The Italian duo return with banging beats, hefty drops, a hypnotising chorus strewn across a gorgeous electro-house landscape
Interview : Dan Prince
Franco, Diego welcome to DMCWORLD. Where in the world are you right now?
“Hi Dan, at this moment in time we are in our studio in La Spezia in Italy.”
A MASSIVE new song setting dancefloors alight right now, ‘The Way It Goes’ swinging our way on Ultra. Talk us through the history of the tune…
“At the very end of last year we released an instrumental track called ‘Wild Horses’ that was instantly a big success with all the big jocks out there being played by just about everybody. BBC Radio One then picked up on it also and featured it as their ‘trendsetting track of the week’. Our whole team then decided to take it a step further and within 2 months we put a massive top line on the track and now it has just been released by Ultra in its vocal version.”
What do you love more – lusty synths or thunderous basslines?
“A massive bassline all the way…”
Interesting post on your Facebook site earlier this year, a girl had written “I had sex on your car”. What is the story there?
“It was actually a spelling mistake, what she actually meant to write was ‘I want to have sex with your manager’.”
I can understand that! What is the current top 10 you are spinning?
Diego Donati :
- 1.Donati & Amato – The Way It Goes
- 2.Don Diablo & Cid – Prototype
- 3.Donati & Amato – Bubble
- 4.Luca Cassani – Gluttony
- 5.Don Diablo & Matt Nash feat Noobie Bao – – Starlight (Otto Knows rmx)
- 6.MakJ Em 35 – Revolution
- 7.Dannic Bring – The Funk
- 8.Nom De Strip & Nezzo – Devil’s & BBQ
- 9.Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano vs Dubvision – Triton
- 10.Fatboy Slim & Riva Starr – Eat Sleep Rave Repeat (Fong Bootleg)
What are the next plans release wise?
“We’re always working on new material. We spend most of our time in the studio and we are very excited about what’s to come…”
How do you compliment each other in the studio – who excels where?
“Diego has the more DJ head whilst Franco is the musician of the duo so together we feed off of each others feelings and influences and try to pin down a sound that satisfies us both.”
Had you any idea just what a monster you had created with the Donati & Amato v ATFC ‘Thrill Me’ tune which is still getting played out by superstar DJs today?
“House music was our first love and when the opportunity came up to make a track together with ATFC we jumped at the chance as he is one hell of a producer. The outcome was, in our humble opinion, a very cool track and it gives us great pleasure to know that people out there are still appreciating it.”
You are also loved for unearthing new talent on the club scene. Who are some of the young producers/DJs you are working with who we should look out for soon…?
“At the moment we are working closely with a good friend of ours Luca Cassani who is really pushing out some great productions that are currently in the playlists of DJ’s worldwide. Keep an eye also on Provenzano DJ, another Italian producer who is doing some great stuff.”
Franco – 1992 was a very big year for you, to put it mildly! Over 10 million sales for the DWA club classic ‘Please Don’t Go’. What are your happy memories from that record and the madness that happened to you? And also, every producer does it – what was the gift you bought yourself from the royalties?
“I remember February 1992 when the track hit the number 1 position in Spain on Los Quarentas Principale with Fernandisco just 25 days after we had finished it. Spain was the first country that charted the ‘Double You’ single in the top position. The first gift that I treated myself to was a Harman-Kardon amplifier, what a great sound!”
Where have been some of the stand out gigs of the summer for you both?
“We did the Italian Summer stadium tour of Jovanotti along with Benny Benassi, Nari & Milani, Pink Is Punk what a blast that was!”
A famous quote from producer Steve Mac…“It was different when I started out back in the day, there was no glamour side of travelling around the world, getting paid fortunes for gigs, it was all about the music. I think people get into it for all the wrong reasons today.” Discuss…
“There are two very important things that everybody should remember whilst DJing or producing music: you have to have some kind of musical talent that compels you to do gigs or new tracks with the very same amount of enthusiasm as you had at the very beginning. The money should be the result of that talent!”
You hail from La Spezia in Northern Italy, a big military harbor that houses the arsenal of the Italian Navy. Which begs the question, was DJing and producing the only profession you two thought of when you were kids…or was there another job you could have entered…?
Franco: “I started learning the bass in the early eighties as I really wanted to be a musician but at the same time I kept up my studies… just to have a plan B!”
Diego: “I started DJing in 1994 and I am still doing it today so I class myself as a very lucky man.”
How did you first meet?
“We have been friends since the early nineties. Being heavily into music and coming from the same area it was almost inevitable that our paths should cross sooner or later.”
Early DJ heroes?
“Erick Morillo, Pete Tong, Danny Rampling – three console kings who have helped the scene enormously. Lots of others but the list would be too long!”
You work and play together all of the time. What is each other’s most annoying habit?
Franco: “Diego is always on the telephone…”
Diego: “Franco is always late…”
What is the one piece of vinyl you would never sell…?
Diego: “Every single piece of vinyl for me is a part of my history, full of memories and feelings, sometimes positive and sometimes even negative, however they all go to make up who I am today so I really think that I will never sell any of them.”
I interviewed Kaz James this week, something he said was kinda interesting…”I don’t think it’s necessary these days to actually be a good DJ like it was 15 years ago at the start of my career. These days you can get away with pressing play on a laptop.” Thoughts on that?
“A laptop is just another means of playback such as a CD player or even a record deck. Of course they have certain functions that make things a lot easier when working but it will never be able to tell you what the right track is to play at the right time. This is something that makes the difference between one DJ and another. You could have the most technical DJ in the world with the best laptop money can buy but he won’t rock the crowd as good as the other guy who shares what he has in his heart and knows when to play what.”
And finally…you have a wealth of experience in the music industry. What 1 piece of advice can you offer to the thousands of aspiring DJs and producers reading this wanting to follow in your footsteps…?
Franco: “Never ever trade quality for quantity!”
Diego: “Follow your inspiration and work hard!”
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