Interview: The Wisdom of Solomun

Interview: The Wisdom of Solomun

20 February, 2008 | 6.46AM

• Written by: Lee Smith
• Filed under: Music News: diynamic, four:twenty, solomun

Straight outta Hamburg, Germany, Solomun is leading the new wave of underground house with an stylish techno flair that’s enticing everyone from Josh Wink to Laurent Garnier, from Tiefschwarz to Ivan Smagghe.

He also runs the super-hot Diynamic label, regularly DJs all over the globe and is about to drop the massive ‘Deadman’ on Four:Twenty Recordings.

We catch up with him to find out where he gets all the energy from.

Hi Solomun. I understand you are originally from Bosnia? Tell us about the scene there, how you became involved and how you ended up where you are now.

I was born there, that’s correct.

But I grew up in Hamburg, so I can tell you nothing about the scene there.

Sorry!

What was your plan when you set up Diynamic with Adriano?

I think like most other label owners, the plan was and is to release the music that we like and what we think really has to be released.

It’s important for us to have our own base, our home.

The label has very quickly caught the attention of many well-known DJs. What do think the reason for this is?

I don’t know — perhaps a good promotion mail send out?!

Often your music mixes a contemporary tech house vibe with traditional music and sounds. For example, classical strings, African drums, etc. Do you listen to a wide range of music at home?

Not so much as before, but I’m thankful that my girlfriend gives me a lot of music to listen at the moment.

She has very good taste, too.

I think it’s important to be open minded with other music, to expand your own spectrum.

I like classical music, Balkan music, soul and funk.

Nobody was born liking techno or house!

Hamburg is getting quite a bit of press attention at the moment, with guys like yourself, Liebe Detail, and the Word and Sound empire all firing on all cylinders. Is there a strong club scene in the city? Describe it to me if you can.

Yeah, of course!

In Hamburg, there are lot of good clubs like Uebel and Gefährlich (for me, the best) and promoters like DIY or The Frog.

Hamburg has lot of clubs and promoters from commercial to underground, but I think it’s the same in other cities.

You go to the party where you know the promoter, environment, club and the act you would like to listen to.

With the whole electronic music world going crazy for Berlin, what is that keeps you living in Hamburg?

Hamburg is my love.

I really like it here.

I have all I want here.

For me, it’s the right size for a city — not too big and not too small.

What artists and labels are you playing at the moment in your DJ sets?

The stuff from Stimming, H.O.S.H., Sascha Dive, Andomat 3000, Argy, Jerome Sydenham, Jimpster and there’s always good quality of releases on Four:Twenty, Ibadan, Liebe Detail and Compost.

But those are just the more known names.

Sure there are a lot more, which would be too much to mention now…

In the dance media, people are talking a lot about “the return of house”. Do you feel your music is part of this comeback? How do you feel about media hype for things like this?

It’s always hard to describe your own music, so I don’t know if my music is part of it.

But we have talked about the return for about two or three years, and it’s actually very present.

But I think more classical techno will be coming back next time.

What are your future plans, both as a producer and for the label?

In February, there comes an EP from me on Four:Twenty entitled ‘Deadman’, and another in March on Diynamic as well as remixes that I made for Buzzin’ Fly, Compost and Freerange.

Also later on, around June, another EP again on Four:Twenty and Compost Black.

There’s also a collaboration with Argy for his ‘Focus On’ album on Poker Flat.

That’s enough for now.

The next stuff on Diynamic will be also very interesting: Diynamic 011: ‘Trilogy EP’ with Stimming, H.O.S.H. and Solomun.

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• Check out Solomun on Beatport