Après ce très bon podcast de l’italien The Noisemaker, on vous propose d’en savoir plus sur lui à travers cette interview où il nous déballe les étapes de son parcours, sa vision transdisciplinaire de l’art, et comme d’hab ses influences et ses projets futurs.
- Hi Riccardo, thanks for answering our questions. Would you introduce yourself in a few words?
Hello guys and thanks for inviting me! So … I’m Riccardo and currently living in Treviso, a small town near Venice. I have always been passionate about technology and electronic music; I started at the age of 11/12 years old, listening to techno, house, garage and electronics from old cassette tapes of my older brother. I remember with pleasure that the continuous discoveries of new artists excited me and gave me the impetus to deepen my listening. Years later, I began to mature musically and taken the art of DJing and then move to productions and live sets a few years later. My experience at the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice with the later degree in visual and performing arts gave me the opportunity to gain further artistic standpoint.
- Can you describe your pathway through the complex and intricate world of electronics ?
As I said before, I started as a simple listener, and then I moved on to DJing and later productions and live sets. Only in recent years I have tried to perform more experimental combinations of sounds and images, sound researches (but that’s another side of me still unknown to many)
- Your tracks got remixed by some of the greatest Techno artists outthere: Inigo Kenndy, Paul Birken, Abstract Division… How did you collaborate with them?
The tracks I have made for Raw Waxes, around 3 Ep vinyl gave me the opportunity to make a huge leap in quality and to collaborate with great artists that I admire (Inigo, Abstract, Mike Parker and Blind Observatory).
It all started with the friendship with the label owner of Raw Waxes: Lorenzo that during the period of our acquaintance was planning to launch a new label (Raw Waxes).
A bit by chance or maybe just to get feedback on what I was doing during that time I sent him the track and he immediately contacted me super happy and he said: Let’s do on Raw!
Meanwhile, the label grew with some releases with really important names and I could not be more and more happy …
Together we decided who to contact for the remix and then at their positive feedback I was really happy!
On the other side I had the opportunity to know the Silent Steps boss: Octave with which I brought first two releases in digital and then finally an EP vinyl with a remix of Paul Birken. It was an enormous joy and personally I am very satisfied with the work done. it’s respects a period of life (at that time I was really in to the 303 sounds style).
- Loads of your productions are quite raw and tough, though you also have a more atmospheric side and really love this ambivalence. Is this reflecting an ambivalent personality?
You’re probably right .. I’ve never noticed it … when I start to produce I try not to put too many bollards … I sit there and let the gesture prevail on the thought. Actually what I currently prefer is a little side of raw with a bit melancholy, always with a touch of hypnotism that characterizes my productions… Probably all of these reflects also my personality ..
- We can feel you are pretty much into breakbeat Techno. You must have some influences from the sound of Birmingham…
With the years passing by, I was listening to that sound more and more and I felt to experiment it more … Definitely the sound of Birmingham but also the Detroit style, the Italian one or the crudeness of Berlin have characterized my productions. Specially in recent years where most of the techno music was linked to 4.4 it is normal that a producer looks for new forms with which to operate, without abandoning the danceable side (dance feeling).
In august, the legendary Cocorico club at Riccione/Italy had a temporary closing after the death of a 16-year-old-boy due to ecstasy use. This is not helping the Techno culture to erase its bad image with drug abuse…
The club scene, especially in its early 90’s owes much of its boom in the use and often abuse of these substances.
Anyway I do not want now to point the finger at anyone .. I think that the fault is a bit of all … by promoter, laws, the state, and ending with the individual elements.
At first I do not think it is right to be able to get a 16 year old boy in a place like Cocoricò. I never had the opportunity to go there.
Their scheduling has never impressed me musically, a little because I am convinced that the best music scenes take place in small clubs with a small clientele and not only in bigclubs built to churn out profits.
Having said that I think the managers and promoters have the DUTY to educate their clients to the music. If you create a bad musical situation you find your club full of poor ignorant people who go there just to take drugs or to conflict. Why I always repeat: the people who attended the local reflects the musical choices of the promoters or managers (you deserve the people that you deserve).
Regarding individuals: people are responsible for their own choices .. peoples knows exactly what they are getting by buying substances in a club or on the street!(there are no controls) Use your head!.
I also believe that everyone understands that the proibizionism on drugs has not even positive effects on consumption. Enough with this taboo!..let people must be informed about what is going to take and the doses.
We wants information not repression!
A lot of italian artists are now settled in Berlin, are you considering doing the same? How would you explain such great creativity coming from Italy?
Berlin has long been the favorite place for art in general. Surely even the low cost of living influences to attract more and more people and makes the underground scene and people will always maintain a high level and quality of proposal.
Here in Italy we are full of talent. Our problem is that the promoters always prefer to call he usual big names from abroad without realizing that there are good guys (even very young) that deserve to play.
Do you have any connection with the techno scene in France? What do you think about it?
The French scene such as all Europe is enjoying this second great wave of techno began a few years ago.
Personally I played in Nice a few years ago and I must say it was one of the most beautiful nights in which I took part. The place was not particularly big but people reacted great!
Do you listen to other genres of electronics? What’s your favorite non electronic music track(s) or artists?
Mainly I listen to electronic music groups however related the electronic genre as Massive Attack, Moloko, Mogwai, Ryuichi Sakamoto, New Order, Joy Division, Bjork, Brian Eno. I follow a lot of an Italian artist called Battiato and then when I want to relax I listen a lot if Erik Satie.
- What inspires you besides music ?
Everything around me has always inspired me. All countries I visited and all the nice people I met over the years, the people I have been close, friends and loves .. Even contemporary art if you know how to read offers good ideas to think about.
- What’s coming up for you in the next months?
October is a month of great satisfaction! I will perform at the famous Dude club in Milan with an audio visual performance that I have developed over the past two years. This will be the premiere of my project named “OX”. Then I will return to Berlin for Tresor where i will play a liveset with my pseudonym “the noisemaker” in the same night with Octave One, Von Grall, Synthek and Birth of Frequency.
Regarding releases, I scheduled two vinyl, one respectively for Natch rec from Synthek and the other one for Raw waxes. In both release I will present four original tracks … this time there are no remixers involved.
No need to add that I look forward to seeing them out and get feedback from professionals.