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He’s amassed an incredible amount of classic synths, studio hardware and analogue gear which very much defines his signature warm, crisp and accessible sound when he’s remixing today. For this special dialogue feature, Hlynur met Paul Dakeyne.
Q: As a boy, what was around you musically that inspired you on to the road you would later travel?
A: Well, I guess the first memory I have of getting into music is when I was six years old. I was living in Denmark, and I snuck into the school at nighttime with a friend, which we were not allowed to do, and I got a couple of drums – that’s how my love for drums began. I started as a drummer. At home, my father always played the guitar. Everybody in the family listened to music. My father listened to Pink Floyd; my mother listened to Abba at that time.
Q: Was radio an influence and when did dance/rhythm-based music come into your life?
A: Well, in Iceland, there was only one radio station when I was around 13 years old and so I got into going to clubs for kids. I saw the DJ and I just fell in love with DJing, right away.
I think the day after I applied for a job there, and I got it. We had a DJ competition in Iceland, and my uncle had a club so I could practise there and I won the competition.
I started DJing when I was 14 years old in clubs (my uncle and mother talked so it was allowed for me to DJ at that age). My salary was three 12-inch records a week; that was my salary for one year! I began playing other clubs as I got older and I started remixing there, because with those three records a week, I used to buy the same records that the other DJ did and from there, I could do my remix – you know, maybe extend the intro, two copies, phasing, that kind of thing.
Q: What were your first major production steps as a young man with the technology that was available then?
A: I remember seeing a rack unit that had a sampler on it, so I was thinking, how can I sample and use that when I’m DJing? But I couldn’t actually figure that out, because we didn’t have any internet. And, you know, there were no DJ magazines in Iceland, nothing like that. But then I went into a radio station one time, and they had a Revox [reel to reel] tape machine and, from there, I started to do remixes. About a month after that, I was doing a weekly remix on the Top 40 in Iceland!
Q: What year did you start investing in studio equipment, maybe samplers, mixing desk, synths?
A: I think it was aged around 17 when I got my first stereo sampler, the Roland S770, and I got the S10, which only sampled about four seconds, you know, like every shot. And, actually, this is a good story: I picked up a paper here in Iceland, and I went to a DJ course in London by myself at 15, and they had a sampler in that studio.
Later, I found out that I was in the studio where CJ Mackintosh and others made M.A.R.R.S.’ ‘Pump up the Volume’.
Q: When DJing, did you specialise in one area or cover all aspects of the dance music spectrum?
A: Yeah, all aspects, like you can hear in my DJ remixes. I mean, I’m just all around, yeah. I’m a Top 40 DJ – that’s what you got to do. You know, Iceland is such a small country that you just have to please everybody.
I remember, too, I was a big fan of Ben Liebrand and his Kool and the Gang megamix. I used to emulate that live. Also, the U2 megamix from that time. These were huge mixes.
So, I was just, like, straight into remixing the songs, changing the songs, buying samples and, by the age of 16/17, I had my own studio.
Q: When did your musical keyboard skills come into your life?
A: Well, at that time, I just wanted to learn more and how to play the songs. And you know what was behind it? Because I was just a drummer all the time. So, I applied to a school in Los Angeles, California. I had a girlfriend at the time who was from Iceland, but she was going to move back to LA and I just went with her. I went there around ’89 and I studied music there. I went to a general, old musicianship programme for two years and gained a qualification. I returned to Iceland to play two clubs that wanted me to come and play for them, and then I just came back. I was back and forth for 10 years but, eventually, I just moved back.
Q: Let’s talk about GAS (gear acquisition syndrome) because it’s blatantly obvious that you have been either blessed, or cursed, with this all your life.
A: It’s just in my genes. I love gear, I love analogue. I love to touch things. I sold a lot of things, but I bought them back. Like one time I said to myself, I’m going to buy everything back that I sold, because sometimes you’re broke and sometimes you’re not and when I was not, I used to buy the gear back. The only thing that I’ve never sold is the Akai MPC 3000, the original. That has the best MIDI timing ever, because I was always looking at when the kick and the snare hit together, like in Cubase 24 or Cakewalk (DAW’s). In the old days it never used to hit perfectly together, and I hated that. I also got lucky. I was in the studio with one guy and he just quit so I bought all his gear. And, I use it all. I don’t use any VST effects or instruments, aside from real strings and piano. Some people, you know, are into horses, some people are into cars – I just love to be into keyboards. And to make music and remixes, it’s so much easier when you have actual hardware.
