Undercatt

Luperini and Crecchi join the Diynamic family. Here we go


Interview by Ian Fleming


Undercatt is an Italian duo consisting of Luca Luperini & Elia Crecchi. The latest house music darlings at Solomun’s Diynamic label, the boys make the sort of intricate fare that’s indicative of their lengthy stint thus far in the production game. Natives of Tuscany, the guys recently released the brilliant Duologue EP alongside fellow Diynamic boys Roberto Calzetta & Twin Soul. Whisper it, but much like Adriatique before them, we’re predicting big things for the latest Diynamic signings. Here, we mailed them for a quick chat as they talked Tuscany, Sonar and friendship…

 

You grew up in Italy, a country always that has reveled in house and techno…

Yes it has. We were born and raised in Tuscany, a place fortunately enough, that has always been a prolific region for house and techno. Since the late 90s the underground scene has been strong and present here, and this has surely influenced us in taking our path in electronic music. 

Would you ever move for musical reasons?

Who knows? For us, we do not set limits on what our future endeavours could be. We are fascinated by Berlin for the beautiful city it is, and obviously for the inspiration and the inputs we could take from the homeland of techno. So if sooner or later we’ll feel that we need to move on, we would do it without hesitation.

What are some of the parties in Italy that stand out over the years?

We usually hung out at parties and events of the local scene, as in one way or another we always worked inside of it. Over the years, we had the chance to listen to many big artists that were invited here as special guests in the main venues around our region, so we built the background of what we are now. Festivals and big events were not so frequent in Italy in the past years, so we sometimes travelled around Europe to attend the most exciting ones.

Tell us more about your involvement like in the local scene…

As we mentioned before, we always worked for the local scene. Especially in the last four years, we created, along with some friends and colleagues, our personal crew to promote parties in our city, which is called Yuma. We started doing some spot events once a month in cool and secret locations and then, in 2013, we took over as art directors in a brand new club called Vibe Vibration Become, taking care of every Saturday Night from September to May, promoting local acts as well as international guests. Right now we are at the end of the second season and for us this has been a great experience to learn all the aspects of running a club. Furthermore, this allowed us to experiment with our music, straight to the dancefloor.

Are you both involved with all aspects of the production process? Do you agree on most things?

We complete each other as we have completely different backgrounds. We have also known each other for a very long time, we are close friends, we share a lot. Undercatt as a project is pretty recent, we started working together in a studio about 1 year ago, feeling that that was the right moment to merge our experiences and doing something better, rather than separately. We found the right key. Elia started to DJ very early as a young kid, learning to read the dancefloor reactions and building his taste in techno and house from the beginning. Luca comes from a more classical background, studying piano as a child and having experiences in music composition in different genres. The result in the production process is that Elia is the one that mostly takes care of the rhythmic stuff and Luca of the melodic ones. But working together, we both learned to take care of both departments, there aren’t specific rules when you talk about music. Elia is for sure the one who does most of the hard work, taking care of the mixing and the programming stuff, as Luca is mostly the type for the “inspiration mood” to do something good. Of course we argue sometimes, but this usually happens to the best couples, and we always find a way to agree and stop fighting.



What’s been your favourite gig over the years together?

With no doubts, the first ever Diynamic Showcase we took part in Berlin at Ritter Butzke in November of the last year, for many reasons: we had the honour to meet all the artists of the Diynamic Family in person and playing with them. That was our first gig ever in a city like Berlin, that means a lot for us. There were a lot of cool people and we played a lot, for over six hours, taking care of opening the event in the evening and then closing it in the morning. There was positive energy all over the place. As newcomers, most of the people didn’t know at all of who we were, but seeing them dancing and cheering all the time repaid all the hard work we had in studio in the months before. We will never forget how we felt at our first time with Diynamic, it has been amazing.

Who were the DJs who really inspired you? How have your tastes changed since?

Oh well, going back a bit and doing some names, both of us are fans of almost the same artists in electronic music. Trentemoller, Royksopp, Apparat, The Chemical Brothers, Booka Shade, just to name a few. Our tastes have not changed too much during the years, we still fall in love with artists that have both elements in their music, the musicality and the groove.

Have you been to Ibiza? Are you fans of the place?

Yes we have been there, exploring almost all the venues and the major parties around. La Isla Blanca is a magical place, it has the perfect balance between intriguing landscapes and club culture at its finest. For summer 2015 we are going to have our first appearances as Undercatt over there, news will be announced soon.

You’re playing at Sonar soon with Diynamic. What are you most looking forward to about it?

We have been at Sonar in the last years as party people, and for this year it’s the first time we perform as artists, and doing it being a part of the Diynamic family is a dream comes true. Barcelona is a charming city, and in the Sonar days it becomes unique. Knowing how the guys will take care of every location they reside for Diynamic Events, we are sure we will have big time all together.

How would you best sum up a Diynamic party to someone who’s never been?

It’s simple: something you absolutely must take part at least once in your life, because it’s made of quality. All the artists that are part of the family are “real” artists, with their own tastes and vision about what music is, and you can feel it in every act. Solomun and Adriano built up a solid team over the time. The first feeling you have being there is that all the people who join the parties are real fans of the Diynamic brand. Cool and relaxed guys and girls who are there to share good vibrations.

Are these gigs necessarily better/different than the ones at home? How do they differ? Do you play wildly different sets?

It depends. We usually try to stick to our style, which is made up of the right compromise between melody and groove. We also like to play our tracks to test them on the dancefloor and to get back the most important feedback at all, the people in front of you. But coming from the club, we always keep a safe eye on the crowd to understand what is better for every gig. So we can play different sets but staying inside our borders of style. A DJs duty is to make people have a good time and dance, and we always try to do our best to achieve it, creating the right connection with different audiences.

So what are the biggest challenges facing you guys as DJs and producers these days?

The biggest challenge is to never give up. You must believe in your skills and in reaching your goals as a believer does in God. It’s not an easy route, it’s made of sacrifices and a lot of time invested in studio improving yourself, learning and learning new techniques that will build up the quality that comes from the inspiration. We are now reaching our first objectives releasing and joining a top international brand like Diynamic, but we see it like just the beginning. We want to grow as DJs and producers and we are so very satisfied to have found the right home to do it.

What else have you coming up that’s really exciting you?

After our debut on Diynamic with the track “Golden Area” on the Four To The Floor V.A. series, we just released our first EP “Duologue” with two tracks by us “Camargo” and “Gemini” and a two by the Dutch duo Roberto Calzetta & Twin Soul, freshly added to the DIY crew like us. We’ll also take place to some Diynamic Showcases in the near future during the summer, and we are thrilled about it. We have a lot of unreleased music in our bag and our studio work never stops, so keep following us to see what will happen…

https://www.facebook.com/undercattmusic

Roberto Calzetta & Twin Soul + Undercatt’s Duologue is out now on Diynamic