mmm this one’s a goodie. Hailing from Italy, PLAY/STOP bursts onto my blog with those oh so nice house soundz..
Interview.
1. I’m very happy PLAY/STOP is on this blog-welcome! These songs fit snugly between some old school house grooves, and the much more gritty, battery-acid like distorted sounds of more current electronic dance music..how has this sound developed?
P(Paolo):Thanks for the space you are giving us Trevor. I think our main aim is to have a musical impact on the listener. I believe that to achieve this impact, the songs should be simple and the old school house grooves are perfect for that. The use of distorted and sequenced synth comes for sure by the modern electro/house (French mostly) scene. I love the way this kind of synth lines get stuck in your head. Another key element of our music is for sure the use of sidechain compression, which is a technique used a lot by artists like Daft Punk.
S(Simo): For me the sound of these tracks derives from the sensation of the moment. Paolo, the mind, was in a particular mood :the new experience in eletronic music (we’d never done house music before) and old inspiration (80’s house music) came together in PLAY/STOP.
Artist: PLAY/STOP | Song: All in your eyes by Disco Droppings
2. “All In Your Eyes” especially grabs me, it’s got those synth stabs..like..in “Show Me Love”..what non-musical inspirations do you pull from when it comes to songs like this? How long did it take for you to feel confident in bringing these emotive sounds out in PLAY/STOP music?
P: I am glad you like the song. Well I never listened to “Show me love” before and I admit, those are the synth stabs you mentioned. I think they are wildly use in dance music because of their rich and fat sound. The non-musical inspiration is very instictive, based on our surroundings and daily lives. I don’t think I can manage to describe it and still make sense. Sometimes songs come out very aggressive and harsh, sometimes they are very melodic. I really wish I could write songs that unite power and melody as some masters like Daft Punk or Royksopp manage to do, but I think it will take time and experience to reach those levels.
Artist: PLAY/STOP | Song: Anonymous Letter by Disco Droppings
3. What’s the electronic community like in Italy?
P: Well, there are very famous artists like Crookers and Bloody Betroots for sure. You may like them or not, but you have to admit they had an impact. Then, there is Benny Benassi, awesome producer. I think many of hardest house and electro producers(us included) owe a lot to him, and songs like “Satisfaction” a big “thank you”. For the rest I don’t really know, there some exciting events, but I don’t see that willingness to create something new.
S: In Italy there are a lot of interesting producers and labels doing electronic music. I think the electronic music scene is much more active than the “acoustic” one. This happens thanks to the club scene that helps electronic producer and DJ’s start up compared to bands.
Artist: PLAY/STOP | Song: Suarez-suarez-suarez! by Disco Droppings
4. How were you first introduced to electronic music?
P: My brother has a lot of electronic vinyls. One day he put on a Vitalic single and I loved it. The passion for the production of electronic music came years later, when I left my band because I moved to another country. I started with an electro oriented project and finally this summer I started with Simone, the PLAY/STOP project.
S: My first electronic experience was in a club here in Turin with a Techno/Hardcore DJ, Tatanka. My first work in electronic music has been made with a cheap software of samples and a minimal sequencer (Dance DJ and MagiX music studio). Now I use Reason and , thanks to Paolo, Ableton Live.
5. What DJ’s/Producers etc. are really getting you excited?
P: There are so many nice producers out there… The whole Ed Banger label offers excellent stuff, then Vitalic, Dj Hell, Benassi, Deadmau5, Lifelike, Bag Raiders, Joe and Will Ask?…. I can go on and on.
S: Boyz Noise, Tiga, Joe & will ask, Squarepusher, Daft Punk, Sebastien Tellier, Mr. Oizo
6. Advice for the young electronic artists reading this?
P: Just produce the music you like, don’t follow the fashion of the moment, because the most important thing in music is personality. People have to recognize your songs between tons of other tracks. On the technical side, just compare some top level produced song with yours and see what you can improve on: computers are a really powerful tool to achieve professional results.
S: We are young artists 🙂
http://soundcloud.com/play-stop
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001514417736
http://www.myspace.com/playstopdisco
Keep it on PLAY,
-P
dd 