Adriatique’s X Factor

Long-haul flights, throbbing sound systems, and massive crowds are all part of the job description when you’re an internationally renowned DJ. But after the dance floor thins and the rush wears off come the mundane moments even shooting stars yearn for. Adrian Shala and Adrian Schweizer — better known as the electronic duo Adriatique — embody this double life to an extreme. In 2025 alone, they played everywhere from racecar tracks in Buenos Aires to the literal Pyramids of Giza.

“We just came back Monday night from Colombia,” Shala, or “dark-haired Adrian” as he’s sometimes called, says from Zürich. “Now we are for two weekends at home, so you’re catching me in a very good mood, actually.”

The Colombia gig — playing Medellin’s RITVALES Festival for an audience of 18,000 — would have tested even the scene’s most hardened road warriors. “I don’t know what the English saying is, but it’s when one bad thing doesn’t come alone,” Shala says in his German-accented English. That would be Murphy’s law: Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. “There goes a lot of preparation into [our show], because there are a lot of moments that have to be time-coded,” Shala explains of their signature X concert series, which relies on a roughly 16-person production and video collective to come to life.

But this time, the group was racing the clock, thanks to some transit delays at customs and immigration that put them hours behind schedule. “Normally we sit down with the team last-minute, we rehearse a few things, and we didn’t have all of that, so we already were kind of a little bit stressed,” Shala admits. Malfunctioning lights threw the next curveball. “And then six or seven minutes after we started, the heavy rain came,” he says. As anyone who’s been caught in inclement weather at a festival can tell you, though, there is euphoria in the surrender. “It was still a great show — we just couldn’t do what we’d planned to do. But the party was amazing. The people were amazing. No one cared about the rain.”

On the day we video chat, the weather is clear in Zürich, where Shala shares a home with Schweizer, aka “the other Adrian” aka “blond Adrian,” who is absent from today’s call due to family obligations. (“It’s OK, I’m the one which talks more anyway,” Shala assures me.) Sunlight streams through a small window behind Shala to reveal a white, sparsely decorated studio — let’s call it Switzerland-level streamlined — wholly unlike the jaw-dropping backdrops they perform in front of. Days off are “for human things,” the 39-year-old says, a few black curls spilling out from a knit beanie. Studio time, sure, but also: grocery shopping, movie-watching, and catching up on Rocket League, his current PS5 obsession.

“A perfect day off means not traveling,” Schweizer, 37, tells me later over email. “Just being home and spending time with my son — skate park, LEGO building, crafts, RC car, a movie with my girlfriend.” At this point, he is unfazed by the contrast between his days and nights. “The idea of duality — yin and yang — is something I experience constantly,” Schweizer adds. “Balancing private life and touring, art and logistics, futurism and reality. X lives in that intersection, and so do I.”

X is more than Adriatique’s events series; it’s also a label and lifestyle brand — a place where, just like their genre-bending sound, different people and ideas can collide. The two adopted the Roman numeral as a logo of sorts in 2019 to celebrate 10 years of Adriatique and brought it with them on an accompanying 10-city tour. Now it’s as inseparable from the duo as they are from each other.

“It freaks us out all the time — almost 100% of the time. But it has to be that way because it keeps you going. It keeps you evolving.”

“The initial idea for X was, up until this point, that the first releases would be only music from us or collabs with other people,” Shala says. But the brand has grown to be so much more, not just with the music — recent releases include their Afro house-tinged “Maybe” (with Coach Harrison and Tim Engelhardt), and the groovy “Love’s a Game” (with British singer Bipolar Sunshine) — but with their ambitions. Bigger shows. Far-flung destinations. Higher highs. X marks the spot where Adriatique comes to play. “We never think, ‘What is our legacy going to be?’” Shala says. “We are just creating and trying to show our language and our identity, hoping it leaves something behind for people. When I look at our inbox or messages, or see people at the shows, I guess we do that. It’s apparent we are changing their lives.”

The two Adrians met by chance while navigating Zürich’s nightlife circuit. Shala, who grew up in a small village on the Western edge of Austria, frequently went clubbing in the Swiss capital. Schweizer already had an established career there, and Shala — then an aspiring producer and DJ — was a fan. The two finally met after getting booked on the same lineup, and kindergarten rules prevailed: There’s simply no better icebreaker than sharing the same name. After chatting, Schweizer invited Shala into his studio, where early-morning hangs led to some free-spirited musical experimentation with obvious potential. Not long after, the two left their solo personas behind to go all in as Adriatique.

It turns out, two Adrians are better than one. Together, they’ve released music on a who’s who of tastemaking dance labels, from Solomun’s Diynamic Music to Cityfox to Afterlife — all record labels where they still keep close ties. (Just a few months ago they released “RACER,” a dark and thumping melodic techno banger, on Afterlife alongside Greek titan Argy.)

