He’s not a tracksuit-clad, sunglasses-at-night type, popping bottles behind a VIP velvet rope; nor is he a lofty, stone-faced Teutonic techno-head with an asymmetrical haircut, pumping out earsplitting beats to robotic clubgoers. In fact, he would undoubtedly balk at the title “superstar,” although by most electronic music fans’ metrics, that’s exactly what he is. 

For over 10 years now, Solomun has held down the Sunday nights at Pacha in Ibiza, one of the most famous clubs on the planet, with his residency Solomun +1. He’s the founder of the label Diynamic Music, where he has been carefully curating an eclectic roster of DJs, producers, and other dance music innovators since 2006. Even before that, Solomun DJ’d at a youth center in 90s Hamburg, spinning funk, soul, and hip-hop vinyl. He helped cultivate a burgeoning underground scene—around the year 2004 he co-founded the art and culture collective, rodiy e.V.,  throwing invite-only art parties in warehouse spaces, poetry slams, and concerts. It was in those early 2000s where he began teaching himself how to DJ and produce records out of his kitchen. One literally could not invent a heftier resume if they tried, and yet, so much of who Solomun is both as an artist and as a person seems to be actively at odds with the level of success he’s garnered over the course of his undeniably illustrious career. 

Logging onto our Zoom call from the balcony of his summer residence in Ibiza, he speaks plainly, almost gruffly—perhaps that’s just the natural grit of his German accent (Solomun was born in Bosnia, but immigrated to Hamburg as a child). He’s wearing a nondescript purple T-shirt, and every now and again, he tucks his mop of chestnut brown hair behind his ears. “It may be hard for some people to understand, but nothing I’ve ever done has been a business-driven concept. Of course there’s always an element of calculated risk, even when I was throwing label parties 15 years ago, but it was never about taking a risk just to become successful. I never did it to get more attention. It was always music first.” 

“Music first” could easily be Solomun’s personal—and business—motto. It’s certainly the concept behind Solomun +1: an antidote to the overstuffed celebrity line-ups that have taken over Ibiza’s nightlife scene in recent years. Every Sunday, he invites one DJ to share the all-night bill with him at famous nightclub Pacha Ibiza, a space where genre and style are less important than good music and an excellent vibe. +1 is Solomun’s idea of a headliner-less, egalitarian gig, where both he and the guest artist can express themselves freely. This year’s guests have included Caribou, Four Tet, Jamie xx, Anyma, and Peggy Gou, a veritable who’s who of the international DJ elite. Whenever describing “+1”, as he calls it, Solomun speaks of taking the audience on a “journey,” shepherding them through the night, stretching time and space to his will, like only a great DJ can. It’s a creative ethos he picked up during his early days in Hamburg, and one that he’s been able to hold onto for over 20 years. 

“It started with my first raves, back in the days when I discovered electronic music,” Solomun says about his approach to fostering community during his sets. “I grew up more influenced by funk, hip-hop, and soul—80s stuff. But when I went to a rave for the first time, [Düsseldorf-based electro producer] Antonelli Electr. was DJing. He was from the Kompakt posse from Cologne, and this music was so beautiful, so trippy, and I was taken immediately.” Wrapped up in the sound, Solomun had the realization that not only did he want to be a part of this crowd—he wanted to lead it, too. “I was curious about it because it was pure joy and happiness, and the people around me were so into it and so connected and so friendly. It was a completely different world, compared to where I came from, and to parties I had attended before.”

From then on, by his own admission, Solomun became something of a party animal. He dove headfirst into club culture, teaching himself how to spin records, throwing parties, and meeting newfound idols that would soon become musical peers. “I started to go out every weekend. I was one of the guys who was first in the club and last at the end of the night,” he says with a wry smile. “The first time I went up to a DJ and thanked him for playing, it was [Kompakt co-founder] Michael Mayer. He had played a long set at a place called Tanzhalle, like five or six hours, and it blew my mind.”

