Daniel Burke was born in Chicago in 1960. He completed brief, formal musical training on Saxophone and Violin in grade school. In high school, Burke began exploring photography and quickly gravitated to experimental forms. He Attended Northern Illinois University from 1977 to 1981, and graduated with a degree in psychology. While at NIU he also studied photography and graphic design. After seeing - and being inspired by - the final 2 performances of Throbbing Gristle in 1981, Burke began exploring the use of sound. In 1983 he started a project now known as Illusion Of Safety. In addition to his solo and group work as Illusion Of Safety, Burke collaborated on live performances and recordings with Onde, Al Margolis, Jon Mueller, Randy Greif, Darin Gray, John Duncan, Thymme Jones (Cheer-Accident), Jim O'Rourke, Thomas Dimuzio, Kevin Drumm, Jeb Bishop, Ben Vida (Town and Country), Crash Worship, Eric Lunde (Boy Dirt Car), Jeff Jerman (Hands To), & others. Since that time he has released 21 CD's as well numerous vinyl and cassettes releases as Illusion Of Safety. Current work is centered around a guitar duo project with Travis Bird.

Burke continued to explore photography and graphic design, providing graphics for most Illusion Of Safety releases. He began exploring the medium of acrylic paint in 2004 through 2007 by taking part in a yearly 2 week course with painter Leigh Hyams at Esalen Institute. In 2007 he began work on video editing for use in live performance. The first results were used as backing imagery for the Illusion Of Safety 25th anniversary tour to Europe in february and April 2008. He has also been making "rock" videos for the bands CHEER-ACCIDENT, and most recently D.Rider.

Burke has been developing his underwater photography skill since 2003. Taking primarily macro pictures of coral reefs in Thailand, Indonesia, Costa Rica, and the Caribbean. He is currently compiling images for a publication of photos which reveal the complexity, harmony, and beauty of the underwater landscape. In addition he has begun work on "The Impossible Reef" series, utilizing photoshop to collage elements of coral reef architecture to create fantastical images that could only exist through the collaboration of human hands and natural occurrence.