Press Articles
& Downloads
Vail Daily News - DJ Solomon brings his �Pop Turntablism� to Vail
25 Feb 2009 by Nicole Inglis
VAIL, Colorado � DJ Solomon�s first gig was a middle school dance. Now, 20 years later, this San Francisco-based DJ specializes in what he calls �Pop Turntablism� � an emerging genre known as mashup that fuses scratching, beat juggling, word play and live remixing with an eclectic mix of funk, soul, hip hop and rock tracks. Hear the result at Samana Lounge in Vail on Wednesday night when DJ Solomon performs a free show.
Vail Daily: How did you get started in the music business?
DJ Solomon: My parents actually met playing music � they were playing in different groups. So I always say that I was destined to do music from the beginning. I started playing a lot of different instruments when I was young. Violin, cello, sax, piano ... but nothing really stuck. When I was10 years old I played bass with a band, but I used to watch the DJs on MTV and think it was the coolest gig ever.
My first gigs as a DJ were 7th and 8th grade dances with a tape deck and CD player. I got on to some turntables when I was about 15 and started buying records and making mixtapes. I would just go up to people at house parties and ask them if they wanted a DJ. I was always really excited about it. When I got to college I realized I could make some money doing it � more than I could playing bass in a band.
VD: Who are your musical influences?
DS: I�ve always been into anything funky and soulful like James Brown and Stevie Wonder. Almost all modern dance music has its roots in funk and soul. And a lot of tracks are directly sampled from a lot of those old artists. I�ve always had a place in my heart for rock, and I spent some time going to raves and listening to house music. Lucky for me, hip hop and house music merged together and club music started going in that direction. Now you have guys rapping basically over house music.
VD: Your mixes are sometimes described as �mashup.� What does that term mean?
DS: Well that term kind of came from guys making these pre-produced tracks. They are usually ironically brought together, like a rap song layered over �I Love Rock �n Roll,� or something. It�s a little different than what I do so it�s a little bit (misleading). But DJs like AM and Z-Trip really changed the game in the club scene because people aren�t into one genre of music anymore. Now it�s like all these genres have bled together. Now you have the iTunes generation who will hear a song they like and go online and buy it.
VD: How has evolving technology changed the DJ game?
DS: It�s good and it�s bad. The DJ technology is doing amazing things but it has made it very accessible. Fourteen years ago you had to buy turntables and spend thousands of dollars and build a record collection over time. But now any Joe Schmoe with a laptop can E-bay a pre-loaded hard drive of music and you can�t tell who is actually live mixing and who is just pressing play on an iPod. Unfortunately, we end up competing with them. It�s changed so much now. But all of the talent will rise to the surface regardless, though.
VD: What makes a DJ talented?
DS: One of the marks of a good DJ is adaptability. You develop a skill set that helps you learn how to read a crowd. When you travel to a different city around the country or around the world, you have no idea what to expect � you don�t know what they�ve been listening to or what�s on the radio. But you�re formulating your own set around what you think might work. We use tester songs to see what might go over well. But then you have these DJs who just push �on� and play this set and that�s all they can do. That makes it all the more frustrating for those who have spent years getting the industry where it is when you have these guys who don�t see the value in putting effort into their craft.
VD: What are the aspects of DJing that you focus on in a live setting?
DS: People who grew up watching scratch DJs, like me, their set relies on the technical aspects like beat juggling, scratching and live mixing. I came from a musical side of things so I appreciated that aspect more. But then you have some guys who have great programming and blending skills, the ability to blend songs together and bring the audience up and down. I like to think of it as a union of the two � house and technique � using the technical skills in a live dance setting.
VD: You�ve been the resident DJ for the Golden State Warriors for a while now. What are the ups and downs of that gig?
