5 Minutes With… Nhan Solo
Nhan Solo is a man who has really left his mark on the Electronic music scene of late. His successful Berlin imprint Mother Recordings is regularly filling the Beatport charts and has an unquestionable deep house sound. Now with his own release ‘Magic Land’ having just dropped, we caught up with him to delve a little more in what maketh the man behind the sounds…
How did you first get into dance music, what labels and parties were you into?
I first felt in love with house in the early 00’s. I come from a small town in lower Bavaria with an amazing landscape, fresh air but no club scene what so ever. The next big city was Munich, so that’s where I went on the weekends. Mostly to warehouse parties in an defunct airport or the notorious Ultraschall club. It was the late nineties / early zero years with the rave movement still in full swing but you could feel that it had peaked a long time ago. So for me house was the new, fresh thing.
And when did you decide to pursue a career in it?
At that point when people started offering me money for DJing instead of chasing me around the club with a baseball bat. 
How long till you started DJing and making music, what gear did you have, how did you fund it?
Stepping up to become a DJ came from my interest in Hip Hop, scratching and collecting records so from there one thing led to another. It took me a looong time as a young kid saving money for two Technics 1210 turntables and a mixer… I got into it from the DJ- mixing side of things using Ableton and worked my way into the details from there. Let´s say I consider myself part of the new-school house movement. I produce most of my stuff with a laptop, a bunch of software and plugins.
How would you describe your own sound and DJ style? What do you aim to achieve in the studio and booth?
I always aim to transport a sparkling energetic vibe on the dancefloor. But my sound never really becomes too dark or introverted, me quite the positive thinking guy. I would describe my sound as good feel House!
What made you start your label, what gap was it plugging? What sound did you want to push?
We are collective of friends and music aficionados from the foot of the Kreuzberg mountain in Berlin and together felt that the time was right to start our own thing. The actual impulse was to create a platform that gives us the freedom to release the music that we create, a sort of playground for friends that has taken the shape of an independent House label. Mother Recordings stands for a certain type of savor and we’re definitely not another digital label. We continue to put out vinyl, even if it’s just to please the dinosaurs, hahaha… All of this is important to us and our fans are feeling it too. The feedback so far has been amazingly positive and that gives us the spur to raise the bar even further. We do release and want to push high quality club music. 
You have worked wth some big vocalist before now – what that like? How different is it working with vocals when in the studio?
I am very lucky as longtime fan to have had the opportunity to work with a bunch of amazing vocalists in the past couple of years as Cari Golden, Stee Downes, Kurtis Blow etc. I could not be more proud to have worked with all of them. In terms of the production process, each artist presents different challenges and bring different qualities so I approach each session with an open mind. These days technology allows us to collaborate on music from different sides of the earth which is just amazing when you stop and think about it.
What lyrical content should house music have – should it be socially or politically motivated or more fun and playful?
The good thing about house music is there are no boundaries so everyone has the freedom to do what they feel. You can also present a lot with a small vocal or just one hook line, it doesn’t need to follow a verse / chorus structure. But also don’t need lyrics to spread your message with this medium, you just need to present a vibe.
What are some of your favourite vocal house jams from over the years and why?
Ouch that´s a tough one, there are sooo many good jams out there.
Marhall Jefferson – Move Your Body, Daft Punk – Around The World, Donna Summer – I Feel Love…. just to name a few.
How do you like to relax away from music and spent your money?
I like food, sun and ocean. Long talks and long drinks, hanging with family and friends is quality time, yeeeah.
What are the best and worst things about your job?
Being around interesting people and being able to create something within a collective context. Also the aspect to traveling around the globe and not setting into a routine (yet). I hope I can keep up a healthy work-live-balance-. Negative aspects? What do you mean? Sex-Drug & Rave’n Roll? Since when is that a bad thing
Nhan’s ‘Magic Land’ is out now on his imprint Mother Recordings
Grab it here – https://www.beatport.com/release/magic-land/1756382