Q: How do you approach your remixes, from choosing which track to work on and some of the methodology involved?
A: It starts with me picking a favourite song. I’m always in the mindset of, when I’m DJing, “what song do I think that you (the crowd) know and like?”
And I never listen to anybody’s else’s remixes – really, no, I don’t do that! Because if I do that, I will say, “Oh, this is a good idea. Maybe I should try it?” I just don’t do it.
Even when I’m following somebody, and, like I did it the other day, the post had a very popular remake. But I just cut him out, swiped across. Again, for choice, I could pick a song when I’m listening to the radio, or my wife will sing a song, like “this is a great song. Let’s do that song”. She loves Prince, and I did Prince the other day, just for her.
For Stem Splitting, I don’t use its results aside from the acapella and I’m always trying to look for the best acapellas. After I work on them and EQ them, they’re good enough because you take the dry separated vocal, they’re cutting off certain frequencies, but in the end, when I’m done with a mix, I’m adding those frequencies again.
Q: Has original songwriting been part of your world as well? Releasing tracks either under a pseudonym or yourself, as an original artist?
A: No. Actually, I was talking about this the other day with my wife that I’ve been on a long journey since I started to be interested in music, to get to where I am today. I’ve always done remixes. I’ve always done production for people. I know I belong as a remixer, but not as a producer for other people.
The most boring thing for me would be to sit in the studio and record vocals, you know, or to have somebody else tell me, “Yeah, we should, like, change the bass”. For me, it was important to always connect with people. I love when I get comments like, yeah, you know, I just got this track, and I played it and everybody went crazy. I'm like, “that’s what I want, that’s what I'm looking for”. You know, I don’t care about anything else. That’s the payoff.
Q: Which remixes have presented you with obstacles to overcome?
A: Every remix has some challenges in it. But, actually, I think, Quincy Jones songs, you know, they’re so complicated that you sometimes say, “How did he do it?”
But then you can go to the internet, and you can search how to play it, then you see somebody else played it – yeah, that’s how, okay, I get it! So, a lot of research.
For example, I’m currently remixing ‘Rock Steady’ by the Whispers, and in the beginning of the song they have ‘that’ snare, and it’s just solo, on its own. So, it's simple to sample that, you know. Also, there’s a couple of songs that I sang background vocals on myself, just for the fun of it, right? No AI, I just did the tuning.
Q: Sidestepping to the family side of life – you also have another business, a restaurant, over there?
A: So, my father opened the first pizza restaurant in Iceland, the first Italian restaurant in 1979, and it has now become the oldest restaurant in Iceland. My father is, you know, he’s getting old, more vacations, so the siblings – me, my brother, my sister – we are taking care of the restaurant. I told my daughter after she met this guy I said, you can tell him “free pizza for life, I’m a good catch” (laughs). You know, my life has been a privilege because I've never applied for a job. I’ve always got the DJing, and I have always had music in my life. I never had to search for anything. Yeah, I was just blessed, you know.
Q: How do you pace your week – days or hours in the studio, and some in the restaurant?
A: Actually, I never work in the studio in the daytime. I mean, I go in the studio, listen to the mix, I do a little bit maybe, but I love to do it in the night. It’s so creative in the evening. Nine or 10 o’clock, I'm all in until two o’clock in the morning. I love it. My head’s on and, you know, if the remix is going well, I’m alone in the studio, dancing – I’m really a night owl. I just think, like, the phone doesn’t ring, and there’s no people around, and you can be just by yourself. I can’t sit in the studio for a constant two hours straight, though. I have to, maybe half an hour, 40 minutes, go drink some water, something, you know, little bit on a phone and then I go back. I swim back and forth. And I’m always standing up because I’m always going to the keyboards – maybe this keyboard doesn’t work, something wrong with a cable, so I gotta fix that!
Q: So how do you feel about your first solo remixes album release being now available to the global Mastermix audience?
A: Really excited, just really excited! I feel like it’s the next big step for me and I appreciate it so much.
