Somni is Leo Shulman, a UK-born, LA-based producer and singer/songwriter. Born into a family of classical musicians, Leo started making music at an early age, studying classical, jazz, and folk music, with guitar being his main instrument. He switched his main focus to beatmaking in his teens, drawing inspiration from LA beat scene titans like Flying Lotus, Shlohmo, and Teebs, as well as UK-based artists like Burial, Amon Tobin, and Portishead.
After signing to LA-based label Friends of Friends in 2018, Somni released his debut album Bloom, an electronic beat-driven album that employed a “warm, swirling collage of ambient electronic sounds and layered vocals” (Bandcamp Daily). His follow-up Home was released in March 2020, where he started combining his colorful beatmaking style with his love for melody and lyricism. This pivot into songwriting, inspired by indie and folk artists like Elliott Smith and Modest Mouse, brought a “human element [that] breath[ed] new life into his music” (Pigeons and Planes). In October 2020 he released his Beats Vol. 1 tape, a head nod-inducing mix of sample-based instrumental tracks that “employ[ed] the layering of previous work in concert with drums and rhythms that will have you calling your chiropractor” (Bandcamp Daily).
Starting off 2021 strong, Somni enlisted a host of friends - Omari Jazz, S.Maharba, Shrimpnose and Joe Nora among others, to showcase their musical talents (as well as his own) on Up Too Early Vol. 2, a compilation of “lush ambient [music] for the daydreamers who float around in the early hours” (Mixmag). In October 2021, Somni teamed up with lo-fi legend Harris Cole for their collaborative Sirens EP, which “bridg[ed] gaps between ambient, electronic, hip-hop, lo-fi, and each producer’s respective sound” with “halting drums [and] swirling and glitchy instrumentation” (Bandcamp Daily). Somni has been featured by Mixmag, Pigeons and Planes, NPR, Passion of the Weiss, Bandcamp Daily, and more, and continues to showcase his exciting blend of electronic beat music, indie, and lo-fi hip hop.
