“I will never forget one day DJing at a very small street party in Hamburg when I was very young” recalls man of the moment Solomun. “There were maybe ten people dancing in front of me and my parents suddenly showed up. My father was smiling with pride but my mother just stood there shaking her head. ‘Oh son’ she said, ‘it is always boom boom with you, but nothing ever in the pocket’.
End of April at a stunning villa overlooking the salt flats of Las Salinas, the Diynamic label boss threw one of his legendary villa parties moments after the unofficial opening of his weekly Solomun +1 residency at Pacha – with free sushi and drinks for everyone. His mother would have been so proud.
When it was announced to the press in 2013 that the world’s most famous nightclub were launching a new night with a DJ who was only inviting one guest to join him each week, eyebrows admittedly were raised. Where is the rest of the DJ line up many asked? But this was Solomun’s party and he has never stuck to the rulebook.
“Of course I knew I was taking a risk at the beginning but I have always trusted my gut feeling as I tend to do things on my own better. This was one of the reasons we founded Diynamic – Do It Yourself is part of my thinking and I had this overwhelming feeling that Pacha would really work out well” he chuckles.
And work out it did. By moving the DJ booth next to the dancefloor, Solomun created a real warehouse feel at Pacha giving the club a totally different atmosphere where even the VIPs join in – and for the last couple of hours he plays back to back with that week’s special guest. This summer sees one of the biggest coups in recent Pacha years with the return of the legendary Cocoon king Sven Vath who has not played there for years. Was it difficult to persuade him I ask Solomun? “No it was very easy. Last year he visited me on Sundays two or three times, he really enjoyed the parties and so we agreed that we would play at each other’s night this year. For me you cannot get more respect if somebody like Sven joins your party one year and plays the next.”
Life though could have turned out so differently for Solomun. Born in Bosnia but raised in Hamburg, like so many families in the 90s conflict changed everything. “The war of course was a defining experience for me and my whole family. When it began we had our small apartment full of family which all had to escape, that’s why I don’t take peace for granted. It still hurts and I still can’t understand why brothers, sisters and neighbours became enemies. This still makes me so very sad.”
It was a mixtape received in the post from one his cousins featuring “disco music live mixed in a club” which changed everything. “A little later I went to a party where they played techno and house which was the missing piece of the puzzle for my musical socialization. I then learnt how to mix records, bought my first computer, started to produce and slowly started to live off my DJ money.”
For a long time though Solomun was always one of the missing faces in Ibiza. “The music in Ibiza quite simply wasn’t the music that I was feeling at the time. Then four or five years ago I saw that the beat was changing, underground DJs were arriving, I was offered our first Diynamic residency and after spending some quality time on the island, I fell in love with Ibiza. And it is a love that gets stronger every year.”
Solomun Loves…
Opera : “I just saw La Traviata in the New York Met, this was something really touching and emotional.”
Meat : I come from the Balkan and I like meat a lot, I love to go to the famous Ca’n Pilot in San Raphael. Even though they always gives us a hard time when we try and book a table. Their meat is one of a kind.”
Cinema : “My favourite film of all time is Time of the Gypsies and if ever a film was made on my life I would want Sean Penn and Russell Crowe playing me…if they could be one person!”
Chilling : “Sleeping, eating, taking a walk, meeting friends, falling in love…this sounds a perfect day for me away from music.”
Never goes on tour without : “Fresh underwear, my iPhone charger and it’s also important to smell good. I love Allure de Chanel.”