DS: I�m in my ninth full season with the Golden State Warriors. When it first started, it was a really huge deal to me. I really put a lot of emphasis to use it as a stepping stone. Unfortunately, our team doesn�t have the greatest prowess in the NBA these last few years. It�s not a Lakers-type dynasty. There was one record company rep � I think it was Motown � I told him I was the DJ for the Golden State Warriors (and) he said, �Is that a college team?� But sold-out games have 20,000 people there. They put me on camera a lot so it�s a good exercise in the performance aspect. And when they�re winning, it�s a great thing to be a part of.
If you go ...
Who: DJ Solomon
When: Wednesday, 10 p.m.
Where: Samana Lounge, Vail
Cost: Free
More information: Call 970-476-3433
Download Image
Download File
Serato Scratch Live World Wide Add Campaign - Respect World Wide
26 Nov 2008 by Serato Scratch Live
The following Image is a Serato Scratch live print add that is being featured in dj magazines world wide. The add is the 2nd part in a series of adds, along with dj solomon, this version of the add features the likes of Steve Aoki, Junior Sanchez, Faust & Shortee and Felix da Housecat to name a few.
Download Image
Download File
San Diego City Beat - Our picks of this week's events
8 Jan 2008 by Kinsee Morlan and friends
NIGHTLIFE
Mash it up
There have been some recent backlashes against what people in the music world call “mashups,” but don’t let that deter you, my friends. Yes, blending songs together until they become one entirely new, funkier and more danceable song has been done and done again, but that doesn’t mean they’re not interesting. Be a rebel, be a trouper, or, better yet, be an admitted fan and stop in at Confidential, 901 Fourth Ave., Downtown, for a magical blend of scratching, remixing, funk, soul, hip-hop and good ol’ rock ’n’ roll by Bay Area mashup master DJ Solomon. The set starts after 9 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 12. www.confidentialsd.com or 619-696-8888.
This article can be seen online Here!
Download Image
Download File
San Francisco Bay Guardian - Careers and Ed: Paid to party
8 Aug 2007 by Molly Freedenberg
For some of us, playing is an escape from work. But for a lucky few, playing is their work. Sound like fun? It is, say the professional partyers we interviewed. But it's still ... well ... work. Below are full interviews with Juanita More, Justin Morgan, DJ Solomon, Nicole Cronin, Andie Grace, Lisa Hix, and Syd Gris -- all people whose job it is to make you forget yours.
...
DJ SOLOMON
www.djsolomon.net
www.myspace.com/djsolomon
San Francisco Bay Guardian: What do you do and what are your primary duties?
DJ Solomon: I am a full time DJ. I have been the Resident DJ for the Golden State Warriors NBA team for the past 7 years. I have worked in almost every venue in San Francisco, and aside from San Francisco nightclubs, I work all over the West coast; I regularly play in San Diego, Las Vegas, Sacramento, and Phoenix, and recently played in Miami, New York, Chicago, Detroit, and even Macau China.
SFBG: Is this your primary form of income? If not, how else do you make money?
DS: This is my primary form of income.
SFBG: What's the best part of your job?
DS: I
Download Image
Download File
Inc Magazine - How to Kill a Great Idea...
1 Jun 2007 by Max Chafkin
Below is an excerpt from the above article which mentions Slide and DJ Solomon:
..."Slide is located in an expansive basement next to one of San Francisco's biggest nightclubs. The name refers to its entrance: a spiral playground slide that patrons ride down into the bar. It's late in the afternoon when I arrive. The empty space is dark and hazy. Abrams gets up from a meeting with his partners and walks me to the far corner. We sit down in one of the deep oversized booths, which give the place the feel of a 1920s speakeasy. A crew sets up the stage for the night's entertainment, a turntablist called DJ Solomon.
As he leans back, tucking his legs under his knees in a yogalike pose, Abrams cuts the figure of someone far younger than his 37 years. Face fashionably unshaven, he sports a Puma track jacket, a black T-shirt, designer jeans, and a slight paunch. A waitress outfitted in a flapper costume--an evanescent white skirt over black leggings--serves us designer water while bizarre jazz reworkings of pop standards like Michael Jackson's "Beat It" play through the sound system."
