Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sole Llorente grew up surrounded by music before developing her career as a DJ and producer in Barcelona.
Photo credit: Sole Llorente – Official
Over more than a decade in the city’s electronic music scene, she progressed from smaller venues to larger dance floors while studying production and developing a sound rooted in dark, energetic, and hypnotic techno. Now based in Berlin, she is entering a new creative phase shaped by her experiences across all three cities.
Her latest release, ‘Watch Me Now’, marks an important step in that evolution. Released as part of ‘Planet 3’, the various-artists compilation from Pan-Pot’s Second State label, the track combines driving grooves, hypnotic tension, and her own vocals.
The production reflects a shift toward a darker, deeper, and more defined sound, with Llorente drawing increasingly on 90s rave and house influences. Writing and recording her own vocals has also become a central part of her creative process, allowing her to express a more personal side of her music.
In this conversation, Sole Llorente discusses her move to Berlin, joining Second State, finding her voice as a producer, and the musical direction she is developing.
EG: Hi Sole, welcome to Electronic Groove. It’s great to have you with us. How have you been, and how are things going for you as you settle into this new chapter in Berlin?
Sole Llorente: Thank you for having me! It’s been a really crazy couple of months. I’m happy about this new chapter; I get to work with people I truly admire. It’s been a rollercoaster of things and emotions, but I know I needed this. My music is getting to a whole new level, and Berlin has been helping me get there.
EG: ‘Watch Me Now’ marks your arrival on Second State, the label founded by Pan-Pot, and feels like an important step in your evolution as a producer. How did the connection with the label come about, and what does this release mean to you?
Sole Llorente: I’m really happy about this new chapter. Pan-Pot are producers I’ve respected for many years, and I’ve been following their career for a long time. It makes me proud that they opened the doors of their label to me, that they trusted me as a producer, and above all that they like my music. This release in particular is a definition of my sound, and it’s the direction I’m taking more and more. I know this is the beginning of something much bigger. How it came about wasn’t just chance. Of course you have to be in the right place at the right moment, but there were also people who helped put my music on their radar, and I’m really thankful to them. Now it’s about continuing to work hard so this keeps growing.
EG: One of the most distinctive elements of ‘Watch Me Now’ is the use of your own vocals, adding a more personal dimension to its hypnotic, driving sound. What encouraged you to bring your voice further into your production, and how did you approach it on this track?
Sole Llorente: To be honest, it came really naturally. I wouldn’t call myself a singer, even though I’m taking some lessons, but singing has always been part of my life. I’ve always loved making up lyrics for songs I’ll never release. Then one day I bought a little mic and started playing around, until I thought, why not? Putting my own voice in my music made it more personal, more me. There are things only I can say, in the tone I actually feel them. On ‘Watch Me Now’, the lyrics are about change. My sound as a producer and DJ is evolving a lot, so the message to the audience and the industry is simple: watch me now. This is a new version of me.
On ‘Watch Me Now’, the lyrics are about change. My sound as a producer and DJ is evolving a lot, so the message to the audience and the industry is simple: watch me now. This is a new version of me.
EG: You’ve described the record as reflecting a darker, deeper, and more defined direction. What has been changing in your musical instincts lately, and how did those changes find their way into this particular production?
Sole Llorente: My music has gone through a big change. There are elements that are always going to be mine, and my productions have always been dark, but they’ve moved away from being so melodic and epic. Lately I’m getting a lot of inspiration from 90s rave and 90s house, and that’s becoming a big influence every time I sit down to produce. That’s how it ended up in ‘Watch Me Now’, a sound that’s deeper and more defined, and closer to who I am as a producer right now.
“This is a new version of me”
EG: There’s a particular vulnerability in using your own voice, especially within techno, where the focus often falls on rhythm, texture, and atmosphere. Does singing or writing vocal parts reveal something about yourself that you might not express through instrumental production alone?
Sole Llorente: Totally, it makes you feel very vulnerable. You’re adding something that’s really yours, your own voice. Even though it’s processed and you work on it with effects, it’s still you talking. And a lot of the words I use are about the stage I’m in and about my personality, so it feels very deep. Techno has a very defined sound, and I love working with claps and distinctive percussion elements. A vocal can have a lot of presence, but I like to let every element have its moment, not just the vocal. Adding my own voice makes the track more mine. It gives it something extra that I maybe wasn’t getting in my earlier productions, which I still love, because every track I’ve made has had its moment and its evolution. But this personal element gives the music more soul.
