Alex Piccini: Made In Italy

Alex Piccini is a longtime Italian producer who has been DJing since the age of 16 when he bought his first turntables. He has since released on labels such as Saved, Inmotion Music, Waveform Recordings, Cecille , Defected and Serkal and many more. He can be seen playing all over Italy and Europe and recently rocked a great set at the infamous Question Mark in London.

His sound can be described as an oscillating mixture of House and Techno with a deep vibe and powerful undertone. Alex is a resident at Italian event,  Altavoz which also regularly features artists such as Wolf & Lamb, Laura Jones, Guti, Ben UFO, Davide Squillace , Octave One , Alex Picone amongst others.  Passion being the key, Alex spends more hours in the studio than most of us spend at a full-time job, describing music as his life and like many he wouldn’t trade it for anything else in the world.

His label Kosmophono has received support from artists such as  Nima Gorji , NTFO , Julie Marghilano , Re-UP , Internullo , Amo , Egal3 , Matt Star , and countless others as the imprint sticking to the mantra that it is all about the music and as such should be about exhibiting aspiring talented artists and quality tracks.

Data Transmission caught up with Alex to speak about his upcoming and past project and what the future holds for this innovative Italian producer.

Alex, thank you for taking the time to chat with us today, we’ve been seeing quite a lot of buzz being generated out of Italy with artists such as Joseph Capriati, Leon and of course Marco Carola, it must be something in the pasta that makes for such great artists and productions! There seems to be a very vibrant and lively scene in Italy and many artists start out at a very young age, are there any Italian artists that have influenced your music style at a younger age?

Hello. It’s a pleasure to be here. Since I was very young I have been influenced from many different styles of music as my father used to buy a lot of records. Jazz, blues, rock , 80s, you name it he played it. It was only when I was 16 that I start discovering electronic music. Having gone to many parties around the North of Italy at that time, I was inspired by artists such as Claudio Coccoluto, Francesco Farfa, Flavio Vecchi, Massimino and many others. Since their music style was so different from each other, every one of them gave me an inspiration that  whencombined with my own music background contributed to the development of my style.

You seem to be getting quite a bit of recognition for your productions and releasing on quite a few major labels,  it seems that you can’t keep away from the studio at the minute so can we expect more touring in the future or are you looking to continue to focus more on producing?

I usually spend every day in the studio, for around 8 to 10 hours , but it doesn’t really feel like a job, because it’s easy for me to do what I love. Before producing, I spend a lot of time listening to new and old music, looking find inspiration; not just from electronic music, but from other genres too. I put a lot of effort into each of my productions. I can never be too far away from my studio as music is my life and I can ‘t live without it.

Going back to the electronic music scene in Italy, where are your favorite places to play?

In Italy there are a lot of good clubs t lisent electronic music; the scene is very big and the crowd is very hot!  I’m a great supporter! I’ve played many sets around the country in all the key cities – Milano, Roma, Veneza, Torino, Napoli and Palermo to name just a few. But  where I really love playing is at my residency in Mestre for Altavoz . This club always has a lot of different music and people on two big dancefloors. It looks like a monthly festival and it’s a very important event in northern Italy!

Sounds cool. How do you approach each performance in terms of track selection?

Naturally I choose my tracks from a selection of music that I’m enjoying most at the moment, but I also like to take some older records or “evergreen” out from my bag. I listen to a lot of different music in preparation for a set, and I always have a certain kind of mood in mind for each one.

Your label, Kosmophono Records, has been around for 4 years and now it seems it has taken a new direction. Tell us more about it.

I’ve always dedicated most of my time to either the studio or playing and that’s why I had little time to invest on Kosmophono but now, with the help of Jean Bressan, I’ve managed to get back on track and do some work for Kosmophono. It’s been over a year now that we’ve had monthly releases from up and coming artists backed by remixes from more well-known artists. It’s a well used formula. Currently  We have upcoming  releases from Alex Tea with remixes from Egal 3 and Groovesh , Amo with reworks by Matt Star and Statis Lazzarite, Reelow with a remix by Marcman and  Emiliano Ferreyra as well as fresh music from Cicuendez , Re-UP and many other ! A lot of good music is coming out on Kosmophono so watch this space!

The past year has been very productive for you and seen you release of a variety of different labels. Are you planning to continue this path of focusing your time in the studio or might we see you spend more time on the road?

Yeah, it’s been a very productive year, I’ve worked hard in the studio and I’m happy with the results so far. I  have had good feedback from my last 2 EPs: the first one on Inmotion, with a remix from Hermanez and the second one on Little Helpers. Both EPs had support from some of my favourite artists which has been great. In the near future, I’m working on 2 remixes and four new collaborations!  I have a busy schedule ahead but it’s all very exciting.

4 collaborations! Well we’ll look forward to hearing who they are with. What else does the future hold for Alex Piccini?

I am moving to Berlin in a few days so I’m very excited about having my new base there as this is a new chapter in my life. I have played in Berlin few times and I like the city and its people a lot. Since there are  many clubs there, hopefully I will get to listen to a lot of new music and this will surely inspire me in the studio.

Words: Richard Coulson