“One of my favourite sets of the year” - Denis Sulta interview and mix

Denis Sulta made his overdue debut at Hï Ibiza in 2026. The Scottish DJ and producer threads disco, techno, tech house, pop and leftfield influences into his specific style of house music. His debut album, Aye Spoake Te Sumwuhn & They Listenhd, was released on Ninja Tune to critical acclaim in 2019. Since then he has continued to showcase his production, vocal, and songwriting prowess with every release. His live sets are arresting and his curation as the label boss of Sulta Selects and Sulta Selects Silver Service is impeccable.

Denis Sulta played Hï Ibiza as part of Skepta’s Más Tiempo on Saturday 5th September. This brand new residency featured handpicked up-and-coming names, mavericks and heavyweights from the scene. Sonically, Más Tiempo was all about underground house, tech house, UK garage and the raw groove that unites them all. 

Denis Sulta’s set from Más Tiempo at Hï Ibiza is up on Apple Music in Spatial Audio now.

We sat down with the artist to talk about his career over the last decade, his love of golf, his recent rework of “It’s Only Real”, and his experience that night in the Club Room.

Hi Denis. So, it’s 10 years this year since you won Best Breakthrough Producer at DJ Mag’s Best of British awards. What do you remember about that time? 

I remember it being a really celebratory moment, a really proud moment. I remember DJing at Egg London at the award ceremony and playing with Dave Lee that night, which was very cool. My mum and dad came down, it was just a great moment. It was all quite new to me. I had just gone from making music in my bedroom, without any real training and then I managed to get there which I thought was fantastic. 

Did it feel like a stepping stone to where you went next?

I probably didn't even think about that. I’d done a few records by that point on Dixon Avenue and Sulta Selects. The one thing that helped me the most at that time was just being completely honest about what I was making. I would listen to Bicep’s music and Four Tet bits, and Hudson Mohawke and Rustie and stuff from LuckyMe. Then when I went into the studio it was all in my head, and it allowed me to just be free with what I was doing. 

That set you on a path of moving from the underground to playing some of the biggest clubs in the world. What was that shift like for you?

It was very quick. It happened quite naturally. I actually remembered one thing last night. I did this one show in Italy which was a huge step up. I remember it was in Puglia, it was this insane outdoor, almost amphitheatre-style venue in the middle of the countryside. I'd never seen anything like it. I turned up and everybody was wearing black and they looked super cool. On the wall there was Jeff Mills and Richie Hawtin and Carl Cox. I remember standing there in a pink shirt and big yellow sunglasses and thinking, what the hell am I even doing here? It was one of the coolest moments I remember. I think I must have been 20, so I guess it was in 2017, maybe? That time was so exciting. Everything was so new. I went from hometown club venues, and then all of a sudden I found myself there. It was an amazing time. 

Do you still feel that excitement now?

100%. When I did Más Tiempo at Hï Ibiza, I couldn't believe it. I was so excited. I'd seen some footage from the Club Room, and at Ibiza airport Hï Ibiza is plastered all over the place. This is like the gaff to go to, you know? I just felt super lucky to do it and be part of it with Skepta and all of them. It was just amazing.  

Was that your first time at Hï Ibiza? 

Yes, that was my debut at the club. 

What’s your relationship with the island been like over the years? 

The first time I went was when I DJed. I got to know Ibiza through going out to play there over the years. I find the place pretty incredible. Over the last couple of years I’ve seen how beautiful it is outside of the clubs. I go and play golf at the golf course, and the restaurants are incredible, and the beaches are fantastic. It has a really amazing energy. 

I didn’t know you were a golfer. What do you like about playing golf?

I like playing golf because when you're ready to play, as in when you feel like you've done everything you need to do, then you can have four hours of just really chilling out. It can be really sociable if you can get out there with a couple of people as well. 

Sometimes when I’m in Ibiza I’ll see who's around and maybe jump into a music session. But there are times where I’ve just been flat-out for five, six days solid, and I land in Ibiza and I’ve got a couple hours to spare. So I just go and play nine holes.

Do you listen to music while you play golf, or just enjoy the quiet? 

I actually was listening to the score from Wicked when I was playing golf a couple weeks ago. There's a song in there that makes me cry every time I listen to it. I remember sitting in a golf cart in America, eating like a big American cookie, listening to the Wicked soundtrack. I do like listening to music, but I can't have it in my ears because if someone shouts “fore!” and I miss it, that could be the last song I ever listen to [laughs]. 

Is “fore!” shouted when there’s a stray golf ball?

Yeah, exactly. You need to be able to react quickly because there might be a golf ball flying at your head! You can basically just hit the ball anywhere and as long as you say “fore!” it's fine [laughs].

So this mix is from when you played Más Tiempo in the Club Room, have you done anything with Skepta before? 

I have never done anything with Skepta before so I was just absolutely over the moon to even be asked. One of my new managers, Grace, actually works with Skepta and she created a link there. I was so buzzing to do it. I was so starstruck. I think I always get a little shy in those situations, but it was super cool and Skepta was lovely. He was so friendly and thankful for me being there and I was like, no, thank you for having me!