EG: You spent more than a decade building your career in Barcelona before moving to Berlin. How did that transition affect your relationship with the music, and has living in Berlin changed the way you approach the studio or the dance floor?
Sole Llorente: Barcelona is an incredible city with an incredible crowd, and it gave me so many opportunities. I lived there for many years, and the scene really shaped me as a DJ. It helped me grow from the girl playing smaller venues to playing bigger ones, and I’ll always remember that. It made me mature as a DJ, but I feel like you’re always transforming and growing. That’s why I felt I needed this change. Barcelona will always be home in my heart, so I’ll be back often. But the way the dance floor works in Berlin is completely different. Music is lived in another way, which I love, but I’m still exploring it, so I don’t have an exact definition yet of what my sets here will look like. I’m slowly starting to get dates in the city, and that excites me a lot. You’ll probably see a big evolution in the way I produce and the way I play, but that’s something I’ll be able to define a bit further down the road.
EG: Your music balances driving grooves with hypnotic tension, keeping the physical energy of techno at its core. When you’re producing, how do you decide how much tension a track needs before it gives the listener a sense of release?
Sole Llorente: To be honest, I feel it in my body. Of course there are rules: song structure, ways of treating sound. It’s a science in a way, and you can’t ignore that. But it goes beyond that; it’s a feeling. What I keep in mind is what I’m trying to say with the main synth and the vocal, and I take every track as a journey. It’s never easy, because even when a track is finished, you always feel it could say more. That’s when I listen to my body a lot. If I don’t dance to my own music, I don’t expect anyone else to. If it makes me happy, I hope it makes other people happy too, or at least that it hits them in some way.
EG: Being included on ‘Planet 3’ places your work alongside other artists within Second State’s vision of contemporary techno. How important is the context of a compilation like this, where your track becomes part of a wider musical statement rather than a standalone release?
Sole Llorente: Totally. When I was invited to be part of ‘Planet 3’, it felt like a big recognition. First, because I’m sharing a VA with producers who are real shapers and big influences in the industry, so having my music alongside theirs makes me really proud. And second, when a VA like this is put together, there’s clearly a very specific vision behind it, something the label wants to say. Every track adds something to that vision. Each one has its own sound, its own personality, and its own message, and they complement each other really well. It’s a very complete VA, which I love.
“If I don’t dance to my own music, I don’t expect anyone else to”
EG: Looking back at your journey from Buenos Aires to Barcelona and now Berlin, each move seems to have brought a different stage of artistic development. Do you feel you’re arriving at a sound that has been taking shape for years, or are you still in the process of discovering what it can become?
Sole Llorente: From my beginnings in Buenos Aires, to the jump my career took in Barcelona, and now Berlin, I feel like as an artist you never stop evolving. Your interests change, things catch your attention that didn’t before, and you end up reaching a sound you wouldn’t even have dreamed of when you were starting. The context and the people around you influence you a lot too. My sound has changed a lot over the years, and I think it will never stop changing, which also makes it more interesting. Of course, always staying coherent and respecting yourself as an artist, not just following trends. But this new stage really describes who I am as a producer, without leaving behind everything I went through to get here. So it’s a bit of both. I feel like I’m reaching a sound I’m really proud of, but there’s still a lot to come. There’s a lot of music I love that hasn’t come out yet, and I think it will be the peak of a lot of hard work. I can’t wait for people to hear it.
EG: Finally, with ‘Watch Me Now’ introducing this new direction, what are you most excited to explore next in your productions, particularly as you continue bringing your own voice into the music?
Sole Llorente: I feel like this track is the kickoff to a new sound. The tracks coming out from here on are going to be more and more me. Some will include my own voice, and others won’t, because every track is different and every track is its own world. Sometimes I can say what I want to say without needing my own vocals. I’m super happy to show what’s coming. There’s a lot ahead, and a lot more Sole.
EG: Thank you so much for your time. We wish you all the best with ‘Watch Me Now’ and everything ahead. Take care!
Sole Llorente: Thank you for having me, it was a pleasure! I invite everyone to keep an ear out for what’s coming, follow me on Spotify and other platforms, and don’t stop listening to ‘Watch Me Now’!
Sole Llorente’s ‘Watch Me Now’ is out now via Second State as part of the ‘Planet 3’ compilation. Stream and download your copy here.
Follow Sole Llorente: Spotify | SoundCloud | Instagram
