Claudio PRC is an Italian deep techno specialist who takes cues from avant-garde and ambient sounds, utilising aspects of the abyssal echoes of early hypnotic acid and dub.
He’s been active as a DJ and producer since 2006 and has released his records mainly on Prologue Music, Semantica Records and TGP, of which he is a co-founder. In 2020 he founded 012, a new platform dedicated to art and sound research to be run alongside his other artistic endeavours.
Ahead of his 2022 Australia tour, we caught up with Claudio to discuss his Italian upbringing and inspirations, the methods of production he utilises and the ethos behind his artistic endeavours.
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Hey Claudio! Thanks for taking the time to speak to Bunker ahead of your upcoming tour.
Firstly, you were born in Sardinia (Italy) during the late 80s, a city within a nation that has produced an absolute abundance of electronic music talent. In particular, the deep techno sound is one that really has become synonymous with Italy, due to the works of artists such as Neel, Luigi Tozzi & Ness to name just a few.
What can you tell us about your upbringing in the city, and how you came to find yourself creating music within this genre? Are there any fellow Italians you really admire the work of?
Sardinia has always had a strong and thriving electronic music scene, both thanks to the presence of several promoters who proposed an alternative sound and also thanks to the presence of many great DJs and producers who have been a great inspiration for my generation time by time. Music in general has always been part of my life as my father was a local DJ in the 80’s.
Since my adolescence I started going to clubs in the city near the town where I grew up, Oristano , in particular one called Ovest Club, which brought a certain kind of cutting edge sound and where I used to play a lot at the beginning of my journey as a DJ. The next steps led me to live in the main city of the island which is Cagliari, where I started collaborating with Bassation, a collective focused on a purely techno concept and with which I still continue to collaborate and develop projects.
Above all, thanks to the presence of several record shops, especially one called Remix, affiliated with the historic Remix of Rome, I discovered a certain type of deep and hypnotic sound proposed mainly by Elettronica Romana, a kind of sound that hit me from the very first instant and in which I immersed myself completely. Over the years I have had the opportunity to collaborate with many artists that I have always admired, such as Donato Dozzy or Dino Sabatini, who are among the pioneers of this Italian concept, and more recently with Luigi Tozzi, a good friend and talented artist, among the ones that I admire the most.
Having listened to a decent amount of your productions myself, one of my favourites is your remix of Nur Jaber’s ‘When the Sun Sets’. It’s a track that builds upon the ethereal tones of the original with a driving, powerful atmosphere that still holds onto the emotion.
How did this remix for Nur come about? When remixing, do you find your production process to be quite different to when you’re building your own track from scratch?
Well, first of all, the production process while I am composing music is quite the same when I am remixing or I am creating an original track. While I am remixing I try to create a new story based on the original track, so I use to add many new elements on top of the original sounds without going too far from its original vibe. Sometimes it is also to recreate something completely distant from the original but I want to make everything possible to keep a similar feeling.
Remixing is something that brings me a lot of inspiration, is a moment of comparison with other artists and I think it is very important for my artistic growth. Regarding that work I made for Nur, in that case I’ve worked on the original track which is only ambient, recreating on top of that the rhythm and the groove in the way to give more energy to it but keeping the original atmosphere almost the same.
“In life everything is cyclic. It’s said, the wave is the most essential form of creation existing in nature. People, moments, come and go…it’s the law of life. But, in reality, the cycles of our life are all linked together, while one is closing another is opening. 012 (twelve) is a new cycle, a new space dedicated to sounds and art.”
The above quote describes the ethos of your recently created ‘012’ (Twelve) label, which has featured music from yourself along with artists such as Luigi Tozzi, Forest On Stasys and Rambadu.
Given you already are leading up other labels, what inspired and drove you towards creating ‘012’, and where do you see the label going over the next few years?
As the quote says, it was a time for me to start a new cycle in my life. In a point I felt the need to start a new personal path and to give light to my musical visions and ideas, not only regarding music but also the world of art in general. I wanted to create a space for music and art for my collaborations with fellow producers and inspiring artists in the field of contemporary art. Most recently I also want to give this space to newcomers artists who are making the most exciting and inspiring music for me.
There is also a plan to start organising some label showcases and nights in clubs – we will start with the first in June in Barcelona, during the Sonar Off week, together with On Board Music and more in the future here around Europe. Anyway I don’t want to put so much pressure on the project in general, I want to preserve the joy of curating it and I prefer to keep it easy and natural as much as I can.
It’s widely mentioned that you have held a residency at Prague’s ‘Ankali’ club, a venue described as being for “open minded heads”. I gather this has been in place since 2018.
Having visited Prague myself but never attending the venue, what can you tell us about what this residency has brought you since its inception? Are there other venues in Europe that you hold a special love for?
I think that, for a DJ, the residency in a club is something really important and helpful for artistic growth. Being a resident dj allows you to experiment in different fields of music, to learn how to create stories and to share those stories with the crowd. This is what I’ve experienced in my past and more recently with Ankali. This club is my kind of perfect place in terms of capacity, sound, lights and crowd. By the years it became a second home, I love the city so much and with everyone there I manage to create a very close and beautiful relationship which goes beyond the music. There, I curate my nights called “Volumi Dinamici ” hosting from time to time international guests and super talented local artists. In general I love most of all the clubs where I used to play, one of them is for sure Bassiani in Tbilisi and the most recent is Hall in Tallinn, Estonia – what a venue!
Lastly, your upcoming Australian tour was actually meant to be taking place in 2020 – which, for obvious pandemic-related reasons, was unfortunately unable to go ahead.
With your upcoming shows in both Sydney and Melbourne on the near horizon, can you tell us a little bit about what this tour represents for you given you’ve had to wait so long for it to happen?
Finally after several postponements this tour is about to start! I am really excited and happy to be back in Australia. The first and only time that I visited the country was in 2016, in Melbourne and Sydney. I have beautiful memories of that experience and I can’t wait to relive those emotions and to share my music with all of you. The pandemic was heavy enough for everyone, now we have the chance to come together again and I want to live this tour to the fullest.
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Written by Jeremy McCarthy
SYDNEY: Friday May 20th (UNDISCLOSED)
MELBOURNE: Saturday May 21st (AURA PRODUCTIONS)
