Interviews

Birdee launches his new label, Hot City, with a vibrant nu-disco gem entitled ‘Your Love’. The Italian now spends his time in LA where he continues to flex own unique modern disco style. You can feel the Californian sunshine and his European disco heritage in his feel-good music - nothing but the good vibes here! We have a chimenyside chat with this exciting producer.

Thank you for taking the time to talk. Where are you this moment and how are you spending the today?

Hey hey. I just got back to LA after spending 5 months in Europe and 5 days in New York. So I am spending the day getting all my stuff from storage and putting the studio back together. A fun day lol.

Where were you born and where are you based currently?

I am Italian born, but now based in LA!

What is it you love most about the city in which you live?

Oh definitely the weather, the constant sunshine, the beaches, the surf, and the very relaxed/laidback attitude of the people. There is also some very good food here, contrary to popular belief.

How is the health of the music scene where you are?

I feel like it's getting a lot better. The thing about LA is that a lot of the clubs are very celebrity driven and bottle service oriented, which generally is not synonymous with good music. But in the last 4/5 years the underground scene has gotten a lot better, and now there are a lot of really good parties and a lot of good DJs passing through LA.

How is the health of the music scene generally in your opinion?

Well, I would be lying if I said it was great. We are all doing (by we, I mean the people who actually LOVE the music and love clubbing) what we can, but social media has caused some incredible damage to our scene. I think it's clear to everyone.

Who are the icons who have inspired the music that you make?

Oh too many! Prince, Roy Ayers, Tom Waits, Nile Rodgers, Giorgio Moroder, Cerrone - all visionaries who set the trends and never followed them. I am also a huge fan of early Red Hot Chili Peppers, even though it may not be immediately obvious in my music.

What can you tell us about the label Hot City?

I had been thinking about starting a label for a LONG time, and somehow I always found a reason to NOT do it, you know? Like, do we really need another label? Does the world really need it? I was also a bit scared about all the work involved – I've always been someone who wants to do things the right way, and so I had/have very high expectations from the label.

Then one day my friend Tommaso Cappellato (amazing drummer and also a label owner) told me -Marcello, do this label. You WILL make a lot of mistakes, but from each mistake you will learn something”. It just clicked and after that I decided I had to do the label, and here we are.

Give us an overview of your new release Your Love.

'Your Love', to me, is a track that has all the elements I want to hear in a good disco track. A great string line, a driving bass, Rhodes/keys and of course a fantastic vocal performance – in this case from Alexis Victoria Hall who has been just amazing. ‘Your Love' is my way of saying – I don’t care if things are getting more housey and less disco, I don’t care if the BPM is getting faster. Nobody can tell me what to do, this is the music I feel, and I made it just the way I felt it. I hope the message comes across.

How long did it take to come together? Did it flow easily, or did it take some time to perfect?

This one took a long time, but I’m a bit of a perfectionist. Some of my other songs come together very quickly, it really depends on a lot of factors.

Tell us a about Victoria?

Victoria is an amazing singer, and of course she’s been featured in a lot of songs by many artists – when I received the vocals back from her, I immediately got goosebumps. She is definitely the right fit for the track.

Do you take some time – after you have made a track – to leave it alone for a while to evaluate?

Usually yes, at least a couple of weeks.

Do you find the feedback of others is important to you in the production process?

I always play my work in progress to some trusted ears, mostly to get feedback about arrangement ideas and the mixdown. But ultimately, it’s my journey and my music. So even if 20 people tell me something doesn’t work, and I think it does – I will still do it.

What are some of the challenges in putting out music currently?

Oh, it’s easier to tell you what is NOT challenging right now lol. There is SO much music out, and it’s so easy to make it and release it, compared to 20 years ago. Especially with club music, it’s really not that hard to make a decent club track – that’s why I focus on songs.

Verse /Chorus, you know? A full song, and I’m not dissing pure club music – to make a GOOD club banger takes skill, but yes you are competing with a LOT of music these days, it’s crazy.

Also, you could make the best music in the world but you still have to play the social media game to cut through. It’s tough, but I think people see through the bullshit and can tell who is making music for the right reasons.

What drives you to create music do you think?

Goosebumps, emotion. When you’re making music and things just click, it’s the best feeling in the world. When things DON’T work for a month and you can’t figure out what’s wrong with your track, that’s definitely not the best feeling in the world hahaha.

What other artists do you think are making great music right now?

Dave Lee, Michael Gray and Dr Packer are kind of the holy trinity of modern disco – I was lucky to remix Dave and Michael and do a collaboration with Dr Packer.

There are a lot of really good producers in Italy: Micky More and Andy Tee, Da Lukas, FrescoEdits, Tamati, Sam Ruffillo, B Plan, Body Heat Gang Band.

Art of Tones is an incredible producer, Scruscru does some interesting stuff, Mark Picchiotti’s productions are always impressive. As you can see, I’m going a bit across the board here – because I don’t like to pigeonhole. Collettivo Immaginario are incredible, and most releases on Space Grapes are wonderful.

What was the last record you purchased?

Vinyl: Montreal Sound - Music

Digital: JKriv – Adaptation

What has been a highlight of the last year for you?

Probably touring Australia, I always love going there!

What can we expect next from Birdee?

Lots of new music, some collaborations I can’t quite announce yet, and a lot of shows coming up!

Check out the latest release from Birdee.