Hlynur Sölvi Remixes Vol 1 – Available September ’25 via mastermixdj.com
Instagram: @hlynursolvi
Q: As a boy, what was around you musically that inspired you on to the road you would later travel?
A: Well, I guess the first memory I have of getting into music is when I was six years old. I was living in Denmark, and I snuck into the school at nighttime with a friend, which we were not allowed to do, and I got a couple of drums – that’s how my love for drums began. I started as a drummer. At home, my father always played the guitar. Everybody in the family listened to music. My father listened to Pink Floyd; my mother listened to Abba at that time.
Q: Was radio an influence and when did dance/rhythm-based music come into your life?
A: Well, in Iceland, there was only one radio station when I was around 13 years old and so I got into going to clubs for kids. I saw the DJ and I just fell in love with DJing, right away.
I think the day after I applied for a job there, and I got it. We had a DJ competition in Iceland, and my uncle had a club so I could practise there and I won the competition.
I started DJing when I was 14 years old in clubs (my uncle and mother talked so it was allowed for me to DJ at that age). My salary was three 12-inch records a week; that was my salary for one year! I began playing other clubs as I got older and I started remixing there, because with those three records a week, I used to buy the same records that the other DJ did and from there, I could do my remix – you know, maybe extend the intro, two copies, phasing, that kind of thing.
Q: What were your first major production steps as a young man with the technology that was available then?
A: I remember seeing a rack unit that had a sampler on it, so I was thinking, how can I sample and use that when I’m DJing? But I couldn’t actually figure that out, because we didn’t have any internet. And, you know, there were no DJ magazines in Iceland, nothing like that. But then I went into a radio station one time, and they had a Revox [reel to reel] tape machine and, from there, I started to do remixes. About a month after that, I was doing a weekly remix on the Top 40 in Iceland!
Q: What year did you start investing in studio equipment, maybe samplers, mixing desk, synths?
A: I think it was aged around 17 when I got my first stereo sampler, the Roland S770, and I got the S10, which only sampled about four seconds, you know, like every shot. And, actually, this is a good story: I picked up a paper here in Iceland, and I went to a DJ course in London by myself at 15, and they had a sampler in that studio.
Later, I found out that I was in the studio where CJ Mackintosh and others made M.A.R.R.S.’ ‘Pump up the Volume’.
Q: When DJing, did you specialise in one area or cover all aspects of the dance music spectrum?
A: Yeah, all aspects, like you can hear in my DJ remixes. I mean, I’m just all around, yeah. I’m a Top 40 DJ – that’s what you got to do. You know, Iceland is such a small country that you just have to please everybody.
I remember, too, I was a big fan of Ben Liebrand and his Kool and the Gang megamix. I used to emulate that live. Also, the U2 megamix from that time. These were huge mixes.
So, I was just, like, straight into remixing the songs, changing the songs, buying samples and, by the age of 16/17, I had my own studio.
Q: When did your musical keyboard skills come into your life?
A: Well, at that time, I just wanted to learn more and how to play the songs. And you know what was behind it? Because I was just a drummer all the time. So, I applied to a school in Los Angeles, California. I had a girlfriend at the time who was from Iceland, but she was going to move back to LA and I just went with her. I went there around ’89 and I studied music there. I went to a general, old musicianship programme for two years and gained a qualification. I returned to Iceland to play two clubs that wanted me to come and play for them, and then I just came back. I was back and forth for 10 years but, eventually, I just moved back.
Q: Let’s talk about GAS (gear acquisition syndrome) because it’s blatantly obvious that you have been either blessed, or cursed, with this all your life.
A: It’s just in my genes. I love gear, I love analogue. I love to touch things. I sold a lot of things, but I bought them back. Like one time I said to myself, I’m going to buy everything back that I sold, because sometimes you’re broke and sometimes you’re not and when I was not, I used to buy the gear back. The only thing that I’ve never sold is the Akai MPC 3000, the original. That has the best MIDI timing ever, because I was always looking at when the kick and the snare hit together, like in Cubase 24 or Cakewalk (DAW’s). In the old days it never used to hit perfectly together, and I hated that. I also got lucky. I was in the studio with one guy and he just quit so I bought all his gear. And, I use it all. I don’t use any VST effects or instruments, aside from real strings and piano. Some people, you know, are into horses, some people are into cars – I just love to be into keyboards. And to make music and remixes, it’s so much easier when you have actual hardware.
