Sam Paganini

Italian DJ and producer Sam Paganini is perhaps most well known for a single release, which both brought the artist success in popular culture, defined his voice, and became somewhat of a definitive track for the wider dance music genre. The track we’re talking about, of course, is “Rave,” released in 2014 on Adam Beyer’s Drumcode Records as part of Paganini’s debut full-length album ‘Satellite.’ “Rave” reached the Beatport Techno Top 10, where it stayed for a whopping six months, and still garners millions of plays on streaming services to this day.

Despite the wide-reaching and meteoric success of “Rave,”however, Paganini was far from an unknown before the track’s release. In fact, the artist has been a tastemaker in dance music since the 90s, especially following the release of his “Zoe,” shared in 1996 under his frequent onstage moniker, Paganini Traxx.

These early successes led to support from techno legends including Richie Hawtin, who gave Paganini’s music a home on his Plus8 label, Moby, who selected Paganini’s 2013 track, “Polyester,” for a curated playlist, and of course, Adam Beyer, who has not only shared many Paganini releases on Drumcode, but even remixed “Rave” himself. In addition to his high-impact singles and collaborations, Paganini also has an impressive amount of full-length albums to his name, including 2021’s ‘Light + Shadow,’ 2020’s ‘Reflections,’ and many more.

Sam Paganini’s signature take on techno has led to a slew of impressive gigs across the world. Based in Italy, the DJ and producer has performed at festivals like Marseille, France’s Utopia Festival, Bogotà, Colombia’s BAUM Festival, and San Diego’s Crssd Festival. He’s also graced the same stage as Carl Cox as part of Cox’s takeover at Brooklyn’s Avant Gardner, and headlined shows at venues including Toronto’s NØMAD, Madrid’s Fabrik, and Sao Paulo’s D-Edge. Paganini is also an Ibiza regular, playing sets at Amnesia, specifically through their popular series, Pyramid.