No Phones Just PAWSA And The Most Important Year Of His Career

No Phones. No Distractions. Just PAWSA and Eighteen Weeks At DC-10.

Put your phone away. Literally.

Solid Grooves has announced that phones will be banned from the dancefloor throughout its entire 2026 Ibiza residency at DC-10. The influential brand, led by Michael Bibi alongside label co-founder PAWSA, will implement the no phones policy across all 18 dates of its fourth season on the island, running weekly from June 4 through to October 1.

And to mark the occasion PAWSA is not showing up empty handed. His brand new track Ride On Me, dropping on his own label PAWZ, has been confirmed as part of the Solid Grooves Ibiza 2026 sampler, the official soundtrack to the season. PAWZ has always been the label where PAWSA operates on his own terms, no utside pressure, no compromise on sound, just the music doing what it needs to do. Ride On Me is arriving at the right moment. Eighteen weeks at DC10 needs an anthem and this one is already shaping up to be it. Expect it in every DJ bag across the underground before the summer is even halfway through.

Michael Bibi explained the decision: "Last year, I tested the concept, trying to recreate the old essence of Ibiza before phones or distractions. It was beautiful. I've honestly never felt energy like it. So, this year, we decided to continue to no phone policy for the entire season."

Eighteen weeks. Every Thursday. No phones. No photos. No video. Just the music, the crowd, and the terrace at one of the most legendary clubs in the world. And right at the centre of all of its PAWSA, the London-born Nigerian-British producer who co-built Solid Grooves from scratch and has spent the last decade quietly becoming one of the most important figures in underground tech house.

Who PAWSA Is

David Esekhile, born March 31 1992 in London, known professionally as PAWSA, is a British DJ and record producer specialising in tech house. He officially began his musical career in 2014 with the release of his four-track EP Pilot through Lost Records. The year prior, he had met fellow tech-house producer Michael Bibi at a warehouse party in London. The two soon began collaborating and in 2015 co-founded the Solid Grooves record label.

PAWSA has a visionary approach to the art of DJing, cultivated by many years of regularly playing out. He strongly believes in creating a special atmosphere to connect the listeners. Somewhat old fashioned in his approach to mixing. PAWSA hopes that his sets never fail to leave a powerful lasting impression. Old fashioned in the best possible sense. The kind of DJ who makes you feel the music rather than having your phone out.

PAWSA's Milestones:

These are not numbers for an artist who is still on the rise. These are numbers for an artist who has been at the top of his game for years and is still building:

• Top 10 Best selling House Artists of All Time on Beatport
• Beatport Producer of the Year in 2024
• DJ Mag Best of British Awards Winner of Best Producer in 2021 and 2024.
• Solid Grooves Awarded Best Label at DJ Mag Best of British Awards in 2023.

2026 Is The Year PAWSA Does Everything

If 2026 had a theme for PAWSA, it would be this: everywhere at once, and the quality never dropping.

The Coachella Debut

April set the tone for everything that followed. PAWSA returned to Coachella with a special extended set at the Quasar Stage, one of the festival's most prestigious underground electronic spaces. The set confirmed what anyone who has seen him play already knows. By 2026 PAWSA had become a mainstay on the buzziest festival lineups in the world, routinely selling out venues like Manchester's Warehouse Project and Brooklyn Storehouse. Coachella was not a breakthrough. It was a reminder.

What made the moment even more interesting was the mindset behind it. In a rare interview ahead of the festival, PAWSA said his attention is always on the music and that everything else just fades into the background. He described living day to day when it comes to shows, staying present rather than reflecting on individual moments, and not placing high expectations on one performance over another. That kind of clarity is rare in an industry that rewards hype above almost everything else. PAWSA has never been interested in hype. Just the groove, the crowd, and what happens when the two connect.

The Nylon House Cover

Around the same time the cultural crossover arrived that nobody saw coming but everyone immediately understood. Nylon House published a new cover featuring a rare interview with PAWSA ahead of his Coachella return, in which he broke down his instinctive pull toward dance music from an early age, his commitment to staying present and shaping energy in real time, and how his passion for painting taught him to embrace imperfection.

Landing on the cover of Nylon House is not a music industry moment. It's a cultural one. It says that PAWSA is no longer just a name that underground electronic fans know. He's a face that the broader world of fashion, culture, and creative media is paying attention to. He described being instinctively drawn to music early on and and how it would change the atmosphere of space, how sound could affect people so directly without needing to explain itself, and that this still interests him now, how something can feel precise or emotional or immediate all at once. That isn't a press quote. That is a philosophy. It explains exactly why his music hits the way it does.

PAWSA In The Park Amsterdam

Then there's Amsterdam on July 4. SONA presents PAWSA In The Park 2026 at Havenpark Amsterdam, an open air extended set on Dutch Independence weekend that sold out the moment it was announced. An extended set from PAWSA at an outdoor Amsterdam venue in the middle of summer is the kind of event that needs no further explanation. No rush, no compromise, just PAWSA reading the room at his own pace in one of the most beautiful open-air settings in the Netherlands. If you are anywhere near Amsterdam on July 4 this is the only place to be.