D&B in Focus: Sol Pillars

DJ and producer Sol Pillars is at the forefront of South Africa’s D&B underground. Since he first discovered the genre at a weekly Johannesburg club night in 2014, he’s remained dedicated to exploring every corner of the genre, mining its potential to touch on the full range of human emotions. Today, the Sciencefrikshun and Addictshun resident chats about his early influences, South Africa’s thriving D&B scene and his ambitions for the future.

D&B in Johannesburg

Just like many D&B heads in South Africa, Sol’s early foray into the genre was through the weekly club night Addictshun. He grew up on the east side of Johannesburg and started exploring the city’s underground culture as a teen, first through street parties, then techno nights and then D&B. “I discovered D&B when I was 17, right at the end of high school,” he says. “I loved all the different types of people with their own vibe coming together, and it was my first time hearing a Void Acoustic sound system as well.”

After that, Sol was hooked. He became immersed in the community, and with their encouragement started learning how to DJ. He was already comfortable performing as he’d been a guitarist in bands before, so DJing was a natural evolution.

Sol’s first D&B gig was in a tiny bar in the north of Johannesburg, which caught the attention of the Addictshun crew, and he started playing at their events. Addictshun is all about getting as many people as possible involved in the scene, so the community grew quickly, with the sense of inclusivity drawing people in.

SA’s Underground

In South Africa, Drum & Bass is most popular in Johannesburg and Cape Town. “It’s picked up a lot of momentum in the last five years or so,” Sol says. “Cape Town has one of the longest standing brands in D&B - It Came From The Jungle – they’ve been going for 17 years.”

They’re hosted in a new warehouse venue called Alley, fitted out with Void Acoustics and an unparallelled lighting set up. Meanwhile, Johannesburg’s stand out club nights include Cherch and Propaganda.

“Sciencefrikshun is my crew,” Sol says. “Their nights are at a venue called And Club which is more known for techno. Cherch usually have their nights in warehouse clubs, with incredible custom light shows they change up every year.”

Sol says that South Africa is spoiled for choice when it comes to world class venues and state-of-the-art sound systems, and the music is unique. “There's a lot of influences, not just from overseas, but also from within,” he says. “There’s tons of genres that are really prominent in the country, like house music and psy-trance and techno, so it’s a vibrant landscape. Our dance floors are very energetic and uplifting, so it's an exciting place to be.”

Just with all D&B scenes, the community is a diverse bunch with a good mix of men and women. There’s the youngsters of course, in their late teens and twenties, who are discovering the genre for the first time, and there are people in their 30s, 40s and beyond enjoying the scene. “The scene in South Africa is very welcoming, you can be whatever you want without fear of judgment or persecution,” Sol says.

Productions and Residencies

Since he released his first track in 2020, Sol’s built a reputation as an explorative and emotive producer. He’s released tracks and EPs on labels such as Bay 6 Recordings, Calibrate Records, Rubricate, Modular Carnage and Propaganda011, and played some of the country’s biggest festivals. His residencies on Sciencefrikshun and Addictshun, two of SA’s biggest club nights, have only cemented his sound and motivated him to continue.

“Sciencefrikshun really allowed me to experiment, hone my sound and develop my technical skills,” Sol says. “I’ve played on the same line-ups as big international artists but what’s important to me is being able to perform regularly and build a name for myself that way.”

Sol is building a mini D&B empire. He runs 1-on-1 production lessons under his Soul Link Music label, and just launched his own event series called Open Signal, with their first event taking place on 13th December at Hexagon in Cape Town.

Sol recently moved from Johannesburg to Cape Town, with big plans to release eight original tracks in the coming year, many on his own label. Sol hopes to release the first tune before the end of 2024 and use it as a launch pad to share music from other artists. “I want to own my own music, put out what I want without having to fit in another labels’ sound, and start a platform for other artists in South Africa,” he says.