In this episode of the Firestarters Podcast, titled Identity, I sit down with Vlad Solovov for a long-form conversation about how creative work, environment, and pressure quietly shape who you become.

Vlad reflects on growing up in a conservative environment, encountering queer nightlife after moving to Antwerp, and the tension between belonging and performance. He talks about creating Zaika as a response to missing spaces, and about working with Judassime during COVID on their debut collection after being denied entry to the Antwerp Fashion Academy.

At a certain point, Vlad steps away from nightlife and photography altogether and starts working in a kitchen. That pause is interrupted by a call from Indira Paganotto’s management, pulling him back into touring life, followed by several intense years working inside Tomorrowland.

The episode also touches on long-term creative relationships, including a full circle moment with Nico Morano, and working with Jeff Mills, where creation is no longer about output, but necessity.

Rather than offering a clean arc or conclusion, the conversation stays close to the process itself. Moving through belonging, withdrawal, return, and redefinition without smoothing any of it out.

We talk through:

• growing up conservative and encountering diversity later in life
• queer nightlife as both refuge and mirror
• creating Zaika as a response to missing spaces
• rejection and independence in fashion during COVID
• stepping away from nightlife and working in a kitchen
• returning through touring and the pressure that followed
• working inside Tomorrowland and managing scale
• the role of long term connections like Nico Morano
• obsessive creation and the absence of an off switch