Giuseppe Ottaviani Interview

We chat to Giuseppe Ottaviani about not actually being a DJ,

his brand new GO ON AIR Compilation and Barbecues.

Q:

 Giuseppe Ottaviani is a name that’s been synonymous with high quality dance music for a very long time, tell us a bit about yourself from before you became the DJ/Producer we all know and love…? 

A:

Well it’s quite a long story but just in few words I’ve been involved in music since a very tender age, I studied piano for over 7 years and around 14 years old I became a dj playing around my area and having already my own radio show. Later I started to create my own music and finally I made Dreamland, the track that changed my life. I’ve got signed on Paul van Dyk’s label Vandit in 2001, my starting point as professional musician and producer, and since then I’ve been part of the family that allowed me to develop my career and actually to write this interview now 

Q: Italy has provided us with some of the biggest names in Dance Music, people like yourself, Manuel Le Saux, 7skies, Mauro Picotto and Benny Benassi just to name a few… and much earlier than that, Italy has been pioneering Dance Music, with groups like Cappella in the early 90’s and even earlier than that the original father of Disco, Mr Giorgio Moroder… how did Dance music cross your path, and what made you decide to make it such a big part of your life… 

A:

Music has always been a big part of my life, classical music at the beginning, EDM then. I used to be a huge fan of Mauro Picotto and all the Italian 90’s groups as well and that was the time when I decided to move to dance music. Then I started to look around for more music and I fell in love with what the rest of the Europe was calling Trance. Paul van Dyk became my favorite artist and the biggest inspiration for my own music…..i guess you can hear a little bit of it. 

Q:

You’ve just released an epic compilation called “Go On Air”, which shares a name with your show on afterhours.fm, tell us a bit about the compilation as well as the actual show?

A:

First thing you gotta know is that I’m not really a DJ but a producer and live act instead and I usually play my own music only but the thing is, there is so much good music around and I wanted to make my own selection and share it through a radio with my audience. Here’s the idea of a monthly radio show and afterhours.fm was the right choice. I started the show back in February and it has got a great feedback, that’s why I decided to release the compilation just few months later. I tried to make the compilation as much special as possible working hard to get exclusive tracks on it and to make remixes and reworks plus two brand new tracks exclusively for this compilation. I’m really happy about the result and hope people enjoy it too. 

Regarding the name Go On Air, well, we played around my name and actually GO stands for Giuseppe Ottaviani, On Air is obviously related to the radio activity but also it refers to “being on air” when I travel, spending part of my life into a plane, and mixing the radio shows when I’m on it. From here also the idea of being the “captain” of an airline that “sounds great” J 

Q:

It’s no secret that Paul Van Dyk is big fan of your’s, even back in the NU-NRG days, how did the meeting with PVD come about? 

A:

The first contact with Paul happened when he wanted to include Dreamland on his compilation The Politics Of Dancing and a year later (2002) we met in Berlin for the Love Parade. The Love from Above (PvD’s own party for the Love Parade weekend) was my first gig ever and the day after I played on the Vandit truck, floating through something around 1 million people who attended the Love Parade in Berlin. What a great memories! 

Q:

 Any artists you see coming up at the moment, that you think might be the next big thing? Someone to look out for in future? 

A:

I think Arty is one of the most talented producer of these days, he’s young and he sounds big. Not always my kind of music but I have to admit he’s just great in whatever he does. 

Q:

You’ve produced an arsenal of amazing tracks and remixes, which would you consider to be your personal favourite?

A:

Hard to decide but probably my favorite one is Linking People, first of all because I love the melody and secondly because that was my first track and starting point as solo artist. Just like Dreamland made my NU NRG days, Linking People is the starting point of Giuseppe Ottaviani solo career. 

Q:

What’s playing on your Car Radio/IPOD/Mp3 player at the moment? 

