and tolerance impressed him. They're qualities about the club he still admires to this day.

He hopped on the decks at Golden Pudel for the first time around 2003. Playing mainly proto house and '70s disco, he was listening to mixes from Lovefingers, Vidal Benjamin, Tako and Alexis Le-Tan. This inspired Dan to dig for other genres like EBM, krautrock, early electronic music and new wave. These new records gradually changed the sound and approach of his night.

One night in Düsseldorf at Salon Des Amateurs, Dan ran into Tolouse Low Trax, and they invited each other to play their respective parties. Exchanges like these soon became commonplace as Dan sailed rising stars like Gordon Pohl, Lena Willikens, Jan Schulte and Vladimir Ivkovic towards the Pudel's golden shores.

For Dan, becoming a DJ wasn't forced or expected, it happened naturally. Digging and playing records is something he's always just loved doing.