Having no idea that, years later, the same clubbers would utter his name in the same breath as pioneers like Mayer, Solomun continued to devote himself to the Hamburg scene, first by starting the label Diynamic in 2006, and eventually managing the club Ego, which closed in 2014, around the time +1 kicked off.

“In the end, it was just luck,” he says about his unorthodox, yet steady, career path. He was always surrounded by the same characters, who shared the same goals as he: Adriano Trolio, his co-founder at Diynamic, and HOSH (aka DJ and producer Holger Behn) and Stimming, artists who would help build the foundation of what Diynamic would become. “In the beginning, I lived with HOSH,” he says, “and we would make music in the kitchen of our apartment, and send out music to labels. I met Adriano later, and we started our own events just for our friends. We’d have events on Saturdays, but we never announce them in advance. There was no promotion, we would just invite people via email. It became a space to test our music. And then, one time the owner of a distribution company came to me when I was playing one of my tracks, and asked who the artist was. He said, ‘Oh, why don’t you come to our office next week? You should start a label.’ And since it has always been my role in this group to look ahead, I thought about it for a long time. And then I did it, because it felt right.” 

As his career took off, the projects began to expand. In 2010, Solomun launched 2DIY4, an imprint of Diynamic for more pop and disco-oriented releases that didn’t fall under the main label’s more techno, electro-heavy roster. Recently, he revived another sublabel, Love Recycled, which is home to a series of reimagined, remixed old school house and disco tracks. With all of this on, as well as +1, how have the last 10 years impacted him on a personal level? Is he still the last man standing on the dancefloor?

“It’s been very blurry. Very blurry,” he says, not without a note of seriousness in his voice. “Honestly. I’ve had to teach myself that on Mondays, I have to forget the weekend—clean, do a sauna, be normal again. I’ve created self-defensive mechanisms to protect me from this world. If you were to ask me what happened three weeks ago, I [would] have no idea. Of course, some events stand out, but it’s also like when people try and give me compliments. I’m happy to hear that they’re enjoying what I do, but it’s not in my nature [to accept those compliments]. I’m very private.”

This, I have come to realize, is the major dichotomy that sits at the crux of who Solomun is, and why he has been able to carve such a singular niche for himself in this fast-paced, often shallow, always high-energy, world of international DJing. He openly says he “doesn’t want to be a pop star,” but he loves music and wants to bring it to the masses. He avoids the spotlight, but nothing brings him more joy than connecting with people on the dancefloor. Like with many of us, there’s a push-and-pull between who he is and who he wants to be. For some reason, it pushes him to be better, go further. And people love it.

“Ten years ago, when we started +1, there was a time when things got really crazy,” he says. “I feel sorry for my poor team, because I never wanted to end the party. There was always the afterparty, always the villa or whatever. I’d be in Miami, still playing, and everyone would have left, and there’d be employees cleaning the floor. I love music so much, I never wanted it to end. I was just always trying to keep the moment forever and ever and ever and of course, that’s not healthy. My body can’t handle it. So I changed a lot—I do my three, four, five big afterparties a year, and I take time to rest. You know, at the time I asked myself, what other DJ is working this hard, at this level? And all I could think of was Sven Väth—but then I found out that he takes like, three months off a year to practice Ayurveda in Thailand.”

So, short of an Ayurvedic holiday, it seems like this is as balanced as Solomun is going to get in the near future. With +1 and Diynamic going as strong as ever, and as long as the line of breathless clubbers continues to wrap around Pacha every Sunday, there’s no reason to let up. Before he leaves, I ask him if his love for music is as deep as it was when he started in Hamburg. Will he ever retire? Or will he still be raving at 80? 

“No,” he says with a dry laugh. “And the thing is, I started later with my career. I started from zero when I was 27, so really, it’s always been my instinct to follow my passion and desire with no plan, no concept. I was just trying to make music.”

Photographed by Neil Gavin

Styled by Christopher Campbell

Written by Cameron Cook

Grooming: Corina Smith

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