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Subscribe to DJ Mag TV: Watch more streams from Be-At-TV here: Mladen Solomun is a big chap. A big, bearded Balkan bombshell with a penchant for mashing up epic strings and sprawling synth-scapes with the odd hip-hop classic. In the past five years, he's risen from underground mainstay to something a bit more pivotal than that in the worldwide dance music scene, through his labels Diynamic and 2Diy4, some savvy, profile-heavy remix work — Lana Del Rey, anyone? — and gathering a crew of like-minded and talented artists around him. Born in Bosnia — his Balkan father wanted his first-born son to be delivered in his home country — he was raised in Hamburg, immersing himself first in filmmaking, and then in music. These days he's touring the globe with his extended crew — the likes of ., Stimming, Kollektiv Turmstrasse and Daniel August. Why it's happened, he can't say. But he's doing something right. DJ Mag speaks to him about pimps, parties, meeting Robert Plant and his desire to one day play in his home country... The past few years have seen a huge upsurge in your profile. Why do you think that has been? “Maybe this is a question that others can answer better than myself. It wasn’t planned, that’s what I can say. Because I don’t think that you can really plan such things. So it must have been kind of the momentum, I guess. I've been DJing for almost 15 years, then 10 years ago we founded Diynamic, and you are right, around three, four years ago it started to become bigger and bigger with every year. I think it’s a combination of a few things. I can’t reduce it to one thing, but I think that Ibiza played an important role in this.” But were there maybe gigs or releases that helped gather pace? “My remixes got some awareness at an early stage, or also the track 'Kackvogel' that I produced more or less just for fun for the Watergate compilation. With the help of the video, it really got a big push and became No.1 of the overall Beatport charts. Then the awards from Mixmag and DJ, or of course my 'Around' remix (for Noir & Haze) which gained a lot of attention. Our Diynamic parties became bigger and bigger, we started to do our first festivals, then Ibiza happened. Honestly, sometimes I ask myself how this all could happen. Because I just do my thing and am looking forward to the next projects, gigs or studio sessions.” I remember interviewing you a few years ago, when things around Diynamic, you, . and Stimming were first getting heat. How are things with your core crew? I guess you're all doing pretty well now? “I feel really blessed because I always wanted to work and have fun with friends and family. All members of the Diynamic family are successful, everybody is doing their thing — under the wings of the mothership Diynamic. When we started our first DIY parties in Hamburg it was already a family business and today it still is. And yes, all members of Diynamic family are doing really well. . and Stimming, but also artists like Adriatique, Karmon, David August or Kollektiv Turmstrasse are really having a good time. Or Thyladomid who just released his first album on Diynamic. We were just with half of Website: Top 100 DJs: Facebook: Twitter: Google : SoundCloud: Mixcloud:
