How the birthplace of house music is shaping Miami University’s EDM scene

As the panelists for Up & Up Oxford’s DJ competition met in February to listen to sets submitted by students hoping to open for popular EDM duo Shipwrek. The panelists expected to listen to energetic tracks that amplify rooms and invigorate crowds. They didn’t expect to hear the blasting horns of the FOX NFL theme.

For Andrew Solomon, a sophomore business analytics major, that’s the purpose of being a DJ — picking the right track at the right time, even the unexpected.

Solomon was raised in Chicago, the home of house music and gritty EDM. The city identified and designated a building as the official birthplace of the genre in 2023, and since the 1980s, it has maintained a highly active and competitive scene. For Solomon, his city may have set the stage, but his true education happened in his home.

For his entire upbringing, Solomon remembers being surrounded by DJs. His mother owned old vinyl records and turntable equipment, which she used to mix tracks when she was his age. Friends of Solomon’s family all practiced the art. This gave him a deep interest in the genre and inspired him to explore more on his own.

Solomon began attending music festivals and EDM shows all across Chicago. He never kept his ears away from anything new, making a point of attending events that showcased genres across the spectrum of EDM. After going to enough concerts and understanding the music, he felt called to produce something of his own.

One summer, after learning basic techniques using his mother’s old turntable equipment and vinyl records, he went out and bought a cheap controller and practiced daily at home. It was a low-pressure hobby that brought him joy.

“[I was] just having fun with it, mixing songs that I liked,” Solomon said.

As practice and experimentation continued, he found influences to draw from to develop a signature sound, the same sound that stunned the panelists from Up & Up Oxford. Jake Goudie, co-president of the organization, was extremely impressed by Solomon’s ability to build energy and transition between tracks. Solomon had never popped up on Goudie’s radar before the competition, so he was surprised to hear the level he was operating at right away.

“His set immediately stood out to our team,” Goudie said.

Goudie mentioned the clear influences in Solomon’s set from genres, including bass house, future bass house and trap, all keystones of Chicago’s music scene. He felt that while Solomon’s set aligned with current EDM trends, it “still had moments where you could see his own taste come through.” Artists like San Diego-based ISOXO and Knock2 came to mind for Goudie, both known for their impactful, hard-hitting sound.

“[The horns from NFL Sunday were] a super creative touch,” Goudie said, “and honestly just awesome to hear live. It’s the kind of unexpected element that can make a set memorable and get a crowd really engaged.”

Solomon considers moments like this in his sets to be a defining part of his DJing. For him, it’s about the music and the way the crowd responds, not how fancy a mix is or how technical he can be with his skills.

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“That’s not really what people look for. They just want to vibe or hear a song that they like,” Solomon said, speaking on the use of “crazy” transitions and effects.

Though he did not win the opportunity to perform an opening set for Shipwrek, his talent was still seen and remains memorable to Goudie, a leader in Oxford’s chief EDM scene promoters.

“I’ve had a few conversations with Andrew since then, and he definitely seems motivated to get more involved in the Oxford scene,” Goudie said. “That willingness to engage with the community and actually show up consistently is just as important as the technical side.”

While local industry leaders are beginning to notice his technical potential, Solomon’s core supporters have been experiencing his energy firsthand in the underground sphere.

Solomon has already made a name for himself among Miami University students, breaking out of his comfort zone and performing live sets in front of audiences. Eli O’Keefe, a first-year student at Miami University, met Solomon in the fall semester through connections in the campus’s alternative crowd and has continued to support him since.

O’Keefe said that Solomon started out performing sets at Hidden Triangle, an underground Oxford house party series that serves as a space for the alternative and LGBTQ+ community to gather and meet.

It all began in October, right around Halloween, when Solomon reached out to the organization via Instagram in response to a post on their story, saying they were looking for performers. He told them he DJs, and the process was straightforward from there.

On Halloween night, he braved his first live performance ever, as one of the last sets to play. The crowd and event facilitators had no idea what to expect out of him — he was just a student who responded to an Instagram story and offered his services. Solomon was relatively unprepared as well, mainly landing the gig thanks to a fellow DJ and friend connected with Hidden Triangle.

Hidden Triangle gained a reliable performer that night, and Solomon found his first crowd. He’s performed for two other events at the underground club since, and looks back at each experience fondly, even calling it a key moment of his life.

“If I could think of any of the best times of my life, it would be that first time playing in front of people with the music that I like and seeing how many people were having fun with it,” Solomon said. “It was just a really good feeling.”

With Oxford’s vibrant nightlife, Goudie considers the college town to be a great testing space for DJs. He’s seen what happens when performers take those next steps, and described Solomon as “someone with clear potential.”

“I’m definitely having fun at every show I play or every set that I do, because I do put a lot of time into making something special and new each time that I go out and play in front of people,” Solomon said.

capraras@miamioh.edu