DJs in the spotlight

Felix Jaehn 

Felix Jaehn achieved international renown for their 2015 remix of OMI’s song “Cheerleader”, which topped the charts in many countries. “I got it into my head that I wanted to become a DJ and producer. I don’t want an ordinary office job, I want to spend every day of my life fulfilling my dream,” the DJ told 360 Magazine. Once Jaehn had achieved their goal, the musician’s transformation and self-discovery phase began. This resulted in 2024 in the album “Breathe”. It reflects Jaehn’s personal journey, the message to the listener being that it’s okay to let go and to embrace who you are. 

Jaehn came out as bisexual in 2018 and in 2024 identified as non-binary. Though Jaehn now wants to be known privately as Fee, they haven’t changed their DJ name of Felix Jaehn. To increase the visibility of queer and LGBTQIA individuals in the music industry, Jaehn is in the process of establishing their own label. 

DJ Gigola 

Paulina Schulz, better known as DJ Gigola, is an up-and-coming DJ and producer from Berlin. She is renowned for her innovative sets that blend techno, trance and gabber. As part of the international artist collective “Live From Earth”, DJ Gigola is a breath of fresh air in the techno scene.  

In DJ Gigola’s view, electro is not the sort ofmusic that immediately gets people in party mood. “The music puts you into a sort of trance-like state. You let yourself go, accompanied by the rhythm,” she explains in an interview with German magazine Spiegel Online. She also believes that you cannot reproduce a good DJ set, explaining that the skill lies in playing a track at precisely the moment when it will bring the mood on the dancefloor to boiling point. Describing her genre mix, DJ Gigola says: “It’s like combining a football jersey with suit trousers and wearing them with platform shoes.”  

Robin Schulz 

Robin Schulz is loved by millions of fans worldwide for his distinctive blend of deep house and pop. His breakthrough came in 2014 with a remix of Mr. Probz's “Waves”, which topped the charts in numerous countries. It was followed by hits such as “Sugar”, “Sun Goes Down” and “Speechless”. Schulz, who is from the city of Osnabrück, is now one of Germany’s best-known DJs. In August 2023 he presented his alter ego KOPPY. That same month, he released “Atlantis”, a single featuring the purple cat. 

Anyone wishing to experience Robin Schulz live should keep an eye on the line-ups at European festivals. Robin Schulz is one of the DJs who appear regularly at numerous music festivals, such as Parookaville at Weeze airport, Starlite Festival in Marbella or World Club Dome in Frankfurt am Main. 

ZEDD 

Anton Zaslavski, known around the world as Zedd, was born in the former Soviet Union in 1989 and grew up in Kaiserslautern in Germany. He discovered his love for music as a child, playing the piano and later the drums. He emigrated to the US in 2012 and pursued a career in the music industry. As a DJ he has collaborated with superstars like Katy Perry, the Black Eyed Peas and Ariana Grande. Together with Lady Gaga, Zedd produced songs for her fourth studio album, which was released in 2013, and toured with her as a DJ and support act on her “Born This Way Ball Tour”. In 2014, he picked up a Grammy for Best Dance Recording of the year for “Clarity”, one of the tracks on his eponymous first album. 

After nearly a decade, August 2024 will see the release of Zedd’s second album “Telos”. Together with singer and actor Bea Miller, he will be embarking on a tour of the US in September and October.