Jimbo James
We’re hitting this 69 position Solo… Nhan Solo! A busy Berlinite is pourin’ out music and running a label we praise deeply — Mother Recordings — Nhan’s saving the Republic one house track at a time. The list of producers and remixers on Nhan’s imprint is the Mother of all rosters (pun intended), including: Daniel Dexter, The Revenge, El_Txef_A, and Andre Crom. As a house DJ stemming from the skatebaording hip-hop era, Nhan keeps it groovy. This past summer, his ‘Don’t Stop’ EP, out on Mousse T.’s label, Peppermint Jam, featured hip-hop legend Kurtis Blow; and his collaboration EP ‘Steam’ between Nhan, Purple Disco Machine, and Superlover on Mother Recordings is holding strong on Beatport’s Top 100 Deep House chart. Press play on this week’s Lovecast and see what upgrades to the Millennium Falcon Nhan Solo has planned for 2015 in the interview below.
Connect with Nhan Solo:
FACEBOOK
SOUNDCLOUD
TWITTER
BEATPORT
Interview with Nhan Solo:
Tell us about your musical background. Did you play any instruments growing up? When and how did you get into house music and DJing?
Hello Music is 4 Lovers! I don’t have a classical-music background as such but I’ve been taking piano lessons for a while now — I’ve noticed that it helps me to push creative boundaries — it’s great fun too. Also, I believe that continuous training never hurt anybody.
I come from a skateboarding and crossover, funk, hip-hop background and first fell in love with house in the early 2000’s. For me, house is a progression of hip-hop instrumentals pitched to 120+ bpm with the same samples twitched into funky loops. The feeling for house music was always there: this sense of being part of a collective with moral values that transcends a mere look or taste. It’s all about family and looking out for each other. That’s what I learned in my younger days as a skater and that’s what I rediscovered in the house movement some years later.
Stepping up to become a DJ came from my interest in scratching and collecting records, so from there one thing led to another. Oh yes, if using the decks counts as playing an instrument, or not? 😉
Describe the music scene where you live now?
It’s been living in Berlin a while now — it’s where I found my groove. I’ve made great friends here and after a decade it still never bores me. In a city of 5 million people the music scene is huge and yet it’s easy to comprehend. One moves about in certain circles where people know and respect each other. The really great thing about this town is that you can meet great DJ colleagues from all over the world. Almost every day I meet great DJs in clubs such as Panorama Bar, Watergate, or Ritter Butzke. The artistic exchange, input and breeding grounds are very fruitful because a lot of artists set up shop here. The surroundings are almost perfect for me. My booking agency JACKMODE, my PR agency JOUN, my record label MOTHER RECORDINGS and many of our artists such as Daniel Dexter, Dilby, Kyodai, Kevin Knapp, and Superlover all have their domicile here so it’s all eeeasy.
We think Nhan Solo is one of the best names in the industry — Where does it come from?
Why, thank you! Were it comes from is anybody’s guess – not! As you all can divine, I’m a huge science fiction and Star Wars fan; and since my parents named me Nhan, for real, the combination is kind of obvious. I also like the phonetic ring, and of course Han’s the coolest dude on the outer rim! hahaha!
Fill us in on your upcoming tour — What places and/or parties are you most excited about visiting and playing for?
The year’s almost over but I’m doing another South America tour in November (Panama, Mexico and Ecuador) and then it’s off to my first Asia tour (Bali, China, South Korea). Terribly excited about the Asia tour because I surf and never have been to Bali! So far this year, the Lost Beach Club in Montanita blew my mind! The whole team from Global Unity Movement is super professional. The club had a 100k Funktion-One sound system and the amazingly open and enthusiastic crowd was stunning. What better ways to treat an after-party hangover than some tasty fresh fish, coconut water and a session of riding the waves – one feels like a new born!
What’s the future look like for Nhan Solo? Any forthcoming releases you’ll be bumpin’ in the Millennium Falcon you can tell us about?
Currently, a collaboration with the amazing Cari Golden, and a rework with Purple Disco Machine was just released on Mother Recordings — both received very positive feedback so I’m happy and grateful for that. I also started a project with my buddy Dilby and we’re about to finish off the first four tracks, which sound massive! Can’t talk about the label situation here because it’s still not sealed yet but it is going to be biiiig!
On my label, Mother Recordings, I still aim to raise the quality bar from release to release. I still put out copies on vinyl because it’s dear to my heart and we don’t want to be just another digital label. So as you can see, the Millennium Falcon is already nicely loaded for 2015 and I’m looking very much forward to it.
It’s a pleasure adding you to our Lovecast roster — Can you describe the mix you’ve concocted for us?
The pleasure and honor is all mine. The podcast includes tracks from friends and artists I respect and support with pleasure. Some exclusives here and there as well. I would say it reflects my understanding of proper dance music and the energy of a club night. It’s tunes for the hip, so hit the play button and let’s gooooooo!
Drink of choice?
My favorite drink is fresh coconut water, unfortunately not always available. Otherwise I can always go for a “Dark And Stormy” or “Mojito” – I simply love that stuff. Thanks for the interview!
– jams