published on
Sometimes the darkest feelings provide, in a painful paradox, the biggest of pleasures.
The DJ and producer Insolate demonstrates the truth of this analysis by producing rough & dark techno infused with emotion inspired by her 20 years as a DJ.
Hailing from Osijek, Croatia, on the wide Croatian East – a town that at first glance a heavy industrial atmosphere overshadows - this is where she made first steps as a DJ back in 1997 before taking over European and worldwide clubs.
She's already played some of the world’s most renowned clubs including Berghain, Rex, Tresor, Under Club, Club d’Anvers, Unter, Exit Festival, Tomorrowland, ADE and Dimensions Festival plus numerous Colombian tours over the years and USA tour and Argentina added to the list in 2018.
As a producer, she's had a string of releases on highly respected labels including DJ Deep's Deeply Rooted, Marcelus’s Singular and Developer’s Modularz - supported and played by some of techno's finest including Laurent Garnier, DVS1, Dax J and Ilario Alicante. This year, she also released the stellar Obscure Object Of Desire EP on JoeFarr's new User Experience imprint, two original tracks that stroke the perfect balance between groove, power and emotion. She also contributed to Ben Sim’s compilation Tribology among giants as Planetary Assault Systems, Oscar Mulero, Steffi etc. and also made super interesting collaboration with french producer Arnaud le Texier and released EP with him for Prodigal Son.
Insolate is also a major contributor to the Croatian techno scene, so much so that she was in Ibiza to receive the award for "Dance Nation of the Year" at the DJ Awards on behalf of her nation. Her and long-time partner in crime Volster also run the event series TRAUM in her native Osijek. Not traditionally a city with a strong techno scene, the TRAUM events have cemented their place in the clubbing calendar with quality artists like Paula Temple, Antigone, Cassegrain, Janice, Etapp Kyle and Milton Bradley.
The success of the TRAUM nights caught the attention of Red Bull Music Academy and Dimensions – both of which they have hosted official events for. Insolate being an international messenger of techno was recognised by Ambassador award that gave her a title "Croatia’s ambassador overseas" for 2017.
The final part of putting Osijek on the techno map was taken in 2015 with the launch of the label Out Of Place which Insolate runs with Volster. The label was named in honour of the beautiful struggle of carving your own way into the scene from a place that's well off the grid from the traditional capitals of techno. Now three releases strong, the label has already had contributions from heavyweights like Milton Bradley and Developer. Label is currently on the 4th edition with a new release coming out in summer 2018 including artists Francois X, JoeFarr and Disrupted Project.
As a DJ, Insolate is well known for her no-compromise, pure-bred techno sets. It's clear to anyone who's seen her perform that she's an artist with a lot of experience but also plenty of inspiration and ambition, and a deep knowledge of techno. She is simply a natural presence in a DJ booth. If you've seen her play, you will know exactly what this means.
- Genre
- Techno