A:

I’m playing Armin van Buuren’s ASOT episodes, Paul van Dyk’s Vonyc Sessions and Ferry Corsten’s Corsten’s Countdown episodes as all three of them are strongly supporting my latest tracks and remixes at the moment and I love to listen to my music being played from others DJs on radio, especially if those DJs are the biggest ones 

Q:

What do you like to do when you're not DJ’ing or Producing? Any hidden talents? 

A:

Not much time left to be honest and not really hidden talents. When I’m free I just love to relax with family and friends, going out, spending most of the time at the beach, BBQs and so on. A very normal life.

Q:

What can we expect from Giuseppe Ottaviani in the near and distant future? 

A:

Now that Go On Air has been released I finally had the chance to start working on my new artist album. Only one track is done and there is a lot to do, but hopefully I will be able to release it not too late. Beside that I have a new collaboration coming up on Betsie Larkin album, it’s called Toys and we are looking to release it as a single in the near future, so keep an eye at www.giuseppeottaviani.com and www.facebook.com/giuseppeottaviani 

Thank you and all the best, 

Giuseppe

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Fergie (Robert Ferguson) Interview

We chat to Fergie about the chances of managing Manchester United, listening to Johnny Cash

and find out what some of his tattoos are all about.

Q:

You share a nickname with quite a famous duchess... Have you ever had situations where people were expecting to meet her instead of you?

A:

Ha Ha……hasn’t happened yet, although when i checked in to my hotel in Bulgaria a few weeks ago they had me down as Alex Ferguson ( Manchester United Manager )

Q:

 You've been DJ'ing for more than half your life, yet you've only just entered your 30's... What were you up to while other kids were busy with school work?

A:

The Djing all started in Larne in Northern Ireland. Me and school didn’t agree and I left school at 13 and pestered the local promoter to give me a job at the club….brushing the floor, cleaning the toilets and clearing the tables…but I didn’t care because he let me play on the decks and eventually I got to do a the warm up set but my first actual professional gig….the first one that I actually got paid for…… was at Airport 2000 in Antrim which at the time was one of the biggest clubs in Northern Ireland…… I remember finding it hard to put the needle on the record as my hands were shaking so much….I thought I had it made….I was 14 years old!

Q:

You were mentored by the late great Tony De Vit... How did this meeting come about? And how much would you say this meeting changed you as a person?

A:

Most people will know the story of how I met Tony De Vit who was a great inspiration to me. Tony was playing at the club on one of the nights that I was warming up and he heard me play and invited me over to England and introduced me to the club scene…Tony took me under his wing and I really appreciated his guidance and advice. I was lucky Tony helped me a lot not just about DJing but about the importance of reading the crowd, making time for your fans, getting down among the crowd but I was also very focused and knew that I wanted to be a DJ …I think about Tony a lot and I know that he would be pleased about how things have turned out for me…I still miss him. Sometimes when I look back its feels like I’m reading a book about someone else….the people I have met and the experiences I have had are way beyond what I would have ever imagined. Its crazy to think that my first ever tour was actually in South Africa for Vibe Magazine! I played in Durban, Cape Town, Pretoria, Bloemfontein, it was a great experience and I met a good friend called Flavio de Stfanis…(hey Flavio if you are out there please contact me) The crowds in South Africa were amazing and I still hold those first memories of playing there with Tony close to my heart. I look forward to my return and who knows perhaps I will bring some of the old tracks I played when I first came all over a decade ago :--)

Q:

 A lot of Hard-House's biggest DJ's including yourself, Anne Savage, BK and Lisa-Lashes have moved on to things like Breaks, Electro, Techno and Trance... What would you attribute this to?

A:

Changing my music was one of the biggest challenges I have faced as it was such a drastic change it took a long time to re-establish myself….. the best part of the past 10 years. It has been a tough journey with lots of ups and downs but it gave me a great sense of fulfillment as I was leaving everything I had built up to try some thing new and i feel i helped open the door for other djs to make the move. As a dj I have played quite a mix of music from house to the harder end of that genre and lots of weird bits in-between. I have never been afraid to try out different styles of music some good choices and some not so good but I have had a great time along the way finding out what I liked. I would say over the past 6 or 7 years that I have never felt more passionate about music whether that’s been playing it in clubs or making it in the studio.

