SOYDAN

DJ Soydan was born in Germany in 1975 and since 2002 has been based in Waterford,Ireland. Ask Soydan about his roots however and he'll tell you they are firmly in Turkey. An exponent of the nu-school of funky Chicago-influenced jacking house, Soydan's sound is often compared to the genre's pioneers: names like Derrick Carter and DJ Sneak.

Indeed the likes of Sneak, Mark Farina, Diz and DJ Heather are big fans of Soydan. This is evidenced by his appearance on two Farina compilations for Om Records, an EP for Sneak's label Oomph and his constant rotation in their sets. Soydan's work can also be found on a range of imprints pushing the modern jacking house sound such as Guesthouse, Funkfield, Maracuja and Dustpan.

The majority of Soydan's output, however, is found on Yakuza Recordings, his own label

which he runs when he's not working his day job as a professional tattooist - his trade

provides the background for the label name. Formed in 2006, Yakuza has released music by

artists including Groove Federation, Craig Hamilton and Gramophonedzie.

The label's highlight is a collaboration between Soydan and DJ Sneak - a four track EP

entitled 'The Latin Kardes'.

As a busy DJ, Soydan can be found regularly rocking dancefloors around Europe from

Scotland to Serbia, across the USA and of course in his homeland Turkey.