Netherlands · electronic · future bass

San Holo

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Dutch producer who plays guitar over his own melodic bass music — earnest in a genre that often isn't, sincerity as the signature.

San Holo is the project of Sander van Dijck, born in 1990 in Zoetermeer, the Netherlands. He studied guitar and music production at the Codarts conservatory, graduating in 2012, and spent the following years ghost-producing tracks for other DJs before shaping his own material under the San Holo name.

His early EPs appeared on Heroic Recordings, including Cosmos in 2014, and a remix of Dr. Dre's The Next Episode brought him wider notice online, eventually passing well over 250 million YouTube views. Walt Disney Pictures once threatened legal action over the stage name's similarity to Han Solo; van Dijck kept the name after the dispute was settled in his favour.

Before starting his own label he released music through Spinnin' Records, OWSLA, Monstercat and Barong Family, and his 2016 single We Rise became one of his biggest early tracks, reaching tens of millions of streams and over 100 million YouTube views. He gained wider attention that same year with the single Light.

He has since released the albums Album1 in 2018 and bb u ok? in 2020, moving further from club-oriented bass music toward songwriting built around guitar and vocals. His production combines melodic electronic arrangements with live guitar, lo-fi textures and a generally wistful tone, and his live sets feature him playing guitar alongside the electronics.

Van Dijck also runs the label bitbird, which has released work by a number of younger electronic producers alongside his own singles and albums.

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electronicfuture bass