Fedele, born and raised in Bari, he discovered his passion for music very early, as well as his interest in different artistic expressions. He has just launched his solo project, and he is already releasing his first EP No Mercy For Beginners on Tiga‘s Turbo Recordings. We had a chat with him after his talk at Bridge_48, during the EP release party.
Who is Fedele, where does your passion come from?
I’ve always been passionate about music and technology. I studied violin at school, and this gave me a theoretical knowledge of music. I then got passionate about djing, as well as music production, I was fascinated by the infinite technologies you can use nowadays.
You started playing extremely young, and your favorite music was Hip hop and R’n’B. Do you think your sound today is influenced by these two genres?
I’m sure my sound has been influenced by all the musical genres I was exposed to during my professional growth, as DJ as well as producer. Hip Hop and R’n’B, specifically, have been important to me, I was influenced by the extraordinary amount of eclectic and innovative sounds with which the milestones of these two genres have been composed.
Now your sound, both in your productions as in your sets, is made of techno, electro, downtempo and breakbeat. Even though they are part of the same “family”, they are different music genres. Which do you think represents you the most?
I believe that the abundance of different instruments with which it’s possible to create music nowadays makes the exploration of new soundscapes almost a necessity. This exploration can be inspired by the different categories of sounds with which we are used to defining one genre rather than another, but it must also have the audacity to describe the present and its constant mutable flow.
Who or what inspires you the most? Are there other forms of art from which you draw inspiration?
Video art and cinema are the main artistic expressions which I try to use as a “distraction” and to get inspired. But I am constantly looking for artists who are able to communicate messages of human emancipation in artistic forms, as simple as dystopian, compared with the need to define the artistic field of belonging. Let’s take Banksy, street art, live performance, activism… A hybrid of art which can be linked exclusively to its creator.
Continuing on the subject of inspiration, who are the artists who inspire you the most? Who are the ones you learned from? Are they the same ones you listen to during your spare time?
Aphex Twin, Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode, Chemical Brothers, Mathew Jonson, are amongst those who taught me, through their productions, to structure my tracks believing in my own idea of music, before anything else! In my spare time, I still enjoy listening to them because they always surprise me, with the infinite shades of their sound alchemy.
How much time do you usually spend in the studio?
I’ve never been able to quantify it. Sometimes it seems to be far from enough, other times I lose completely the sense of it and I feel I’d like to run away, convinced I sacrificed too much time locked in the studio.
How is your studio organized? With what do you mostly work and what can’t absolutely miss?
My studio is organized in a simple way. I use the computer as a “brain”, with which I control everything, send the midi signals, clock, and record from the various analogue machines. I use a mixer to collect the signals with the direct outputs connected to my sound card. This more or less is my workflow.
In terms of the instruments, I use a lot my modular system, SH101, MS20, DX7 and the new Bass Station II, to which I could never renounce.
How important is to you the time spent in the studio and the time spent playing around?
They are two different experiences of personal enrichment. In the studio, you discover who you really are, in your frightening – because infinitely deep – artistic essence. When you play, you understand how much you can communicate that essence to the others, how much energy it releases through the emotions with which it is lived and danced, and the sense of those nights spent creating your own idea of sound.
Coming from Bari, you probably know very well the Italian clubbing scene. What do you think about it? What would you do to improve it?
Bari is a quite emancipated city in terms of electronic music events, but it suffers from a lack of institutional and entrepreneurial system in favour of its growth on an international scale. As well as in the rest of Italy! To improve yourself you have to overcome your limits, it costs effort, but it makes you special. I’d like everyone to think about it!
Considering your artistic life, as a musician, if you weren’t in Bari where would you like to be?
In a city full of stimuli for my creativity, where I would also have a studio fully equipped to let me express these stimuli in my music.
We know that recently you have spent a lot of time in Barcelona, working at your EP in one of the studios of Bridge_48, the co-working hub for musicians. How would you describe this experience?
I spent 3 unforgettable months and absolutely essential to my artistic growth. While Bridge_48 is already a point of reference for the city Barcelona, it is destined to increase in value in the whole electronic music scene. I am proud to feel part of the big family which stands behind this beautiful project!
A few days ago there was the release party of your EP. How was the experience of the talk at Bridge_48?
My experience at Bridge_48, and in Barcelona, after 90 days couldn’t end better. It was really exciting to see so much participation from the people who were there, to get to know my music and my person better. During these talks, I always hope I can inspire who’s sitting in front of me. When this happens, it’s a beautiful feeling, and it always reminds me that courage is highly contagious!
Turbo Recordings is one of the most prestigious labels of the electronic music scene. How do you feel in beeing released on such a label?
Pleasure From The Bass, the first disc I ever bought! I have always looked at Tiga, and his label Turbo, with a sincere admiration for their eclectic, avant-garde and cross-cutting way of being. Starting my solo career on this label is an ardently pursued goal and a dream that comes true, just as the closing of a circle.
What do you hope and think a release on a label like Turbo Recordings will bring to your career?
More awareness in my skills as a producer and a significant “endorsement” of the sacrifices in my search for new soundscapes.
Which are the next steps in your career? Are you already working on new music?
I am working on new material with which I want to demonstrates the infinite possibilities of electronic music in creating an energetic rhythm that flows from the harmony of innovative sounds.
(Cover Image: @ Phlame)