This past summer, Adriatique celebrated another important milestone: a decade in residence with CircoLoco, the party-throwers known for sprawling Monday night takeovers at Ibiza’s famed DC10 and other high-profile international events. The secret to the duo’s longevity? Being able to fit in everywhere they go thanks to an expansive sound that covers classic house, techno, hip-hop, and even more pop-forward moments — often over the course of one single extended set.

“That’s also part of being versatile and being a little bit different from other people — you can navigate all these different kinds of brands and sounds,” Shala says. “For us, there’s basically too much cool stuff out there to get stuck in one [genre]. We’re not going to play anything we don’t like, and that’s fun for us,” he continues. “It keeps us going and keeps us from becoming bored of ourselves or getting too automated — too robotic in what we do.”

“When I look at our inbox or messages, or see people at the shows, it’s apparent we are changing their lives.”

Once they found a place in the dance-music establishment, they set about building their own. In 2016, they launched their first record label, Siamese, as a way to release music without compromise. “It was just time for us to emancipate from all of that and put our own stamp on it,” Shala says. But the label, which is still active today, soon morphed into a launchpad for rising stars making deep, dark, and moving club music, and many esteemed names — Shiffer, Eduardo De La Calle, Ed Davenport — have ties to Siamese’s early days.

“We are so grateful for all of the journey, what we learned and what opportunities we have been given,” Shala says. “But I guess at one point it’s just important to create your own vision.”

That’s exactly what they’re doing with X. The Adrians think a lot about the path they’re paving. “If we go back to our first years to where we are now, we definitely were part of some movements already,” Shala says, with palpable pride in his voice. “Siamese became a platform where we released a bunch of artists which had their first releases ever. And now, we go with X to countries and really look for local producers to share their music with us, to get heard, which is in some places not so easy.”

In addition to spotlighting local talent at each X event, the duo also prioritizes touring in markets that are frequently overlooked, from countries with underdeveloped economies to regions recently impacted by armed conflict (like Beirut, where Adriatique played a show in July). The idea of making dance music safely accessible to everyone who wants it genuinely excites them. “We are both not the crazy explorers,” Shala says. “We really go there to create. We do our thing and leave the people with hopefully something they won’t forget.”

If that strikes any skeptics as too idealistic to be true, consider that there are far easier ways to score Clase Azul on the rider than booking faraway, non-traditional venues — like the towering marble quarry in Athens that may mark their most stunning choice yet.

“The concepts usually begin as something very futuristic, almost impossible, and then we have to translate that vision into reality,” says Schweizer, who’s gotten familiar with 3D design tools to help bring the wider team’s ideas for X to fruition. “That always means navigating limitations — structural, spatial, technical, or budget. Stage design, booth design, visual identity — each element requires compromise and problem-solving.” His main job? “Hold onto the core idea and find a way to make it physically possible without losing the essence of the design.” (Schweizer’s son apparently takes after his father: He made his own miniature LEGO model of the duo’s X stage.)

“We are so grateful for all of the opportunities we have been given. But at one point, it’s just important to create your own vision.”

The immense scale and moving goalposts of X can be nail-biting at times, especially when pondering the question: Where can we take this next? “I could play everything a bit down, but I guess I’m choosing to be honest, because that’s also what people want to read about — and yeah, it freaks us out all the time,” Shala says. “I would say almost 100% of the time. But I think that’s pretty normal, and it also has to be that way because it keeps you going. It keeps you developing new ideas. It keeps you evolving.”

Two core ideas guide them. The first: Design a show that floors the fans in attendance (though their screen displays will impress anyone following on Instagram, too.) Second: Make every show unique. “Where we diversify ourselves a little bit,” Shala says, “is still a very, very big effort in making the musical selection. To not just blow everyone away for 90 minutes and get their hands up. We are still approaching even these big events from a rave [mindset], from a listening experience.” He adds: “It’s these big-scale parties with big screens and big moments, but we don’t forget the essence of where we came from.”

Strip away all of the fanfare, and Adriatique’s sets stem from a simple place: damn good music. And that’s what they’ll shift their focus toward now as they make the most of their well-earned, and utterly human, weeks off the road. Then, it’s off to Dubai for another X unveiling — thankfully, desert rain is exceptionally rare — followed by a packed Art Basel weekend in Miami.

“I can tell you, there’s not a lot of time for Rocket League,” Shala says with a laugh. But they’ll probably squeeze in a few good matches — after all, it’s pretty clear they love a challenge.

Top image credit: On Adrian Shala: The Frankie Shop clothing, Versace sunglasses, Talent’s own jewelry, Ami Paris shoes; On Adrian Schweizer: Casablanca jacket and pants, The Frankie Shop shirt, Diesel sunglasses, Talent’s own jewelry, Louis Vuitton shoes