Solomun

Solomun stands out as a prize-collecting DJ, studio craftsman, and imprint head whose style fuses deep house, melodic techno, and indie dance into an emotionally resonant, uplifting blend. As co-founder of Hamburg’s Diynamic Music imprint, which later launched its own festival series, he first placed tracks on the market in 2005, with the full-length Dance Baby following in 2009. By the early 2010s his name repeatedly topped or placed high in year-end lists compiled by Mixmag, Groove, and Resident Advisor; in 2018 he also surfaced inside Grand Theft Auto Online. The 2021 album Nobody Is Not Loved marked a further shift toward vocal-driven material and pop textures, a direction he has sustained with 2024’s single “Feels Like a Jungle” and reworkings for Muse, Kasabian, and Caribou.

Born Mladen Solomun in Travnik—then inside Yugoslavia, now Bosnia and Herzegovina—he spent his formative years in Hamburg, Germany, where he spent several years inside a film production company before turning to music. After establishing himself first as a club DJ, he moved into production and, alongside promoter Adriano Trolio, launched Diynamic Music in 2005; the label’s opening pair of releases were jointly made by Solomun, Trolio, and Gebrüder Ton. Subsequent team-ups with H.O.S.H. and Stimming appeared on the same roster, while 2007 saw additional output on Sonar Kollektiv and Dessous. After more singles, remixes, and the opening of his Hamburg venue Ego, he delivered Dance Baby on Diynamic in 2009 and inaugurated the experimental offshoot 2DIY4 the following year.

His 2011 revision of Noir & Haze’s “Around” drew widespread praise, and 2012 brought further recognition when Mixmag named him DJ of the Year and the DJ Awards in Ibiza awarded him Best Producer, among other honors. Diynamic staged its debut festival in Amsterdam in 2013; Ego shuttered in 2014, yet Solomun maintained recurring residencies at Pacha and Destino throughout the decade. Parallel to club work, he supplied official remixes for Foals, Interpol, Lana Del Rey, and Leonard Cohen, selections of which were gathered on Selected Remixes 2009-2015; he also mixed the compilations Watergate 11 and Global Underground #40. In 2018 Grand Theft Auto Online placed him as an in-game resident DJ, and the clip for “Customer Is King” was built inside the Grand Theft Auto V engine. His second album, Nobody Is Not Loved, arrived via BMG in 2021 and featured Jamie Foxx, Anne Clark, Zoot Woman, and Planningtorock; Nobody Is Not Loved (Remixed) followed in 2022. After further revisions for Maceo Plex, Muse, Purple Disco Machine, and others, he issued “Can’t Stop” on Running Back in 2024, then returned to Diynamic with “Feels Like a Jungle,” featuring Novaa.