Sam Paganini

The techno lord smashing his way through the summer

Interview by Rob Chadwick


Hi Sam, hope you are good, can you tell us about your relationship with Drumcode and how it came about? Without doubt one of the powerhouses in the Techno scene at the moment.

Hi DMCWORLD! So, I have respected Adam since the 90’s, I love him as a DJ and what he did and is still doing with the label. In 2011 I met him in a club near my home, at the time I’d just released my “Cobra EP” on Richie Hawtin’s Plus8 and he asked me for some new music. I was working on some new tracks and the “Prisma EP” became the first EP on Drumcode, easy and lucky!

And you have also worked with Cocoon Recordings and Plus 8, two other seminal Techno labels, when you started out were these places that you were particularly focused on putting out track on?

When I started djing Plus8 for sure, at that time Drumcode and Cocoon didn’t even exist. I remember when I was a young kid buying every record with the Plus8 or the Plastikman logo. A dream come true, indeed.

At some point do you think you will look to start your own label project? I feel that a lot of DJs get to a point when they wish to give something back and offer up a platform for upcoming artists to build a name for themselves?

Another label on the market? I think we got too many labels around…to be honest, a label needs a lot of time and commitment and I prefer to work in the studio to produce my own music. I love it, I don’t do that to collect money – simply because I love it. But never say never, let’s see what happens in the future.

What was it like growing up in Veneto Italy? How did you come to listen to electronic music, was their much of a scene there?

Yes I grew up in a small city near Venice in the north east of Italy, in the Veneto Area. I was growing up listening to rock music, then I started learning the drums, piano and guitar and at the age of 15 I fell in love with electronic music, at the time the UK acid house scene was the new big thing.

Did the early guys coming out of Detroit, such as Jeff Mills and Mad Mike, inspire you? Or was it more of the European electronic acts like Kraftwerk, which got your attention initially?

As I said, Acid House was my first love. Bands like KLF and LFO, the Nu-Wave from Belgium called “The Sound Of Belgium” or Chicago’s Trax Records and of course all the new fresh music from Detroit…especially labels like UR Resistance, Plus8, Transmat etc. Then I started listening to Kraftwerk and the roots of this sound.

And who are you heroes now, do you still get inspired by other artists?

Always and not only from the dance scene. I love every kind of music, from Jazz to Heavy Metal, I can find some inspiration everywhere. My fave bands ever are Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Beatles, Stones…today Radiohead probably…

And what’s the scene like in Italy now, having visited recently for the Kappa Futur festival in Torino I left with a feeling that the Techno scene was reaching newfound heights and there was a lot of young people around pushing things forward?

Yes indeed, Techno will never die. And now it’s strong than ever, it’s more deep and also a lot of girls love it. Italy and it’s new wave of producers are doing a great job of spreading this music around.

You have played across some of the world’s most legendary techno clubs, including Berghain and Cielo – how do these compare to Ibiza?

Totally different. I love the island but it’s changed a lot in the last couple of years, I don’t like so much the VIP style, I prefer to play in a dark club where “it’s all about music”. The EDM there is growing very fast, let’s see what will happen in the near future.

Do you have to change your approach when play Ibiza as it’s a more commercial crowd?

I play Techno, that’s it. But luckily Techno today means a lot of different styles in one. I can play more groovy or more banging everywhere, not only on the Island. I always look at the crowd, the mood on the dancefloor is everything to me and a good DJ always must look at it. It’s the secret of a great party.

What have you got in store for Love The Underground Records presents Mikaela and Friends this weekend?

Let’s see. I don’t plan anything before a gig, as I said I will follow the crowd’s mood and I will try to make people happy, I’ll do my best as always…