Roberto Pagliaccia is an Italian DJ/Producer really impressing right now with his recent releases on the likes of Lapsus Music and Blackboard, both rising through the charts and showcasing his talent in the studio. We sat down with him to talk about the recent release “When We Were Kids”, and what’s drove him on this last year or so…
Hey Roberto, how has life been for the last year – what has got you through?
Hi guys! First of all thank you for your interest in myself and my music! The last year has been tough, I can’t deny it. Being locked up in quarantine without knowing for how long has been something really weird for me! But it seems that the sun is shining brighter today and I’m sure that soon we will be able to get back to our lives.
What have you missed most about no dj gigs and no dancing? The people, the buzz of Djing, the travel?
Without any doubt I’ve missed personal contact, both on the dancefloor and in real life. This a crucial part of my personal life and my music life. Without that it is really difficult to find the right motivation to improve and grow up day by day.
Tell us about your new single “When We Were Kids” for Blackboard – what inspired it?
My second release “When We Were Kids” on Blackboard is worth a lot for me and very different from the first one “Out of Tune”. In this single I expressed more the deepest melodic side of me with some harder drops. As the name suggests, I have been mainly inspired by my own childhood memories, when life was lighter and thoughtless and relationships were more genuine and without filters. Going back to these feelings has helped me a lot to find the purest part of me, even in this challenging time. It wasn’t easy to fight between my actual life and my past life but at the end I did it coming out with WWWK! The short-movie also perfectly expresses my inner struggle to relive my best past memories against my current fears and anxieties. I’m also totally proud of my collabs with legendary Audiojack who have made fire over their WWWK remix.
What is your studio setup like at the moment? what are your fav tools?
Honestly my studio is constantly in evolution as I like to upset it month by month. I love to get advices from friends on brand new gears and upgrades and I always end up with putting brand new stuff, changing characters and positions of my studio setup. Beyond that I could never do without my Diva, Serum and Legend plugins and my NI S49, Korg Volca and Mini Moog hardwares.
What are your fondest memories of being a child?
When I was a child I fell in love with cycling and I still cannot do without it. Practicing it at a competitive level gave me the enormous gift of traveling, firstly around Italy then also in Europe, America and Asia. Discovering new places, people and cultures while I was in the saddle has been something truly important for me from a personal growth point of view and I’m sure it has positively influenced also my conception of music and my own sound.
Dance music has got very political recently – how do you feel about that? Should it be?
Music should be just the expression of ourselves. In some case is a normal consequence that it affects political and social issues. But I will always prefer to stay between my booths or in the crowd.
What was the last record you bought?
My last purchase is Melios – Wurtz & Iberian Muse
What else are you working on/have you got coming up?
The very next release is the SKIL EP! In collaboration with my childhood friend Dubskull and coming out on the infamous Gain Records, is a 4 tracks EP including a massive remix from T78. Save the date for June 18th!
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Roberto Pagliaccia’s “When We Were Kids” is out now on Blackboard
Grab it here – https://www.beatport.com/release/when-we-were-kids-extended-mixes/3373503
