With over a decade’s experience touring, and playing at the world’s most prestigous underground venues, Italy’s Giorgio Gigli has without doubt cemented his position in the upper echelons of the global electronic music world.
With releases on labels like Elettronica Romana, Sabotage Systems, Mental Groove Records, Prologue, Planet Rhythm Records, Electric Deluxe, as well as his own label Zooloft, Giorgio’s music has assumed an intense and personal form of communication. His debut LP, The Right Place Where Not To Be, on Speedy J’s Electric Deluxe, gave way for his darker and industrial-driven techno. Giorgio also has a love for ambient music due to its descriptive power that allows him to analyze and render every vibration and vision, both during production and DJ sets.
He has a long-spanning relationship with Obtane, with whom he has collaborated with on many occassions, as well as releases with Perc, Milton Bradley, Brendon Moeller and Dino Sabitini.
Ahead of his debut Australian show in Melbourne this weekend, we had a quick chat with Giorgio to find out about his future albums plans, Black Tears and architecture.
B. Looking at your Instagram, you seem to be a big fan of landscapes and architecture; do images like this have an influence on the music you produce? Who are some of your favourite architects?
Of course! I love architecture and anything that gives me emotions is like the core of my creativity. I really like Barbosa & Guimarães, Edward Ogosta Architecture, Estudio Barozzi Veiga for example.
B. Over the years, your sound has definitely progressed from your early ambient, tech house records on Elettronica Romana and Prologue – I would even say that it wasn’t until your first co-release with Obtane on Zooloft, that you really embraced a dark ambience and broody, drone techno. Would you agree? How do you think your sound has progressed?
That’s true. My sound became even more introspective since I started to co-work with Obtane for Zooloft. My music is on a continuous path of evolution. Like life, you never keep doing the same things.
B. In a previous interview, you said that your approach to making and playing music is to pretend it’s a soundtrack. This is especially evident in your debut LP “The Right Place Where Not To Be,” where you’ve created a highly emotive collection of tracks, drawing out each element. What is it about this style of music that has influenced you to create it?
My album was meant as a closing of the path I followed for 5 years co-running Zooloft. I wanted to end what we have done in those years with a bang. Almost all of the imagery I tried to express in the album can be ascribable to the B-side of Zooloft releases.
B. “The Right Place Where Not To Be,” has titles that are quite descriptive and tell a story, such as “The Silence Was Infinite” and “Il futuro è solo un ricordo di uno stupenda futura” (The future is just a memory of a wonderful future). Is this connected to your liking to tech noir and creating film scores? Would you consider moving into producing film scores?
In the past some directors asked me for a soundtrack. If something like that were to succeed I would definitely agree. DJing is still my favourite job though.
B. So, to move now to the beginning of the recording process for your LP; were all the tracks made specifically with the album project in mind? Or were some of them from months or years before they you recovered and edited?
They’re all unreleased tracks, except for “il futuro è solo un ricordo si uno stupendo passato”. That was recorded earlier. I have nothing already done. I like to create when a project is starting. I think it would lend a precise meaning to the music I’m going to create.
B. You and Obtane are no strangers to working together; having run Zooloft, for three years, and co-producing several records. You recently released an album under your Black Tears alias called The Long Decline; to still be able to seamlessly collaborate with someone after all this time without moving in different directions is quite rare. What is it about your partnership that makes it so successful?
Obtane and I left behind something really unique and exciting, perhaps hard too. We had gone different paths as it should be, everything has a start and an end but our passion for music goes beyond styles. We had the chance to listen to new music together and we were very thrilled to start a new story again. There will be our Black Tears’ live debut in Italy soon, followed by a new album.
B. You’ve released a number of EPs, and now an album, on Speedy J’s Electric Deluxe; how have you found the label to support and guide your output?
Speedy J and Electric Deluxe have always supported me, I proposed my music to them and they gave me the chance to release it! I’m very happy to be involved with their label.
B. Finally, in a few weeks you’ll be heading to Australia for your debut tour, what have you got planned for your fans Down Under?
I’m happy, I really can’t wait to play my vinyls there and hope I’ll be joining the crowd to dance with them!
Quick fire
1. What track of yours are you most proud of? All Zooloft catalogue
2. What was the first vinyl/CD/tape that you bought? Jean Michel Jarre Oxygene
3. What was the name of the venue where you had your first gig? Coliseum
4. What was the first piece of equipment you bought? 2 Technics SL 1200 MK2 and a 2 channel mixer (maybe Vestax)
5. What’s the longest set you’ve played? 6 hours
