Deborah De Luca

Deborah De Luca learned to DJ the hard way: in front of crowds, making her mistakes in public. The Naples DJ worked without an agent for 11 of her first 12 years, built her own label and became one of Italy’s best-known techno names. In 2020 she brought the story home with a set from the housing blocks where she grew up.

From Scampia to the north

De Luca, born in 1980, grew up in Scampia, on the northern edge of Naples, in the Le Vele housing complex later seen in the crime series Gomorrah. Her family moved north for work while she was still in elementary school. Her father’s large record collection, covering many genres, shaped her taste. She studied fashion before music took over, and later moved back to Naples.

Learning in the club

Her first DJ gig came almost by chance. She was working as a dancer in Riccione when a club owner from Verona offered to pay her the same fee to play records instead. A local DJ, DJ Modena, taught her the basics; the rest she learned on the job. In a 2020 Mixmag interview she said she had worked solo for 11 of her 12 years in the business, signing with Analog Agency only about a year earlier.

Sola_mente Records and the albums

In 2013 she founded Sola_mente Records, also written Solamente, as a home for her own music. Her debut album, Ten, came out in 2018. She Sleeps followed on the label in August 2020: twelve tracks, with “As Wild As You Wanna Be” premiered ahead of the release. The title track deals with the insomnia and nightmares she has lived with; she called it “a tribute to my past problems with sleep, night and darkness”. Designer Fausto Puglisi made the bodysuit she wears on the cover, and she has developed a DJ clothing line under the Solamente name.

The Le Vele set

On 9 July 2020 De Luca played for nearly three hours at Le Vele di Scampia — her first performance in the district. Mixmag streamed the set and reported more than five million views within weeks. She has also played Ultra in Miami and goes back to Ibiza every year.

De Luca does not stick to one lane. Her techno borrows melodies and vocals from outside the underground, which has drawn criticism. Her answer to Mixmag was short: “I love contamination.” For other techno DJs who built their careers around their own labels, read about Adam Beyer and Len Faki.