Q: How do you approach your remixes, from choosing which track to work on and some of the methodology involved?
A: It starts with me picking a favourite song. I’m always in the mindset of, when I’m DJing, “what song do I think that you (the crowd) know and like?”
And I never listen to anybody’s else’s remixes – really, no, I don’t do that! Because if I do that, I will say, “Oh, this is a good idea. Maybe I should try it?” I just don’t do it.
Even when I’m following somebody, and, like I did it the other day, the post had a very popular remake. But I just cut him out, swiped across. Again, for choice, I could pick a song when I’m listening to the radio, or my wife will sing a song, like “this is a great song. Let’s do that song”. She loves Prince, and I did Prince the other day, just for her.
For Stem Splitting, I don’t use its results aside from the acapella and I’m always trying to look for the best acapellas. After I work on them and EQ them, they’re good enough because you take the dry separated vocal, they’re cutting off certain frequencies, but in the end, when I’m done with a mix, I’m adding those frequencies again.
Q: Has original songwriting been part of your world as well? Releasing tracks either under a pseudonym or yourself, as an original artist?
A: No. Actually, I was talking about this the other day with my wife that I’ve been on a long journey since I started to be interested in music, to get to where I am today. I’ve always done remixes. I’ve always done production for people. I know I belong as a remixer, but not as a producer for other people.
The most boring thing for me would be to sit in the studio and record vocals, you know, or to have somebody else tell me, “Yeah, we should, like, change the bass”. For me, it was important to always connect with people. I love when I get comments like, yeah, you know, I just got this track, and I played it and everybody went crazy. I'm like, “that’s what I want, that’s what I'm looking for”. You know, I don’t care about anything else. That’s the payoff.
Q: Which remixes have presented you with obstacles to overcome?
A: Every remix has some challenges in it. But, actually, I think, Quincy Jones songs, you know, they’re so complicated that you sometimes say, “How did he do it?”
But then you can go to the internet, and you can search how to play it, then you see somebody else played it – yeah, that’s how, okay, I get it! So, a lot of research.
For example, I’m currently remixing ‘Rock Steady’ by the Whispers, and in the beginning of the song they have ‘that’ snare, and it’s just solo, on its own. So, it's simple to sample that, you know. Also, there’s a couple of songs that I sang background vocals on myself, just for the fun of it, right? No AI, I just did the tuning.
Q: Sidestepping to the family side of life – you also have another business, a restaurant, over there?
A: So, my father opened the first pizza restaurant in Iceland, the first Italian restaurant in 1979, and it has now become the oldest restaurant in Iceland. My father is, you know, he’s getting old, more vacations, so the siblings – me, my brother, my sister – we are taking care of the restaurant. I told my daughter after she met this guy I said, you can tell him “free pizza for life, I’m a good catch” (laughs). You know, my life has been a privilege because I've never applied for a job. I’ve always got the DJing, and I have always had music in my life. I never had to search for anything. Yeah, I was just blessed, you know.
Q: How do you pace your week – days or hours in the studio, and some in the restaurant?
A: Actually, I never work in the studio in the daytime. I mean, I go in the studio, listen to the mix, I do a little bit maybe, but I love to do it in the night. It’s so creative in the evening. Nine or 10 o’clock, I'm all in until two o’clock in the morning. I love it. My head’s on and, you know, if the remix is going well, I’m alone in the studio, dancing – I’m really a night owl. I just think, like, the phone doesn’t ring, and there’s no people around, and you can be just by yourself. I can’t sit in the studio for a constant two hours straight, though. I have to, maybe half an hour, 40 minutes, go drink some water, something, you know, little bit on a phone and then I go back. I swim back and forth. And I’m always standing up because I’m always going to the keyboards – maybe this keyboard doesn’t work, something wrong with a cable, so I gotta fix that!
Q: So how do you feel about your first solo remixes album release being now available to the global Mastermix audience?
A: Really excited, just really excited! I feel like it’s the next big step for me and I appreciate it so much.
Hlynur Sölvi Remixes Vol 1 – Available September ’25 via mastermixdj.com
Instagram: @hlynursolvi
The full review can be found in Pro Mobile Issue 133, Pages 40-45.
