Tel Aviv’s Ran Salman recently caught our attention after we heard his new EP on Nick Warren’s The Soundgarden. With other releases on Einmusika, Steyoyoke, Sincopat, Global Underground – we found out there’s a whole lot more to this guy than we realised!

How old are you, where are you living and how long have you been producing and Djing?

Ran Salman: I’m 34 years old, living in Giva’atiym near Tel Aviv, Israel and I have been producing and DJing since I was 14.

https://soundcloud.com/changeunder/c-u-essentialmix-065-ran-salman

Where do your musical roots lie and what made your get in to dance music?

Ran Salman: Since I was very young I liked music a lot, I started listening to classic rock, some classic Israeli and Arabic music and in the age of 13 I discovered house / dance music CDs and later when I was 14 I started going to nightclubs, since then I started to learn how to DJ and to produce and started playing in local nightclubs in the age of 16, I also was very attracted to World music and produced that for a while – I was a part of duo called ‘Eastern Spirit’ we combined World and Arabic / Dub music with electronic music, Our album ‘Lucid Dreaming’ was released in 2008 and later I started my solo project.

How difficult was learning to produce for you in the beginning? 

Ran Salman: Actually it was super hard, I didn’t have any internet or music schools back then in my country, I’ve started producing on a daw called ScreamTracker and later I used Impulse Tracker, it was all DOS based not even on Windows back then :-) So basically yea I’m self taught though I got some advices and tips from some people I knew but most of what I know I learned by myself, that’s really different comparing to nowadays.. also the gear was very expensive back then.

Talk to us about your latest release and the inspiration behind it.

Ran Salman: The EP is called Butterfly / Nights of Tel Aviv, I produced it when I felt I had enough with “Ethereal Techno” and wanted to create something a bit different, I was very inspired by Tel Aviv, the nightlife and summer time and I think I captured this feeling in the track ‘Nights of Tel Aviv’ same goes to the other track ‘Butterfly’.

What’s the music scene like where you live and how often are you playing?

Ran Salman: The scene is evolving in Israel and I’m happy to represents my region as a musician worldwide, It’s changing a lot as lately I dedicated most of my time for finishing a few EPs between my gigs.

Which other DJs and producers do you admire right now?

Ran Salman: Trikk, Denis Horvat, SBTH, Rampa and Toto Chiavetta.

What are your go to labels?

Ran Salman: I’ve changed my style a lot lately, currently I really like Lossless, AZZUR, Constant Circles to name a few.

How did you end up being signed to Nick Warren’s highly respected The Soungarden label?

Ran Salman: I’ve been following Nick since I was a teenager, literally grew up on his music, I had some chat with him last year and showed him these new tracks, he was interested and I’m really happy to work with him.

Tell us about your live setup 

Ran Salman: I’m also a Live Act, that’s also where my spirt is. I love to combine and experiment with different instruments and create something new with every set, for this I use an electronic drum set, Ableton Live, some midi controller, a midi keyboard and some nice toys.

You can find videos on my YouTube Channel, this is for a example a video of my live act:

What’s been your biggest achievement to date?

Ran Salman: Traveling the world and playing my music in different places to different people and see how much it touches them makes me excited and give me motivation every time. It like sharing some of my deepest emotions, which I am not showing that much in normal life.

What are your aspirations for the future?

Ran Salman: I’m planning to start my own label, change my live-setup to do it more interactive and complex and a currently finishing a lot of good music.

Tell us something about yourself that might surprise people?

Ran Salman: I’m also a developer, currently developing a DJ App, I am the founder of Underground Tel Aviv – an online music magazine and a father to a lovely baby boy named Jonathan!

Join Ran on his socials:

https://www.facebook.com/RanSalmanOfficial
https://soundcloud.com/ransalman
https://www.instagram.com/ran.salman
http://twitter.com/ransalman
http://bit.ly/ranspotify
https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/ran-salman/id311961435
http://beatport.com/artist/ran-salman/87560