The man behind the mighty Rebirth empire checks in with DMCWORLD
Interview : Dan Prince
Hey Shield, welcome to DMCWORLD towers. Rebirth yet again smashed their way into the Buzz Chart last week, this time with young Italian producer Corrado Bucci and his brilliant ‘Chewing Bubbles’ EP. This kid seems to be able to turn his hand to anything, his music plucks parts of hip hop, techno, jazz and electronica. Quite a talent huh?
“Corrado Bucci is ‘surely one of the most interesting emerging producers I know…in a short time he was able to study the sound of Rebirth and hitting my taste with his music. With his first productions ’23 Years Old’, ‘Brooklyn’ and ‘Spiritual Gift’ he has been showing to have substantial capacity. His ability, not only to make songs inspired by loop of existing songs and revising them in a creative way or make completely original melodies was sensational, combined with the predisposition to listen and to learn with great humility. He is one of the few young people I know who produce for the taste and devotion to the music and not for the desire to appear in the ranking…we would need more guys like him in the field…’Chewing Bubbles’ and ‘Hero’ struck me right away, stand out from everything that you hear around. They are catchy and melodic, but special, never predictable…”
Another artist promising great things in 2013 are System of Survival, Pietro ‘Bingo’ De Lisi and Alex Carpentieri have been sending the Circo Loco dancefloors crazy in Ibiza for years. What was it about their sound you thought would be perfect for Rebirth?
“I have know System Of Survival for a long time…they have supported many of my edits and several releases on Rebirth…when they have sent me their latest productions I have always been impressed by them…I like their ability ‘to produce tracks for the dancefloor without being granted. They are pretty basic and center always the goal. Then this time have combined sounds’ certainly the most sought after, if you listen to Slow Shaking or Iper Island in their Ep you will understand!”
You have just returned from the white isle where Rebirth joined forces with Mainroom Music for the Official IMS Pre Party at Café Mambo and Ocean Beach Club. It seems like this was the year that IMS really grew up as an annual event, what were some of the highlights for you?How were the parties?
It was the first year for me at the IMS, and I have to say that it was very interesting. Compared to the WMC, which is now exclusively a ‘Party Business’ the International Music Summit kept the characteristics of a real Conference so far, where you can meet A & R and producers and attend meetings / interviews with important names of the music scene who help you to open your mind on where the market is going.
Thanks to the Mainroom Music, and in particular to Sarah Main and Christian Velardi, we were invited to play at the official preparty at Cafe’ Mambo. Apart from the bad weather (never happened to play with the jacket in ibiza) I have to say that the event was very nice, and well organized. We were able to bring together some of the artists who are collaborating with the label including Rampa, Taras Van de Voorde and Chromatic Filters … very nice also at the Ocean the next day …beautiful location …and the sun was finally shining !
How important is the Ibiza market to a label like Rebirth?
“If London and Berlin are the hub for house music / electronics during the year, Ibiza becomes the place during the summer season. It is important not only with the ‘big names’ but also the ‘DJ residents’ whose support has always been crucial to push and promote the releases at the best time.”
You have a night off, which is the club and the DJ we would find Shield dancing at/to?
“Mmm…well a private party in my garden with all my friends and Dixon or DJ Harvey playing.”
What is the current top 10 you are spinning?
“In no particular order…
Lone ‘Airglow Fires’
Jesse Futerman ‘Betrayal’ (Love Is Misery)
Full Intention ‘Icon’
Foals ‘Late Night’ (Solomun Remix)
The XX ‘Reunion’ (Ame Remix)
Close ‘My Way’ (Dusky Remix)
Agoria ‘For One Hour’ (Paradis Remix)
Tensnake ‘58 BPM’ (Mano Le Tough Remix)
Joy Orbison ‘Donell’
Western Disco ‘The Sun’ (Robytek Vs Shield Edit)
What are your own studio plans coming up?
