Pagano, a real pleasure having you with us today at DMCWORLD. You’ve been DJ-ing for an impressively long time now, how good does it feel to be opening up the end of restrictions with your own OFF London event at The Steel Yard?
You know what, after 16 months without playing a gig or producing an event, it does feel a bit surreal. I am second guessing every move. I wonder if it’s going to feel like a debut gig. Same emotional level of stress and anxiety. But it will all probably turn into excitement in the end and the adrenaline rush will take over. We have booked a very diverse line-up for the re-opening party from Shay Malt who DJs and produces Adonis at The Cause, to the Homostash crew led by Tafkanik in Room 2 and their eclectic music pot.
Have you been making any special preparations musically
I actually have so much new music I accumulated during the past year. So far I haven’t been able to play it anywhere because of the pandemic and I can’t wait to experience it live. I have also released so many new tracks this year that I’ve never played on a big system. I want to hear how they sound out loud, and see how the clubbers’ react which is making me look forward to playing for a crowd even more.
You’ve also just released your new album ‘Infinite Regress’ on your KISM label, did you produce this during lockdown and did you find it harder to work under those conditions?
During the first wave I lost to an uncle to Covid who I was close to. All my gigs were cancelled which was my main source of income so initially I was absolutely demotivated and uninspired. When I finally started to process the whole situation, and having so much free time on my hands, I started to work on a million ideas. This resulted in so many demos. Some were signed on Toolroom and Tronic and with the rest I decided to put together a mixed album of original tracks for my label KISM.
It crosses both house and techno genres – what were you trying to create with the album?
Since clubs were shut, I wanted to put together an album of original tracks that would reflect the journey I usually create with my DJ sets. I often start from slower Housier tracks and build it up to more full-on Tech House and Techno tunes. I wanted this to be an album for the clubbers mostly. To bring them home some of the club vibes that we were all missing, It’s difficult to pick just one track, as they are all so different and give me different emotions. For me they all work as part of that journey.
You also have your own imprint, KISM, how’s that working out for you ? Any upcoming releases we should be excited about?
KISM is my “freedom project”. Every time I produce something for another label, I have to somehow adapt my sound to fit the direction of the label. But with KISM, I just put out anything that inspires me without having to compromise. I’ve never been a purist and I don’t care if certain DJs or people in the industry do not want to take me seriously because my House track has an 80s inspired Trance melody or my Techno track has a Progressive House vibe. As for new releases, we have an EP from Filterheadz and one from Richard Cleber & Mintech coming out soon, plus I will start putting out remixes of tracks from the album from some of my favourite artists.
You recently topped the Beatport Techno charts with your Transfiguration EP on Christian Smith’s label Tronic numbering fans such as Nicole Moudaber and Cocoon’s Karotte. How did you connect with Christian and start working with him – did it all start at the Trade 25th Birthday at Egg LDN?
I actually first connected with Christian in 2012 when we played together at a previous event. We exchanged a few messages on Facebook but nothing came out of it. I now realise that back then my sound wasn’t mature enough and that as an artist I wasn’t ready. Fast forward to the summer of 2020 we connected again through his label manager and I started to send them demos again. This resulted in a new way of working together and in my first track ‘Desire’ being signed to the label,. I’ve been following Christian Smith for a long time and he is such a talented and achieved producer. His Techno sound has always flirted with House elements. I can relate and connect to his music so when he started giving me advice and mentoring me on how to refine my productions, I was very honoured and appreciative that someone I looked up to for so long was showing a genuine interest in my career and my work. I have to admit I feel this has been a turning point in my career as a producer.
Your Facebook Live stream for Tronic during lockdown also racked up more than 116.000 views. Are there plans for new Live streams and new releases with Tronic?
I am so happy that my debut live stream for the label has done so well. Being my first one and probably being one of the first artists, if not the first, mostly known in the LGBTQ+ scene, to produce a live stream for Tronic’s Thursday session, I was quite nervous about how it was going to be received by the label’s fanbase. My friends can tell you something about this! So naturally it has been really exciting to see all the positive comments and view numbers.
I actually have a new track upcoming on Tronic in September called ‘Panta Rhei’ which is ancient Greek for ‘everything flows’ and a concept of the philosopher Heraclitus. I remember being fascinated by this concept when I studied Philosophy in school and I wanted to use it for a track title for a while. When I produced this demo, I immediately thought I could finally use it. The track smoothly flows and slowly develops resolving its melodic loop every 16 or 32 bars. But the title doesn’t just fit the music, I wanted it to be a good wish for things to get better because just like Heraclitus teaches us: “All things are in motion like streams”.
Alongside these releases you continue to work with Mark Knight’s Toolroom label with your latest track ‘Peace & Unity’ championed by the likes of Majestic and David Guetta among others. How special does it make you feel when you get that A List support and across the board?
It’s always a great emotion. Majestic has supported the track for several months in his Kiss FM Radio show. And this time all the support meant even more because the track had a message. I produced this track during the Black Lives Matter marches. I was very upset by the divisive rhetoric of politicians, frustrated with the state of things and wanted to show my support as an ally. Music is my language and so I got creative and ‘Peace & Unity’ was born…
With 10 tracks released now between the two Mark Knight’s labels Toolroom and Toolroom Trax, is there a particular favourite?
I’m certainly very fond of ‘Take That Feeling’ and ‘Just Like That’ because they both got played on BBC Radio 1. ‘Naxos’ has a special meaning because, even though this happened due to the pandemic shutting all clubs last year, it became the soundtrack of my first proper summer vacation in Sicily with my family in 20 years!
Do you feel like anything in your creation process has changed in this time and did you manage to acquire any new skills?
I definitely feel I keep growing and evolving as a music producer. I also feel that I’m more focused on what kind of artist I want to be. Regarding new skills I’ve recently acquired: I’ve actually learnt to use photoshop during the pandemic and I now produce all my label’s and events’ artworks myself. So when you look for example at the cover of my album ‘Infinite Regress’ or the artworks for my London parties OFF, that is my work.
Hugely in demand internationally before lockdown are there any specific clubs or events you are looking forward to playing at?
Without a doubt I’m mostly looking forward to DJ-ing at my event OFF London at The Steel Yard on Saturday 24th of July. We only started producing this party in 2019, The first couple of events were so successful that we were gearing up for bigger things. We even had Techno heavyweight Gary Beck booked for my birthday event, when the pandemic stopped us in our tracks. So frustrating! And for a long time nobody knew when and if we were going to start again. And now it feels as if finally I can live my life again and I can’t wait to work on all the projects that I had to put on hold. Let’s hope we will not ruin all the progress we’ve made and that we can all go back to normality…
Pagano’s OFF London Awakening is on next Saturday July 24th at The Steel Yard, London, EC4R 3UE joined by Shay Malt (Adonis) and Chester Hayes (Sue Veneers). Room 2 is hosted by Homostash with DJs Tafkanik, Sertima, TiGoX and The Blonde Spirit and tickets available at https://ra.co/events/1439974
Pagano’s new album ‘Infinite Regress’ is released on Kism Recordings on July 31st and available from here:
