15 Minutes And A Mix: Massimo Girardi

Belgium certainly is enjoying a purple patch in regards to electronic music at the moment. From the global appeal of Uber festival Tomorrowland and Dour to the sounds of Locked Groove, Marco Bailey and Goose things are certainly on the up. A name you’ll soon be able to add to that list of illustrious exports will be Massimo Giradi as the talented son of Italian parents looks to be making big waves in the scene this summer. With a new EP just having dropped on Little Helpers it looks like it’s onwards and upwards for Massimo and we’re sure you’ll be hearing plenty of his productions on the White Isle and beyond as the mercury begins to rise.  With big things planned we caught up with Massimo to discuss his passion for music, how he nearly became a professional football and cooking with his girlfriend amongst other things… 

If I could take you back to the beginning and ask you what first drew you to electronic music?

Well I’ve always been fond of music… I remember myself recording music from radio shows onto tapes and then playing them all day long. I must have been around 10 years old then. When I grew older, I passed a lot of different styles like new wave, hard rock, punk, hip hop, jungle until I slowly found electronic music to stick with! The thing that really made me go for electronic music is my first house tape, recorded in a legendary after club in Belgium called Globe from DJ Frank Zolex… He really drove me crazy.

In you’re career you’ve seen a lot of changes. What changes do you think have been for the better and is there anything you’d like to change back?

In my personal opinion, I think the saddest thing happening in Belgium is that a lot of clubs are forced to close due to noise pollution, complaints by neighbors etc. I remember having lots of gigs in after clubs about 7 years ago, but at this point I can’t come up with one that hasn’t been closed down. This really affected the scene. There are still enough clubs, but for a DJ, playing at an after party is still the best way to feel closer to the crowd and to end a perfect night I guess.  I could also draw attention to the introduction of the digital scene but I prefer to keep this for myself and let anyone choose what he feels best.

How do you think it’s affected your musical style? Who influences you?

I have a lot of artists that affected my musical style… I really look up to people like Ricardo Villalobos, Zip, Baby Ford, only to name a few. I think I have always enjoyed their DJ sets and productions. I could come up with a lot more names but I think you know exactly what kind of artists I’m going to mention .

Where was your first gig? How did it go?

My first gig was at a birthday party from a co-student of mine. That went really well but there were only 50 people listening so I wasn’t very nervous. Unlike my second gig in front of 500 people… Broken needles, no monitor speaker… I think I was sweating even harder than when I would have been running 15 miles! In the end, I was lucky because my set time was only at 4 am so everybody was wasted and I got away with it.

Tell us what are your favorite bits of kit both to play live and produce with in the studio?

I work with Cubase 7 on PC. I’ve just ordered my first analogue synthesizer though so I’m very excited about that. It’s a Dave Smith Mopho… But until now, I only worked like ‘box in the box’. I use a lot of digital vst’s etc… I’m a big fan of Native Instruments’ Komplete series & Maschine.

Is there a special or any unusual process you go through when building tracks?

I don’t have a particular process but I listen to a lot to music so I always pay attention to how arrangements are built. Sometimes I even try 3 edits when DJing before I end up finalizing the track, just to realize which one gives me the best response and how I feel best with it.

Do you feel that mixing on vinyl is a dying art?

I don’t think so. I still play vinyl, combined with CD’s. When visiting the local vinyl stores, I still notice a lot of people buying it. Vinyl will never die! I also know a lot of artists playing digitally, but still buying vinyl. So you see…

How do you go about set building? Off the cuff organic mixes or do you have a rough plan for where your playing? Where are your favorite places to play?

I usually know what I’m about to play, else I’d have to carry too much bags! But I can say it’s totally unprepared… You just need to get close to the floor’s mind and carry them with you. I think this is quite impossible when a set is prepared. Like most DJ’s, I prefer to play several hours, and I mean more than 2… Building up a set just takes a bit…

2013 has been the year of the collaboration. Are there any collaborations we’ll be seeing you engaging in the near future?

I just released a remix together with Hermanez… In the near future, there will be a collab with Ramon Tapia too… I’ve got some other things in the pipeline too.

If you could play literally anywhere and with anyone where would you play and who with?

There are a lot of artists I’d like to DJ with… It could be anyone, as long as we have fun… Please don’t take ‘anyone’ too literally because our musical interest has to be equal of course. And if there is one place I’d love to play at right now, I’d have to name Amnesia in Ibiza… I had the best parties over there. Cocoon heroes for example have always been amazing.

What would your advice be to the new generation of DJ’s and producers?

A piece of advice I always follow is: “Enjoy what you do and you will last doing it for a long time.”

You were very nearly a footballer with one of Europe’s biggest clubs in Anderlecht, tell us more about this and how you made the transition to becoming a music producer? Are you glad to be behind the decks rather than in front of the goal? The current Belgium team looks pretty good…

I played at Anderlecht for 7 years. I really loved playing football but I started very young. When I was 11, I moved to Anderlecht from a small local club. This was a big change, especially for someone that young. I even lived in Brussels for a year, to reduce distances and having more time for school. Anyway, I chose the music because I thought that playing football wasn’t such a good idea and simply enjoyed it more than football.

The Belgian team is doing good things indeed. I even know some of them from back in the day but they probably won’t remember me!

What do you do to relax?

There is little time to relax since I have a nine to five job, too. But when I find time to relax, I enjoy going to a pub, digging through old vinyls and of course spending time with my girlfriend. A mutual hobby of ours is cooking…

Where has been your favorite place to play?

I have a couple of places that really stayed in my mind. First of all, there’s Silo, a club that has been closed for 2 years now I think. I was resident there for a concept named Forbidden Fruit. Untill now, those were the best gigs I ever had! Today, I’m a resident for Café d’Anvers in Belgium and they host a stage at world’s biggest festival ‘tomorrowland’ each year where it is always great to play there andnot to forget, I played in Cocoon club in  Frankfurt where Chris Tietjen invited me. That was such an amazing experience.

Can you tell us a few names of producers’ work you are really enjoying at the moment?

There are a lot of young producers coming up. I really dig Egal 3’s productions, Ivel Tax, Ilario Liburni, only to name a few. I’ve been playing a lot of their tracks and I think they are awaiting a bright future when continuing like this.

What does the future hold for Massimo?

You may expect some more releases. I have just released a track on Re-Up’s Kina Music. My EP for Little Helpers just came out and I’m working on my second Memoria EP. As to DJing, I’m playing quite a few festivals this year too. There is also Ibiza, Off Sonar Barcelona, Cavo Paradiso in Mykonos, Tomorrowland in Belgium, to name a few… Some great things ahead if you ask me!