Abyss & Dj Remo Interview - Forensic Records Forensic Records hooked up with two of Italy’s finest producers, currently taking the electronic scene by storm, with four new tracks jammed into their new collaboration EP, about to be released on Forensic this month. We try and find out a little more about these hard working Europeans, how they managed to end up in the studio together and their secrets to success or if it’s simply something in the Italian water that breeds musical talent. Amongst the masses of self hyped, facebook-fueled producers that consistently try the shortcut to musical success; there are few who choose to start with such solid foundations as Giuseppe Morabito aka Abyss. Born in Naples, the Italian Producer turned heads last year with the single “Mind Games” on Ben Watt’s highly acclaimed Buzzin’ Fly Records. Although by no means his first studio output, this mystical and dark mover was a killer record and certainly caught a lot of people’s attention with everyone from John Digweed to Jerome Sydenham; who has recently signed him to his label Ibadan. It was “Mind Games” that caught the eyes and ears of talented Dj and fellow Italian producer Dj Remo, “I was in Montreal for a gig, when I heard a track from Bender, a dj from there, and I really liked it – the track was Mind Games by Abyss, says Remo. I had never heard of him before so when I came back I did a little research only to find his myspace and that he was from Italy too.. ” After exchanging messages online and what we can only imagine as being the usual online chit chat, the two met in Milan and decided straight away that a joint studio project would be a great idea. A project that was Abyss’s first professional experience since his days back at Planet Funk Studios in 1990. Clearly not happy with staying put as tea boy there, maturing under the sounds of Alex Neri, Abyss’s constant exposure to the club and music scene has had considerable influence over his productions today and led to early collaborations with Andy Ruocco for native label Bustin’ Loose. Don’t be fooled into thinking that this experience was anything more than a foot in the door, “no one really helped me, all I have done is the result of my own efforts and determination” Taking confidence with being credited as programmer & engineer assistant on the first Planet Funk album, Giuseppe took the plunge with going solo and went on to have several records released under his new found Abyss moniker. “I’m not a Dj”, states Giuseppe, who has always aimed his career towards that of production as a way of him seeing people enjoying his music, and has firm intentions to take his studio experiences on the road as a live show together with making his mark on the Dj circuit. With a clear vision to create new and interesting music, experimenting with fresh sounds with a very high attention to detail, His influences may come of no surprise, including Moby, John Digweed, Ame, Ben Watt, Trentmoller and so on… but one thing that Giuseppe strives to be is constantly different, something he admits is very difficult especially when most electronic music coming out of Italy instantly has tribal, electronic and minimal written all over it, in the fattest genre pen lurking under the counter of record shops worldwide. Even Remo thought that the sound Abyss was creating came as a surprise to him given the fact he lived in Naples. These Italians are two producers that like to change, experiment and blend different genres, and between them their influences and tastes in music pretty much cover the full spectrum, House, Techno, Trance and lastly Hip Hop, which Remo says he could have quite easily ended up playing and producing. Thank heavens that the rhythms of house steered him away, although a later very important remix of Coolio and Snoop Dogg’s “Gangsta Walk” which helped open the gates to a much wider audience for him may have some underlying significance. Abyss spent many years developing a sound that is deeper and atmospheric while still maintaining the driving house sound we can associate with Italy, and it’s the record shops and clubs that play an important role in allowing him to be exposed to fresh music to feed his appetite for inspiration. If anyone can bring club experience to the table whilst working on collaborations, Dj Remo can, who has been constantly working hard and touring the world since gaining his first residency on the terrace of Ibiza’s super club Pacha. All packed with his records, youth, determination and images of the white isle from magazines most likey read from cover to cover a hundred times, 20 year old Remo left his hometown of Milan and headed for the lights of Ibiza in the hope of a chance to get to play. Having worked his way up from studio tea boy Abyss feels that new talent should be given the same opportunities as established artists, a subject that Remo can also relate to, giving a sense of dislike towards the way in which the Italian music industry operates and is structured. With no efforts given to shine light on up and coming dj’s in Italy its no wonder he made journey to Ibiza to fulfil his dream. “the first period on the island was not easy at all, it was very hard to find a place to play for a young guy” An introduction to the art direction staff through one of Pasha’s barmen, led to the chance to play on the roof terrace. An opportunity that would prove fundamental in him becoming one of their residents, not just for the summer, but for the next three years. ” I have been privileged to make my mess kit in such a big club, such a good starting point for my career” Well we certainly couldn’t agree more, which eager young jock wouldn’t swap their bedroom for the dance floor at one of the world’s greatest clubs. Although with different routes to success, and almost complete opposite starting points whether it be Djing or production coming first, both Remo and Abyss share the same passionate drive towards their exposure to music around them. Remo’s starting point in production although seemingly a natural progression from turntables to keyboards was actually by chance with a group of friends delving into software such as Reason and Logic. Remo has since gone on to release music on labels such as Re-Vox, Dance Electronic and Steve Lawler’s Viva label amongst many others. It was the first and real electro age of Afrika Bambaata, Warp 9 and Cybotron that really inspired Remo to start djing, with particular mention going to Josh Wink, being the first artist to make his mark on the young Pacha resident. Remo’s huge exposure to travelling Dj’s from around the world has created a strong belief that it’s not great to put containments on music nor talk too much about classification of his tracks. It is immediately apparent that generalisation is something he tries’s very hard to stay clear of. With the Italians famous for style, it’s encouraging to hear that substance is something that both Remo and Abyss regard equally important with their approach to production. Melody, a factor often shoved into a dark corner of the studio and sadly forgotten about in a lot of electronic music today, is top of this list of importance for them both. “The most important thing for me is the presence of melody on the tracks, personally I consider the melody, the most recognisable feature of a track, the element that can make isolated sounds very unique.” Abyss makes note of the fact that “my tracks are based on melodic turns and I think this is what remains in people’s minds” a statement that couldn’t be more true with his single “Mind Games” doing exactly what it says on the tin. Very apparent in their EP on Forensic Records, that combines driving house, with emotive and deep euphoric sounds, all with a very smooth edge to them. With an artist album in the works and continued busy touring schedule Dj Remo shows no sign of slowing down, whist Abyss’s output strengthens his reputation as a solid Italian export to keep a close eye on. Words – Neil Bainbridge _____________________________________ DJ REMO AND ABYSS – “SKIM / DIRTY COLOURS / SHAKER” IS OUT DECEMBER ON FORENSIC RECORDS (FOR057) AVAILABLE AS DIGITAL DOWNLOAD FROM: BEATPORT.COM DJDOWNLOAD.COM XPRESSBEATS.COM ADVANCED COPIES UP NOW AT : http://www.djdownload.com/news.php?id=144&pg= FORENSICRECORDS.CO.UK MYSPACE.COM/FORENSICRECORDSUK
should be - here is direct link to whole EP - http://www.djdownload.com/search.php?st=FOR57&f=searchBox&s=datedesc&sf=all&x=27&y=12 Neil
Sound, it's show'd up on there http://www.djdownload.com/labels/Forensic+Records/439 thats the page i ended up at
