Our MIXMAS series continues today with an exceptional session from an old friend of 1 More Thing: Erotic Cafe’
An Italian artist with a passion for experimentation and pushing beyond the standard boundaries and accepted genre limitations, his musical journey has been an interesting one. Emerging 10 years ago in the realms of heavy dubstep, he retreated for a few years before returning in 2022 with a focus on drum & bass.
Gradually reinventing himself with a much more stark, sleek, sci-fi style of D&B, this freshly inspired and motivated Erotic Cafe’ 2.0 released music on the likes of Rockwell’s Obsolete Medium, Program (RIP) and 1 More Thing. In fact we were the first label to release his new flavour of beats.
But if there’s any label that REALLY captured where he was at, and where he was sonically destined to be, it’s Nëu. The brattish, rowdy, hyper energetic sister imprint to Phace & Misanthrop’s mighty Neosignal, Nëu didn’t just sign Erotic Cafe’s latest line in far-out, twisted bass creations, it actually willed them into existence, as he explains in this interview.
Fresh from releasing his debut album In The Midst Of Bias on the label just last month – an immense trip across the most unapologetic breakbeat, bass and sound design terrains – we find out where he’s at and how he’s got here. Time to reconnect. And we’ll do it to the sound of this exceptional mix. Happy MIXMAS one and all…
Erotic Café’! Are you okay?
I’m good thanks. I’m not feeling the pressure of the album any more which is a relieving feeling. It was a very long process.
How long did it take?
It took over a year and a half. I didn’t realise I was working on the album until Florian Phace suggested I was. He helped me realise all the tracks I was working on were connected in a way. Unconsciously. I’m making music to tell something about me. This is the link of all the tracks.
In a sense that you’re learning about yourself and your creative process?
Ummmm… Not quite. It’s more about the story I am telling about myself, not about learning about myself.
Ahhh what is that story?
Every tune is different so it’s all about different aspects of me. Take the track Compulsion. That is about having compulsionary behaviours. Doing something you can’t stop. Like crazy stuff.
I’m interested in that word ‘compulsion’. It comes up a lot. You don’t realise you’re doing it, you’re just in the thick of it. I get this all the time
Yes, you have no control of it and you’re like ‘I am here once again?!’
I have this often. It’s like another part of my brain has kicked in and I’m like, ‘okay this is happening now’.
Exactly. There are many parts of the brain operating without any of our knowledge or influence. I found this concept interesting… To express something that is not conscious in a conscious way.
Oh damn!
Also Opposites Collide is a similar in that type of way.
I love that one. Very dramatic finale. Well, almost finale
That’s interesting you should say that. At first I did actually want to put it as the very last track! But that would have given it too much of a finished feeling. So I put on the track STFU so it didn’t feel quite finished.
Hahah. Unfinished business! Tell me about the title…
It’s so complicated. I’ll do my best to explain. The basic concept is this… I did an EP on Nëu called Origin Of Chaos. So that is the start and now I am in the midst of something. So this is the very basic concept. With the word bias I am trying to express something that is intended as distortion. Audio distortion, but also distortion of human perception, sensation and behaviours.
We have unconscious biases too, which distort things without us realizing. Through education or exposure or nurture. So it’s very personal.
It is. But it also can be very technical. Bias is also about electrical flow. It can be everything – right down to how our brain’s translate information.
Careful now, you’re blowing my mind. This goes deep!
It does. So much. Also, I have to say, I had a distortion effect with a bias knob and I looked up the word and it made a lot of sense to me. It glued everything together that I was trying to express.
Beautiful. So I guess there’ll be a third Nëu release – origin, midst… conclusion?
I don’t want to end anything! I enjoy working with Nëu so there’s no conclusion in mind right now.
Sick! When we last spoke, 1 More Thing had been the first label you had released on as a drum & bass artist. You were at the start of this new musical journey. How was the journey been since?
I always like to experiment. At first I was trying to do something more typical and standard to the music I was hearing on D&B labels I liked. I thought I had to do something more standard to be released on the labels, but when I did that, none of the music was signed. But Nëu had a huge influence on me with this. Neosignal declined the typical stuff I had made but they heard Interference on Rockwell’s label – a very untypical track, which was a kind of strange footwork type of track – and got in touch and asked for experimental stuff. That gave me the push to be myself and not make things I think labels want to hear.
Big up Nëu! Willing your natural sound into existence
I’m still learning what that sound is and I’m trying to evolve even more. I’m trying to put something that is not typical of the genre inside it.
You can feel that. The track Psyche Melt on the album is a good example. Feels like maybe your Italo heritage can be felt in the intro? It’s very cinematic.
That was a very unconscious process once again. I wanted to write the melody before the inevitable big sausage sinewave. It came very naturally actually.
Were there lots of instances of that on the album?
Not really. When it’s about melodies and chords and progressions, it’s natural but most of the time when I am in front of the DAW or sequencer I want to know what I’m going to do before. I want a clear idea before I start. I won’t just sit down and experiment. I want to experiment within boundaries that I have already considered in my head. If I sit down to write I need the idea and I need to know the idea. Then I’ll experiment to get to the destination. But that destination has to be in mind first.
Or you’re just lost?
It’s a very personal process. Everyone is different but this is working for me. especially because I want to experiment. I have to force myself to innovate somehow but still stay within the D&B realm.
Yeah I hear that. Any moments you didn’t think you could complete it? Any challenges along the way?
No no, I knew I would finish it. I was very motivated so there we no doubts. Issues? Of course. Trying to find the best formula for things but I knew I would finish it. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to release a debut album and there’s no space for doubt.
Go on. So you’ve done a mix for us. That’s sick. What do you personally want to hear in a mix?
I love it when DJ sets have different moments. I don’t like DJ sets that are all the same. Some sets are full of bangers but it’s all the same so you can’t enjoy all the tracks. I like contrasts between the different blocks of music. A journey that starts somewhere and arrives somewhere else…
Tell me about a special gig you’ve done in the past. Something that really stands out in your mind.
So I don’t do many gigs but not constantly. But one gig was a little private party and I was free to express myself without any thoughts in my mind and I had a little something to put my mind in a different place.
Haaaaaa
Yeah it was a lot of fun. I was tripping quite a lot! I would never do it at a professional booking but it was a lot of fun to have that experience and I felt it went down well. Everyone was super excited anyway!
YES!
But in general I would like to play more. Italy is dead for our type of music. The owners of the clubs don’t seem to want to push the music in their clubs.
Hearing this so much in so many different corners. Have you played the UK before?
Just once, seven years ago. Playing dubstep music. So another lifetime ago. I would love to play again.
Fingers crossed you do in the new year! Give your mix a shout out before we sign out!
I would describe it as non-typical music. I’m constantly looking for music that comes from the same place I am coming from. It doesn’t have to be new. It is about a vibe or non-conformation of formula. Of course there is some D&B in there too and lots of weird noises. I hope you like it.