What else do you remember from the set itself?  

Yeah, I remember I was gonna play a certain way and then when I got there I realised, oh, that’s not right. I was going to go down the indie dance lane, and I’d prepared all this stuff for it. Then I got there and the DJ before me was super groovy and he was killing it. So it felt very different, it was skippy and fun. So I just relied on the things that I love from the house and tech space. I've really been thinking about Marco Carola recently and thinking about Ricardo Villalobos and Seth Troxler and Mochakk’s B2B sets. I like thinking about how I would do what they do. It’s about being confident with loops and how to use a loop as an opportunity to really emphasise the groove, without any bells and whistles.

In that set I was really quite patient and when I found a part of a track that was good I just looped it. It was definitely one of my favourite sets of the year. I came away smiling from ear to ear, I had such a good time. The sound in there is amazing. For a DJ it doesn't get much better, you know what I mean? The booth is so good, everything just works perfectly. It feels great, all the equipment is amazing and it sounds amazing.  

Your musical roots lie in the techno of DJs like Surgeon and the British Murder Boys. Do you feel any elements of that are still present in your sets and productions?

It’s interesting that you've asked me that right now. I've got a mentality now of focusing on what originally directed me towards where I am now, from back in those days. There was definitely some techno influence, you know, Rubadub had a really big kind of impact on me. The Surgeon stuff too. Now I find myself much more interested in indie dance and big room. I went to see an Anyma show recently and besides the visuals, which were amazing, I was just so interested in the music. It was so powerful and so well produced. It started with these kind of rock beats. That sound just feels good to me at the moment. 

Speaking of roots, this was the first Ibiza summer for the new version of your breakthrough track “It’s Only Real”. What was it like going back into that track from 2015?

It was awesome. I have to say, when the idea appeared it was one of them ones where I was not sure how to approach it. I had worked on it to get it to a stage where it was something new but I just couldn't finish it. I just couldn't see past a certain limit. Then TEED [FKA Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs], who's an amazing producer, wrote some chords and made the whole thing feel like it was set in a different world. We needed a vocal, so I put a vocal on it, and added some snares and some bits to let people know when to put their hands in the air.

I would stand behind this track every single day. I love it. I love where it came from, the 10 years is an amazing milestone and it's nice to be able to do something with the track that feels reflective of what I've learned over the last 10 years. 

How was it reconnecting with your younger self and your old approach to making music?

It definitely feels like a different person. I think you just learn and grow up so much, especially at those times in your life. You grow so much from 20 to your 30s.

Is there another song in your set that you love playing at the minute?

Yeah, I released a record on Defected this year as a collaboration with Capri and it's called “Push The Tempo”. It just goes off. It’s a solid, strong and functional house record. I played it that night at Más Tiempo and the place went crazy. The last drop is all these choppy vocals and it's so clever how Ed [Capri] managed to get all that to work and to flow. It’s a very unique build-up and drop. So “Push The Tempo” and “It’s Only Real 2025” are my two I love to play at the moment.

Are there any DJs that really excite you right now?  

I love Robbie Doherty. He is on something crazy. His run is insane and his technical ability and his creativity… the ways he manages to get those melodies to work. I have tried so hard to copy them [laughs]. I've literally dragged them in and tried to do the same thing and it is just so complicated.

Robbie is great. He played at Eastenderz at Hï Ibiza this season. Are there any creators outside of music that you’re into at the minute? Connecting Cultures is a big part of our ethos, connecting music with different creative disciplines.

Good question. I get a good dose of the acting world through my wife [actor Saoirse-Monica Jackson]. I get to meet a lot of young creatives and new stand-up comedians. My wife is a fantastic actress and she's in a new show that came out last Sunday called This City Is Ours. It's amazing, so if you get the chance I strongly suggest you check that out. All the scouse actors in that are absolutely fantastic. There’s also these people I got to meet when I was away in America. Really hot comedians, actors in comedy and drama. There’s Gavin Matts and Joey Dardano, Del Mulvaney, Liza Koshy, Sabrina Breyer. I was really inspired by being around them.

Lastly, what are you working on right now? 

My new track “I Used To Be” is coming out on my new label called Silvers, which is like the third iteration of the Denis Sulta label project. Initially we had Sulta Selects, then we had the Sulta Selects Silver Service, and now we've got Silvers. This one is gonna be for the new world, a new direction of Sulta music, and the new upcoming artists that are really killing it and who want a space for authentic electronic music. No real agenda other than to just make something that feels interesting, weird, beautiful and exciting, you know? So my new track “Used To Be” comes out November 27th. It is a real love letter to what it felt like to be like 17, 18 year old Sulta and just have an idea and create something no concern about whether or not it technically is perfect. It's just about going out there and finding that voice inside of you. It sounds like “Nein Fortiate” and “LA Ruffgarden” and all these records that I made back then. It’s sort of a return to that sound and I love it.

Denis Sulta’s set from Más Tiempo at Hï Ibiza is up now on Apple Music. Other mixes from the 2026 season include Ewan McVicar, Bullet Tooth, Miss Monique, Rossi., and Themba.   

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