Ask Abrams what he's learned and you're confronted with a torrent of mea culpas, disclaimers, and recriminations from a man who is at once bitter and resigned. "I take responsibility," he says. "I was naive. I thought these big-shot guys were going to help Friendster." His biggest regret, he says, was turning the company over to Silicon Valley's best and brightest. As Friendster sputtered, Abrams says, he suppressed his entrepreneurial instincts, keeping quiet when he probably should have been lashing out.
With Socializr, Abrams is doing what he would have done at Friendster if he'd stayed in control. "Friendster was never finished--it was a prototype that I stopped having the ability to develop," he says. Like Evite, Socializr helps concert promoters, bars, and anyone else who likes to host gatherings invite people to their events. Abrams hopes that lay users who receive invitations through Socializr will create profile pages on the service as well, which could develop into a full-fledged social network.
When you sign up--a process that takes a minute or so--Socializr offers to troll the Internet for things like your MySpace profile, your Flickr photos, and your LiveJournal blog, and automatically builds a profile that aggregates all of this information. Because this content is stored on other people's websites, bandwidth, processing, and storage costs are relatively low. "Now that there are 100 people who have copied my ideas with Friendster, being the 101st social networking site is silly," he says. "I'm building a product that can integrate with those sites." The software remains in development but has already earned some good reviews. "This wasn't designed by people eager to get in on the game," wrote a blogger for Wired.com. "It was designed by a crew of people who have been playing the game since the beginning."...
Download Image
Download File
SF Weekley - Best Place to Get Your Mash On
21 May 2007 by SF Weekly
Best Place to Get Your Mash On
Slide
430 Mason (at Geary), 421-1916,
http://www.slidesf.com
Wednesday nights, musician Chris Clause and DJ Solomon create a musical mash-up that makes the scenesters groove. Evenings are started off active as clubgoers shoot down a giant slide right into the bar (unless you're wearing a dress or a skirt, then it's stairs for you!), and an array of DJs keeps the well-groomed crowd shaking it until the wee hours. Gents, here's a tip: There are more chicks here than dudes. Bottle service and an ample dance floor distinguish Slide from many of the other cramped dance venues in San Francisco, which makes it a great place to take friends from out of town if they are missing Los Angeles, or for locals who want something a little bit different. Cozy couches and lavish d
Download File
Ovahere.com - Profile: The DJ for Golden State Warriors (DJ Solomon)
3 May 2007 by J. Shizz
Profile: The DJ for Golden State Warriors (DJ Solomon)
Article by J. Shizz
May 3, 2007 -
With Warriors magical run into the post season, many NBA observers have marveled at the intensity of the Bay Area fan base and, to a lesser extent, how the sound tech
Download Image
Download File
Remix Magazine - Safe and Sound
1 Apr 2007 by Ean Golden
As a kid, my ultimate fears used to be about giant, purple polka-dotted monsters under the bed or accidentally showing up to school without pants on. Now that I am a big kid with big, expensive toys, my slumbers are interrupted by an entirely different kind of recurring nightmare: somebody stealing my DJ laptop. It's safe to say the laptop has become like a baby; even with all the data safely backed up, you can't help but worry about where it is at all times. Laptops have made DJing on the road for extended periods of time more feasible and significantly more fun. The only problem is that all this expensive gear has brought with it a host of new worries when traveling. To help ease the mind, I asked a few top DJs who travel extensively with laptops for tips or tricks they have learned to keep laptops secure and make traveling with digital gear as smooth as possible.
