Influences: Luke Solomon
Luke Solomon is an artist of development and growth, of reinvention and rejuventaion. His recent output is testimony to that with his collaboration with Jonny Rock and its corresponding remixes taking many by surprise. This has since been followed up with a release on Optimo Trax. His tastes run deep and his music and DJ sets are certainly reflective of that. We caught up with him ahead of his appearance at Night Sheen in Dalston on the 9th of July. Here are his influences…
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I think some of the music that has influenced more than anything else was music I heard in my developing years. I wanted to make a list of music that changed my world in my pre/early teens. I was finding my ears. I like this , I don’t like this. I was only really exposed to pop/crossover music when I lived in Cyprus, nonetheless it was still great pop music. I think this was the first album that I was totally and utterly obsessed with. I listened to it over and over and over. Every single sound, every nuance. It’s amazing how you can hear the silence in it. The hits on the bass notes. The way the vocals sound. Amazing record, amazing album. It has stayed with me from the age of 16 ….
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Van Morrison - Cyprus AvenueI think some of the music that has influenced more than anything else was music I heard in my developing years. I wanted to make a list of music that changed my world in my pre/early teens. I was finding my ears. I like this , I don’t like this. I was only really exposed to pop/crossover music when I lived in Cyprus, nonetheless it was still great pop music. I think this was the first album that I was totally and utterly obsessed with. I listened to it over and over and over. Every single sound, every nuance. It’s amazing how you can hear the silence in it. The hits on the bass notes. The way the vocals sound. Amazing record, amazing album. It has stayed with me from the age of 16 ….
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The Police - Does Everyone StareI remember putting this cassette in my walkman for the first time. I have always gravitated to the less obvious songs on albums, and from artists that I love. Its never been something I have purposely done, it just kind of happens…I guess I was around 12 or 13 at the time. Used my own money to buy this – and again – I remember being obsessed with the sonics.
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Dexy's Midnight Runners - Let's Make This PreciousAnother pocket money purchase. I loved everything about Dexy’s. The gang mentality. The outfits. Kevin’s voice. I felt like I was part of something. This was a band of misfits that didn’t really fit in with what was going on in pop music at that time. I immediately went out and bought dungarees. This led me to Searching for the young Soul Rebels, which was released before this – and that was a proper life changer.
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Prince - Beautiful OnesAnother one that just melted my mind through my walkman. I was young. Hormonal. This was like a lightening strike that changed my world. It was about sex. It was about my body changing. Falling in love. It made me grow up almost immediately. Musically the entire album made me listen with different ears. At this point everything became about Prince. The drums, the dancing, the production. The left of centre song subjects. Everything.
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Michael Jackson - Don't Stop 'Til You Get EnoughI love dancing. Always have. MJ was the one artist that I would watch dance, repeatedly. Amazed. It then became Prince, and MJ. I was fascinated by their rhythm, and how they moved. It made me hear things differently, and that kind of carried across my perception of music. It was a gateway to black music for me. James Brown. The Jacksons. War. The Blackbyrds. This was pandoras box. I never looked back.
