The Italian duo return with Mousse T and ‘The Race’ – massive anthem alert
With a combined career that spans 40 years in the business, Italian producers Paolo Martini & Paul C have been, seen and done it all. Since 2009 the pair have worked tirelessly in the studio not only seeing their music supported by many of the industry’s biggest names, but also seen their work featured on labels including Area Remote, Terminal M,100% Pure, AMA Recordings, Great Stuff, Kiara Records and of course Paul’s Boutique. 2013 has been an incredible year for the duo with dancefloor smashes ‘Spunk’ and ‘We Repeat’ tearing it up, now after a barmy summer they get ready for a chaotic Autumn with a slurry of stunning releases…
Interview : Dan Prince
Guys welcome to DMCWORLD, where in the world are you right now?
“Hi everybody and thanks for inviting us, we are home selecting some music for the party of tonight…we’ll be at Alter Ego in Verona) and La Scala in Padova.”
How was the weekend – Munich and Brescia were in the diary…?
“Gigs were both great…Pacha in Munich on Saturday was really good as there’s always a great atmosphere over there and people really enjoy the 3 hours set. Then every Sunday there’s this brand new “one nighter” called Dopo Cena@Circus in Brescia, one of the most famous clubs in the city for a very long time and on Sunday is hosted by both team Alter Ego (Verona) and Circus themselves…the party is pretty young has they just started 3 weeks ago but it was super and we think it will grow up even more…looking forward to coming back there in December.”
Well what a year you two are having, an unforgettable 12 months with some sumptuous dancefloor anthems. One of the big tunes currently causing mayhem is ‘The Race’ feat. Mousse T – No. 1 in the world famous Buzz Chart. Tell us the history of the beautiful track with the haunting piano…
“Well it all starts with a track we made where we felt there was something missing…we tryed first with a piano riff we found but it wasn’t enough so we then remembered playing an old track by our long time friend Mousse T with a killer piano riff (Afropeans – No 1); we asked him if he wanted to collaborate with us on that track, he agreed and so he replayed the piano riff and we discovered that the combinations of all the elements of the track fitted up perfectly. Monika Kruse liked it as well, so we decided to put it in our new Terminal M release with ‘Waterdrops’ and ‘Red Swan’. We are very happy that we did a collaboration with Mousse T, he is a good friend and a great DJ/producer and musician…check out his all time ‘Numero Uno’ where he played the original piano, it is amazing! Also the coincidence here is that the original was called ‘No 1’ and with ‘The Race’ we went to No 1 in the Buzz Chart, so I have to say he brings luck to all of us!”
Check ‘The Race’ video here…
Talk us through the new ‘Colors’ EP out on Material Series…
“It is the follow up of ‘Spunk’ on Materialism (on the Beatport Charts of Breaks and Tech House hitting No. 2 and Main Chart No. 20 sitting there for few months) and one of our biggest track of this year together with ‘We Repeat’ on Cecille Numbers…’Colors’ has all the elements it needs to be a dancefloor killer: a powerful bassline, dirty grooves and distorted vocals which has become one of our trademarks; the other track ‘Qui Pro Quo’ has more of a techno soul feel…and only on the green vinyl there’s a remastered version of ‘Spunk’ which has never been released on vinyl before as it was only on digital format.”
And you are also enjoying huge success with ‘Secret Effect’ and ‘Get This’ – are you trying to kill us out there? Do you ever sleep?
“Hahaha! Yes of course we do…but we also work really hard. All the tracks were done before the summer but as you all know it takes some time before they get fully released, there’s a process to do first and all the labels have a release plan to follow. So since September we have had our tracks coming out closely together…and here we are! ‘Secret Effect’ is included in the new Moon Harbour Sampler Volume 5, another great label that we love! The DJs’ support on the track is massive and it seems it’s doin’ well in the charts. With Hot Creations we made another big step thanks to Jamie Jones…we are very grateful to him as he’s been supporting us for a while as he loves some of our stuff. After we met him on a gig together we started send him our new tracks: it tooks a while until he founds the right ones for his label and finally we made it! We are very happy and excited for ‘Get This EP’ wich is just release and we really hope to work together with him again in the future as we respect him a lot.”
Let’s rewind a little, you have a combined total of over 40 years experience in the music industry, can you please tell us about how your love affairs with dance music began. Who were the early artists and songs that first grabbed your attention…
Paolo Martini : “At the age of fourteen I fell in love with the sound of disco music and funk, so my memories brings me back to names like Salsoul Orchestra ‘It’s Good For The Soul’, Cerrone ‘Love In C Minor’, Giorgio Moroder ‘From Here To Eternity, Chic ‘Everybody Dance’, Instant Funk ‘I Got My Mind Made Up’, Young & Company ‘I Like What You Do It To Me’ Cameo ‘It’s Serious’, Rick James ‘You & I’…all records that then become classics, that’s where I come from…”
Paul C: “As a child I listened to the music that my brothers and my dad listened to and I’ve always imagined how it could be built, in particular dance music…I was always listening to the radio and I started to hear songs that had a percussive rhythm characterized by a charming clap. I later found out that this sound was called ‘House Music’! So then I started to listen to DJs like David Mancuso, Nicky Siano, Tony Humpries and then got to Carl Craig and Plastikman which was completely different but wonderful all the same because I was amazed by the fact of how music could be arranged in that way.”
If you hadn’t have become DJs and producers, what other options career wise was of interest to you…?
“Honestly? We don’t know…we’ve been doing this for so many years and it’s what we dreamed about since we were a children, so we never ask ourselves that question. We suppose that we were born to do this, everyone’s got his own destiny right?.