I was pigeon-holed for such a long time with the whole hard house label, which was ok as that’s were I made my name and enjoyed playing it for a long time, but I felt that hard house changed quite a lot so it was time for me to move.

To say that I will never play hard music would be presumptuous. If I play a 3 or 4 hour set I still like to kick the arse of it but that’s all part of the journey. As I said before I’m playing the best music I have ever played, some of it’s hard some of it’s not. It’s all just great music!

Q:

Trends come and go, and while some things manage to stand the test of time, a lot of things seem to fall away... Like for example in "Dance Music Culture", your average "raver" used to dress a certain way... And the harder and faster the music was... The better... But today the scene in general seems to cater to a wider audience... Where do you see Dance music going in future?

A:

Yeah I think that was the case for a while but I think we are now in a much better place as I think the term techno is so broad now and less genre specific its all back under one umbrella so to speak which helps to keep everything fresh and lost of different aspects of techno merging together. I think its good to have a sound but to also be flexible, people want to hear different things now so its good to keep moving about with styles but still try and have your own.

Q:

What would we be surprised to find out about "Fergie"?

A:

I played for Northern Ireland Under 16s…I might have been a footballer instead of a DJ but I just had to follow the music 

Q:

 Are your tattoos decorative or is there a story behind them?

A:

The very first tattoo was just a Tribal Tattoo on my arm…I got it done in Ibiza and they guy who done it was so proud of it that he put a big picture of it in his window…however what happened then was that a lot of my fans who were in Ibiza to support me all went to him and got the exact same tattoo…..at the clubs we looked like we were in some kind of gang!

I have ‘Lost in Music’ tattooed across my stomach. When I changed my music I didn’t want to be ever pigeon-holed again…I just wanted to be lost in the music and to go wherever it lead me.

I have the word ‘Maktub’ tattooed on my forearm. I am a big fan of the author Paolo Cuellol who wrote a book called The Alchemist which was where I first came across the word MAKTUB, it’s an old Arabic proverb that means..’ It is written’. I was never a big reader but this book was different….I would go as far as to say that what I read in it changed my whole outlook on life.

Q:

What's playing on your MP3 player/ Ipod/ Car radio at the moment?

A:

I like nothing better that driving with the car hood down with Johnny Cash ‘ Get Rhythm’ blasting out…. TURN IT UP!

Q:

Where would we find you when you're not DJing or Producing?

A:

I love just chilling out with friends…talking about life’s experiences and just messing about playing old records from way back then!

Q:

What can we expect from "Fergie" In the near or distant future?

A:

I recently released my first album ( Dynamite & Laserbeams ) and I just heard that it has won the IDMA Award for Best Album 2010… I am very proud of it…I love every trak on there so I’m pleased that people liked it enough to vote for it. I am just completing a remix project for my album…..I picked a handful of producers who have inspired me the most over the past year and asked them to choose a track from the album to remix so that’s very exciting. Also, keeping to the Excentric philosophy which is to push new talent , we will be releasing our first compilation on Excentric Muzik with the super talents of Mr Henry Von who is one of the most promising dj/producer around and it has been a privilege for me to watch him grow and develop within Excentric Muzik fold.

Check out more on the legendary Fergie 

http://www.excentric-fergie.com

Interview by Johan De Kock

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Cristina Soto Interview

So… If you’ve been involved in the global Dance music scene at all for the last couple of years, the name “Cristina Soto” would have come across your path quite a bit… 

Q:

your work with Tritonal, and more recently with ATB has seen your voice travel the world from radio shows to major events all over the world… tell us a bit about “Cristina Soto” something we don’t already know?

