How are you, how was your festive break?
Hi guys! Nice to meet you and thank you for your interview. I’ve spent my Christmas holidays with family and friends. I travel a lot all year for music and Christmas time has always been an occasion for me to be with my parents.
After so long in the game, what keeps you inspired and motivated?
I have been working in the music business for almost 25 years and things have changed a lot over time. Following the music market you must understand its new directions and marketing strategies. Music is a challenge and if you are part of this world you must know how to evolve. This is a continuous stimulus for me. I went from DJ to record producer & song writer passing through the booking & artists management… and now my new challenge will be music publishing. So: let’s go on!
Why was now the right time for a new album? Did you have something specific to say?
The album “Music Is Everywhere” was two years of hard work for me. This was the reason why I disappeared from the record scene and from the tours for all this long time. I wanted to dedicate myself to new sounds, new genres and new emotions. In recent years I have listened to a lot of music genres as Jazz, Indie, Rock, Trip Hop, Flamenco. I thought it made sense to create something that expresses myself … and this album encloses my feeling. I don’t want to feel forced to make a monthly release to be present on the market. My career as an artist has been long and has given me a lot of satisfaction. Now for me important is to compose music when I feel something is really special to offer, therefore: fuck the dance market rules!
It has a broad range of styles on it – did you have to learn new skills to make this album?
This album was born from the collaboration with several musicians, singers and has committed me to play guitar, bass and drums, not just synthesizers. On many tracks I mixed electro music with live music and the result was a mixture of musical genres that lies between pop and techno. In this work, however, I was influenced also with esoteric and hypnotic sounds inspired by Pink Floyd and Massive Attack. “Music is everywhere” (the first track which give the album title) is a perfect example: psychedelic rock, jazz and opera singing fused with techno.
Are there any certain bits of gear you used to make the album that define its sound do you think? Are you a collector of music making tools and toys?
For sure guitar (beyond piano) was fundamental for the album creation. The synthesizers used for this work was really different : Moog, Nord Lead, Juno 106, Oberheim DMX, Roland TR 707, Elektron Analog Four and more.. All this equipment is present in my recording studios (I’m a synth collector of course..). For the mixing of the singles we’ve used NEVE and the technical producer was my great friend Andrea Mariano.
There is lots of melody on the album – are you formally trained? Or is it more experimental than that?
I agree with you : this production is very melodic, especially compared to my last dance releases. In some tracks there’s also a lot of classical music bases. I spent many time listening works by Beethoven, Mozart, Chopen, Schubert and this has influenced the massive use of strings and the arpeggios on the whole album. In the end of the song “Omnium” I inserted real violins that follow the bass and then move on the notes of a Venetian rondo. The same harmonic of “Poesia” or the ending of “Untouchable” is an explicit reference to classical music. In almost all the songs on the album I weave melodies with experimental sounds and underground bases. The end result is exactly what I wanted: to elevate my electronic music to something more deep, eclectic and refined.
Are there any tracks that were extra hard to get right, or any that you really like more than the rest?
The single “I’m leaving” is my first experiment in POP music. This track was sung by the famous flamenco songster Azahar Lopez and gave me positive vibes and a different approach on the music. The track “Whisper” I think is one of the best deep house tracks I’ve composed. On the songs “Into Space” and “Fine Tuning” I’ve tested trip hop, amazing genre I really love.
Honestly I have a couple of songs that I prefer and that in my opinion will make a difference after the release of the album, but I prefer not to tell you which ones… Fingers crossed! 🙂
It comes on a brand new label – tell us what the label will be about?
The label is JBX and is part of Jukebox Management, a company I’ve founded with Alex Jukes, Andrea Mariano and Mark Lawrence. On this label we’ll produce the albums of our artists in management and EPs with great remixers. The label started very well, we’re happy about the results on VEVO, Beatport and about the great feedbacks and support the big Djs gave us.
What else have you got coming up in 2020?
This year, in addition to Jukebox Management, I will be busy launching a truly incredible project. We are preparing a company that will be born as “artistic collective” and that will deal with music publishing, contemporary art, events and above all : charity! We want to make a real contribution to what is happening in our planet: it’s time to act, before it’s too late!
Is there anything else left in your career that you would like to achieve?
Honestly, I think everything I went through as a DJ in the 90s is unrepeatable. Times have changed and now everything is more difficult, but as wrote before: that’s a great challenge for me! The only goal I’ve set for myself starting from this year is to do only what I like : I will continue to travel, to deal with music business, to love contemporary art (I am an art collector) and certainly to compose a lot of music for me and for other artists. I think there is nothing more beautiful than living! Peace! 🙂
Pre-order AudioHell LP “Music Is Everywhere” released on JBX here!
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