What was your first break in the music industry?
Paolo Martini: “I had a great period between 1999-2004 together with my long time friend Gianni Bini as the team “Bini&Martini”…we made a few successful releases and remixes together at that time and we became quite popular, especially in the UK as well as other countries as well.”
Paul C : “It happened a few years ago with a few tracks and remixes, some made together with Luca Morris as Microdinamic…we released them on many respected labels such as Peppermint Jam, Suara,Boxer Sport and Definitive and many others…we also broke into the Beatport Sales charts a few times. Then in 2009 we teamed up together and a year later started to get noticed and have supports from big DJs with our releases the ‘Special One EP’ on AMA Recordings and ‘Amore’ on Paul’s Boutique…this one was licensed to Great Stuff after a while.”
How did you two first meet and how did this studio partnership begin?
Paolo Martini: “In 2004 I was about to start to run a label called Ocean Dark and I got a demo from Paul…I was impressed by his sound so I called him up and he started to give me a few tracks for the label. Then in 2009 we decide to join forces as a team because we thought that it could be good to put our experiences and musical talents together to create good productions. I have a strong disco/house background, he’s more on the Techno side – but the mixture most of the time seems to works well. I think we have found a good balance and that’s why most of our tracks can be played by many DJs who on paper are very different to one another.”
Tell us about the studio relationship, who excels where in the production process? Paolo Martini :
Paolo Martini: “Paul C is a wizard making beats and he’s super fast, that means that he does things in a few hours that normally takes a few days. Sometimes when he’s doing things he doesn’t even look at the consolle…”
Paul C : “Usually I set up some rough stuff and then together with Paolo we settle down and build up the track adding new elements to it…then we test it a few times in the club and see how it works.”
Do you ever argue about music?
“Sure…almost every week! But at the end of the day we always find a good compromise.”
If you could change one thing about each other what would it be?
Paul C : “Sometimes he’s too much susceptible!”
Paolo Martini : “I’d like him to be more optimistic!”
I interviewed Steve Mac a couple of weeks ago, he came out with this nugget… “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.” What are your thoughts on that?
“We completely agree with him, but we also have to say that those people won’t be around for too long…credibility is something you can’t buy!”
What is the current top 10 you are spinning?
Paul C & Paolo Martini – Get This! (Hot Creations)
Nick Curly – Formerly (8bit)
Paul C & Paolo Martini – Secret Effect (Moon Harbour)
Carter Bros – Run (Monty’s Bonus Beats) (Classic Music Company)
Adriano Filippucci – Lost For The Music (Paul’s Boutique)
Paul C & Paolo Martini – The Race featuring Mousse T (Terminal M)
Christian Burkhardt – Sent The Money Back (Souvenir)
Paul C & Paolo Martini – Colors (Material)
Bootshonk – White Ghost (White label)
Todd Terry vs Simone Vitullo – Let Yourself Go (Paul C & Paolo Martini Remix) (Paul’s Boutique)
Anthem of the summer?
“Might be ‘Ninetoes – ‘Finder’ on Kling Klong.”
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.” Discuss…
“It is clear that everything has changed in the last 15 years and this would be a very long discussion to get into. Today everyone seems to be allowed to be a DJ thanks to the progress of technology, in Italy we even have people that at the end of their porno acting careers decide to become a DJ as their last chance to do something! Can you believe that?”
A horrible question but be brave! You have released tracks on a plethora of labels including Area Remote, Terminal M, 100% Pure, AMA Recordings, Great Stuff, Kiara Records, Material Series, Hot Creations and of course Paul’s Boutique – what is each of yours favourite piece of production you have brought us?
Paolo Martini : “They’re like our children so we love them all, there might be some tracks that we love more than others but every one’s got there own story.”
What was the last expensive you bought yourselves?
Paolo Martini : “I just bought a new car as my last one was just too old!”
Paul C : “I am buy one as well for the same reason!”
What is the 1 record you wish you’d have made?
Paul C : There’s so many wonderful tracks of the past…the very first ones that comes to my mind right now are Paperclip People – ‘Throw’ and Plastikman – ‘Spastik’.”
Who are some of the new producers you have seen on your travels who we should be looking out for in 2014?
Paul C : “You know honestly this is a question I ask myself every year at the end of the summer, but instead I try to understand what genre will be big and on that decision I try to then figure out the new artists…it could be someone that can evolve the genre as it was in the past for Masters At Work, Mousse T, Chicken Lips, James Holden, DJ T, Nick Curly, Johnny D, Jamie Jones, Lee Foss, Tale Of Us … every one of these artists gave their contribution to the evolution of their genre with a personal characteristic…so it’s hard for me to mention someone new at the moment.”
Who are your big DJ buddies in the industry?
“Oh we have a few and we are lucky enough because we work with some of them…we take this opportunity to say thanks to all of them for their support they have given us : Jamie Jones, Nick Curly, Monika Kruse, Marco Carola, Matthias Tanzmann, Karotte,Paco Osuna, Ray Okpara, 2000andOne, Yousef, Mihalis Safras, Riva Starr …sorry if we forgot to mention anyone!”
And finally, what is coming out next from you guys?
“We did a remix for Hedonism called ‘Aquarian Dream – Love And Tears’ a while ago that will be released before the end of the year…and we’re currently working on a couple of remixes for Exploited and Kling Klong. In early 2014 we will have a track released on Circus Recordings – Yousef’s label.
Thanks DMC Magazine for the great interview!”
www.facebook.com/PaulCPaoloMartini