WEIGHT WATCHERS
Yes, it's insane to complain about the weight of a computer bag when you compare it with the weight of 200 records, but there are lots of ways that you can slim down the size of your digital-DJ bag. Trucking through endless security checks and corridors can get old really fast, so do yourself a favor and cut as much fat as possible. Do you really need those giant Pioneer headphones? Check out some custom in-ear monitors: They sound great, reduce ambient noise and take up far less room. Etymotic Research (etymotic.com) makes several models, including the ER
Download Image
Download File
Casino Travel News - Influence At Studio 54 Brings Down The House In March With Performances By Scooter And Lavelle, And DJ Solomon
21 Mar 2007 by Casino Travel News
Studio 54 at MGM Grand proudly presents "influence," an unforgettable mid-week rendezvous every Tuesday for the restaurant and nightclub industries. Known for its high-energy, influence at Studio 54 offers exclusive service to Las Vegas' most influential people. Guest DJs and celebrity hosts make influence the hottest place to be every Tuesday night.
The March influence line-up includes the unique duo, Scooter and LaVelle, who have perfected the art of spinning four records at once into a seamless sound uniquely their own; Mike Remedy will heat up the crowd before the award-winning DJs take the stage. In addition to local favorites, DJ Vegas Vibe and DJ Leo Teo spinning, DJ Solomon will cap off the month with his signature mashup style. DJ Solomon has recently performed with The Black Eyed Peas, Digital Underground, De La Soul, Ozomotli, Groove Collective, Jurassic 5, Lyrics Born, Patti Labelle, DJ AM and Dan the Automator to name a few.
March 6 DJ Vegas Vibe
March 13 Scooter and LaVelle with opening set by Mike Remedy
March 20 DJ Leo Teo
March 27 DJ Solomon
Located within MGM Grand, Studio 54 opens at 10 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Locals and ladies are complimentary; admission for men is $10 Tuesday through Thursday and $20 Friday and Saturday. Guests must be 21 years or
older. Dress code will be enforced. For information call (702) 891-7254.
Click here for original article
Las Vegas Weekly - Studio 54 Add
1 Mar 2007 by Studio 54
here is a full page add that was printed in the Las Vegas Weekly, the week i played at Studio 54 in the MGM Grand in Vegas last spring.
Download Image
Download File
Web - Grand Opening of Tryst in the Wynn, Macau with dj solomon
9 Jan 2007 by Destination Macau Report
This is a video journal of the Grand Opening of the Tryst Nightclub in the Wynn in Macau China. Chris Clouse and I were the headlining entertainment for the evening. Check out the video.
Serato Scratch Live Website - Dj's using Scratch Live
22 Nov 2006 by SSL
Check out my featured dj page on Serato Scratch Live's website, HERE, along with a bunch of other djs i really respect.
Remix Magazine - Binary Scratch Article
1 Apr 2006 by Dj Solomon
The digital realm has slowly enveloped the DJ world in the past five years, and the digital DJ is here to stay. However, turntablists
Jetset GingerAle Can - dj solomon gingerale can
14 Feb 2005 by Jetset Energy Drink
"JETSET WOULD LIKE SUPPORT AND CREATE AWARNESS OF TALENTED DJ'S. JETSET WOULD LIKE TO ACKNOWLEGE DJ SOLOMON OF SF"
-WWW.DJSOLOMON.NET
Download Image
7x7 Magazine - Boogie Nights
1 Feb 2005 by Photographed by Chris Mitchell and Morten Kettel
7x7 & Smirnoff Want to acknowledge these talented people for making our nights out great. From intimate club settings to the country's biggest and best dance parties, these people keep San Francisco going through the night.
Download Image
NBC 11 - Dj Solomon, resident dj at the Golden State Warriors
11 Dec 2004 by Scott Lawerence
This was a segment that aired on Sunday Sports, Tech Now and the nightly news, all on NBC 11 (local bay area NBC affiliate), that featured dj solomon and his 6 year residency with the Golden State Warriors NBA team.
Check out the video clip here!
San Francisco Examiner - Weekday Warriors
17 Jun 2003 by SF Examiner Cover
Check out the bottom left of the Examiner cover, this was an article about San Francisco Nightlife, I guess my pic made the cover.
Download Image
All content copyright ©2000-2010 DJ Solomon. Some rights reserved.