1. WHY AND WHEN DID YOU START TO DJ AND TO PRODUCE MUSIC?

I started making music just out of curiosity, it was around the very late 90’s, when I found a Cakewalk demo on a cd-rom from a PC magazine that my dad brought home, so I started cutting and pasting from my cds (didn’t had vinyl records yet). Was fun for a while, then I started making what I really wanted instead of what I simply could, and still it is right now.
Djing came natural as well. One of the first tracks i did in 2001-2002 ended on a CD compilation in 2004 (you can get it for one euro from discogs :-)), thanks to Mastello and its crew from Torino. We started to promote it with gigs and dj sets, and I tried proposing my music too. I remember playing only Detroitish broken/electro stuff, since I wasn’t fully into four on the floor stuff yet, coming from different musical tastes.
Again, it was a simple, great experience and emotion, and I still feel that when I can play the music I love to other people.

2. WHERE DO YOU CONTINUALLY GET YOUR INSPIRATION?

As a listener and dj, from the great music I discover every day, the will to share it and enjoy it.
Production-wise, I just like to try to do new things all the time. Sometimes it’s more a rush to write a tune, emotion-driven, some other times I decide I want to do a tune exactly like this and that. Some other times I get stuck on some samples, or a particular synth sound, everything can trigger the creative process.

3. TALK ABOUT YOUR UPCOMING MUSIC PROJECTS

A few ones: just published a tune for a new label called “Into Laniakea” for a nice electro 12”, working on putting out some new “Light Touches” edits, and finally working on a new label for some tunes I kept undercover until I figured out how to treat them properly.
On the djing side, I’m very looking forward to play at Jazz:re:found Festival in November, some amazing acts playing there, as every year. I’m also starting a new season of a monthly night at the Sofa Cafè, a small cool spot in Torino where I enjoy playing 6, 7 hours of a wide range of music from ambient, to jazz, soul, modern, gospel, African, Caribbean and south American music.

4. WHICH ARTISTS ARE YOU CURRENTLY LISTENING TO?

Well, so many! The first that come to mind and were on my decks lately: Lloyd McNeill gets a lot of spins, Waajeed old and new stuff, the new Greg Foat LP, the new Likemind, Lord Echo, Leroy Hutson, revisiting some Strata Lps, some South African LPs I got lately, some melancholic zouk I have a soft spot for, the usual Detroit suspects, and so on.

5. DJS?

Not so many to be honest, I try not to check all the hyped things in order to keep my taste far from being sucked in the current trends. I got a few favorite selectors I follow on mixcloud that dig deep into their own tastes and usually deliver cool-not-cool selections of all things soul, jazz, African, Caribbean, gospel, disco, modern, etc. like Matt Black Voices, Skymark, Gioumanne, Darryn Jones, Mark Grusane, etc, as well as some all-time favorites like Patrick Forge, Luca Trevisi, Gino Grasso, Beyondjazz, and so on.

6. TELL US SOME RE-EDIT TIPS

Well, before the tips, there’s the mission, which is usually one: pick records that have something good and try to get them better. Sometimes is about extending them, expecially if they are 7’’ and the groove is so dope you want them to last the double, sometimes is about removing weaker parts and re-arranging it, sometimes is about having fun re-imagining the working elements and making them a coherent stronger unit. They can be rare, cheap, famous or obscure, I really don’t care about that.
Tips-wise, in general in order to keep the groove vivid I prefer not to quantize them, except maybe the few bars in and out. I also tend to avoid static long loops, and try to imagine an edit as something the artist would have done themselves, trying to maintain the sequence of the parts as “natural” as possible. Finally I do some eq-ing for a better suitability in dj sets where also electronic stuff (more compressed, more bass-y) is played.

7. WHAT DO YOU EXPECT FROM PARTYHARDY?

An intimate party for the open minded, very much looking forward!

8. LEVAN, KNUCKLES, HARDY ..

..Collier!

9. YOUR BEST PLACE FOR MUSIC .. AROUND THE WORLD?!

Obviously Detroit. Been there only once and I can’t wait to come back. A big part of my favorite music (and lots of my records) come from there, there has been and there’s still so much creativity and a general attitude to push the boundaries and making cutting edge stuff that is really inspiring.

10. VISIONS OF THE FUTURE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUun4go_jVI

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passEnger – Andrea Di Maggio interview 10.2017 Family House.

Un post condiviso da #daxdj Family House Collective (@familyhousemag) in data: 21 Ott 2017 alle ore 07:34 PDT

https://www.family-house.net/venerdi-20-ottobre-partyhardy/