Mladen Solomun (born December 27, 1975), better known under his stage name Solomun, is a Bosnian-German DJ. He is a four-time DJ Awards winner for Best Producer, Best DJ and Best Melodic House DJ. ^[1][2][3]

Musical career

After Solomun was born in Travnik, Yugoslavia (today Bosnia and Herzegovina),^[4] he moved to Hamburg with his family, where he grew up. As a young boy, he worked for his father in construction.^[5] Eventually, he discovered that he really enjoyed filmmaking.^[6] He founded a small production company with a few friends, where they created short films together.^[5] He worked in film for about five years before discovering that music was his passion. His cousin, who frequented nightclubs, brought him tapes whenever he came to town. These tapes showed Solomun that there is more to music than just commercial radio.^[7] From then on, he started purchasing vinyl records, and eventually playing at House of Youth at the age of 16 for other teenagers.^[8] After taking a break from music, he started producing and creating music at the age of 23.^[9]

For about one year before he began producing on his own, he learned from a good friend that ran a hip-hop label.^[5]

In 2005, Solomun began producing music, founding the record label Diynamic in late 2005 with his partner Adriano Trolio,^[10] who manages the booking for Diynamic.^[11] The motto for Diynamic is "Do It Yourself".^[12]" Eventually, Solomun met H.O.S.H. in 2006 and that is when Diynamic kicked into full force.^[13] Solomun's first EP on Diynamic, Solomun EP, came out in 2006.^[14] Since then, he has released many other EPs and compilations, as well as the 2009 album Dance Baby.^[15] In December 2010 he launched a second label, the more experimental 2DIY4.^[16]

In 2011, Solomun remixed Noir & Haze's "Around.^[17]" The track was dubbed Remix of the Year by Resident Advisor.^[18] He was named Mixmag's "DJ of the Year" in 2012,^[19] which is when his rise in popularity soared to new heights.^[20] He was also awarded Producer of the Year by the DJ Awards in Ibiza,^[3] and Best International DJ by the Cool Awards in Brazil that same year.^[21]

Solomun kicked off the Ibiza 2013 season by presiding over the Burn Studios Residency bootcamp.^[22]

Until the end of June 2014, he owned the Hamburg-based club Ego, co-run by his sister and Adriano Trolio.^[23]

Solomun's musical roots are in hip-hop, soul, funk, and R&B.^[24] His sound has been described as "house music, but with deep, ultra funky basslines, euphoric melodies and emotionally charged vocals".^[25]

In 2015, he was holding two residencies on Ibiza, at night-clubs Pacha and Destino.^[26]

Solomun kicked off 2016 with two events at The BPM Festival including Diynamic in the Jungle^[27] and Solomun +1 with Mano Le Tough.^[28] Following that, the Bosnian artist continued touring across North America.^[29] The Diynamic family then celebrated ten years at Watergate in Berlin on April 9, 2016,^[30] which they followed with a ten-year celebration at DC-10 in Ibiza on August 19, 2016.^[31]

Solomun also hosted two residencies in Ibiza, Spain, in 2016—Solomun +1 at Pacha^[32] and Solomun +1 live at Ushuaia and Destino.^[33] He has played at events like Ultra Europe,^[34] Exit Festival,^[35] Melt! Festival,^[36] Tomorrowland,^[37] and Movement Croatia^[38] in 2016 and 2017, also in Hungexpo in 2018.^[39]

In 2018, Solomun played himself as an in-residence DJ for the videogame Grand Theft Auto Online, as part of the After Hours DLC.^[40] Additionally, Solomun's music video for "Customer is King" ^[41] was made entirely within Grand Theft Auto V's in-game engine as part of a larger collaboration between him and Rockstar Games.^[42]

Industry awards

Solomun performing live in Sarajevo in August 2019

Discography

See also

• Similar artists from former Yugoslavia: UMEK (SLO) Mike Vale (SLO), Ilija Djokovic (SRB), Rub A Dub (BiH), Flojd Covic (BiH), Zlatinchi (BiH), Sinisa Tamamovic (BiH), Mladen Tomic (BiH), Forniva (BiH), Andrew Meller (SRB).

References