A:

hmm... Well this may not be news if you already know me, but I grew up in Idaho. It is a remote mountain state in the Northwest. Whenever someone tells me they're from Idaho, I feel like I already know a part of them. It may sound silly but the state is so beautiful and I'll always associate it with being a kid. 

Q:

What would we typically find in a teenage Cristina Soto’s bedroom?

A:

I can tell you what you wouldn't find: a white wall in sight. I covered my bedroom from top to bottom in pictures, photos, and inspiring print media. There may have been a Jared Leto or Leonardo DiCaprio poster in the mix. No shame. 

Q:

You’re from Texas right? Now, I would Imagine that the stereotypical view of Texas goes something like this… 10 Gallon Hats, Cowboy Boots, Bible Belt, Heavy Accents, Country Music, Guns, A controversial ex-president…And just maybe some American Football… but the last thing I would Imagine coming out of Texas is one of the world’s top Trance acts! How did the meeting with Tritonal and Dance Music in general come about? and are there any stereotypical Texas customs you actually do enjoy?

A:

I met Tritonal through a mutual friend in the electronic scene here in Austin. Jesse Brede (shoutout!) put us in a room one day and we wrote our first song in a few hours... I'd like to think we've evolved and improved our sound since it takes us much longer now! As far as Texas customs, I’d say the food has been my favorite. I really love BBQ and Tex-Mex. Austin is a different kind of town though, so I don’t see too many 10-gallon hats in these parts. If Texas has taught me anything in the summertime it is to be close to a body of water whenever possible. 

Q:

Any chances of seeing a Cristina Soto Solo Album… and if so who would you like to work with?

A:

There's no solo album in the works at the moment but I'm keeping busy with single collaborations and the album release for the joint project with my brother, Suther & Brista. If I end up doing an album in the future, I’ll probably want to produce it with someone I know. It’s important to have a good relationship with your producer/engineer. As far as other artists I’d work with... I'd probably be all over the place for a diverse set 

of tracks.

Q:

I’ve always been a really big ATB fan… and really feel he’s quite underrated… how did the meeting with “Andre” come about?

A:

Our publishers made the intro and the project started immediately. We made both tracks over email and Skype! It was a crazy experience to work with someone at that level who I grew up listening to. 

Q:

Any question you’ve always wanted to be asked? A question you would love to answer… and if so… what’s the answer to the question?

A:

Haha I don't think I've ever wanted a specific question. I’m still surprised people want to interview me. One question I get a lot though is “how old are you?” So curious! 28. There :P

Q:

Out of all the tracks you’ve worked on, which stands out for you most and why?

A:

I think “Forgive Me, Forget You” will always have a place in my heart because it was such a transformational song writing process and chapter in my life. I literally wrote the song on my massage therapist’s table. The track went through a long journey of creation, rejection, and revival when it finally released.

Q:

Where would we find “Cristina Soto”, when she isn’t singing or writing music? Do you have any hidden talents, hobbies or passions?

A:

When I’m not doing music stuff, I’m geeking it up at my real job. I am a technical consultant by day… shhh don’t tell anyone ;) I ride my bike a lot, cook and bake up scratch meals for my people, and volunteer with Big Brothers Big Sisters. If I’m not doing one of those, I’m plotting mischief (which must remain top secret). 

Q:

Is there any track ever written, that you wish you had written or done vocals for… or for that matter… would love to do a cover of? 

A:

I find myself wishing I had written a verse/lyric or a vocal run more than a whole song. I'd love to cover something from the 80s. 

Q:

What can we expect from “Cristina Soto” In the near and distant future?

A:

Near Future: What time is it? Lunch. 

Really though - I’m always singing so tracks are in the cards... possibly a music video... and more live dates with Tritonal. Stay tuned ;) 

interview by Johan De Kock.

Check out Cristina's Website for more on the amazing Singer, Songwriter...

http://cristinasoto.com

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