“I’m working on a couple of new Robytek Vs Shield tracks… and I’m also working on a new NUfrequency single… plus some new edits to play in my sets.”
Rebirth was created back in 2006 when you unleashed ‘Finest Dream’ onto an unsuspecting world. The label has a very definite sound, your own sound. What was the aim of the label, was it just that no one was putting out records you had in mind?
“Since the start Rebirth refused to conform, not following given trends, but creating its own unique sound that, starting from the roots of house music, builds a link between the ‘soul’ of a song or a melody and combining it with a contemporary modern sound! The market has reached saturation, in this situation Rebirth has always preferred to carefully select their releases without ‘throwing’ on the market with closed eyes what could sell well. This allowed us to gain respect and reputation. Many times we anticipated a musical trend and then do a walk back when all the others were starting to follow that. Many criticize the Rebirth to be too eclectic. This could have penalized us’ cause maybe sometimes we have displaced the audience, but I think this is the result of the ‘musical truth’ of the label, which never compromised but that was always a reflection of my musical tastes.”
Looking back, what are some of the releases that have really stood out for you?
“Difficult to pick up some…but if I have to choose I say And If ‘Finest Dream’, NUfrequency ‘Go That Deep’ and ‘Fallen Hero’, Rennie Foster ‘Devil’s Water’, Taras Van De Voorde ‘1998’, Tevo Howard Feat Tracey Thorn ‘Without Me’, Freaks ‘Conscious’ and Bocca Grande ‘Procedere’
Tell us about some of the Rebirth releases swinging our way over the summer…?
“I am very happy for the upcoming Rebirth releases… projects I’m working on for months. The next one is ‘Wallflower Say You Will Ever’, a beautiful song produced by Alison Marks and Leah Floyeurs and remixed by Larry Heard, Menik and Archie Pelago. The Agoria’ s classic ‘For One Hour’ will follow, the’ Original managed to give great emotions, and will be released as a single with new mixes from Jack Dixon, Oxia, Paradis and Michael Mayer…there will also be the second episode of our Rebirth Session Compilation selected by the up and coming Menik…in July, the return of Full Intention, who are back to production with a very strong ep and another amazing vocal track from Chris Turner called ‘FlyLove’!”
Who are your favourite artists at the moment?
“My favourite artists at the moment are Floating Points, Joy Orbison and Disclosure… I also really like the new album from Mount Kimbie.”
What advice can you offer to someone out there thinking of starting their own label?
“You must be driven by a strong passion, follow your taste and do what you believe in first.. the marketing and promotion is important but changed a lot in rthe last years: there are so many things to do, but sometimes two studied moves are more useful than a hundred ones made with routine in the same way. Do not leave out the organization and management side, even that matters a lot.”
What is the best and worst thing about running your own label?
“Surely the administrative one, updating the catalog on the portals of the company that collecting the royalties and the money due to the rights. It ‘a part of routine, boring, which is the antithesis of the artistic and A&R one…. but that still has to be done. Also listening to a tons of demos sounding all the same, without ‘Heart’ or a ‘Meaning’ sometimes can be frustrating. The best thing is producing and discovering music and new artists…do what i love and I feel 100%.”.
What are your thoughts on the whole US dance explosion that has gripped their country these last 24 months – is it a healthy thing for the music industry?
“I’m not following this much to be honest. I think it’s more a thing linked to money and to some companies that take economic advantages than to music.”
2012 and 2013 has seen a huge resurgence of house music, great music is back in vogue again and people are smiling on the dancefloor again. You must be happy?
“We have never lost the search for quality first of all, the care of the production and the melody … but’ I’m glad, it seems that finally the good music is coming back even on the radios and in the clubs … a return to music played combined with the sampled one to create a ‘true’ and ‘new’ sound at the same time.”
http://www.rebirth.dj/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rebirth/46464714360
http://soundcloud.com/shield-rebirth-records
http://www.residentadvisor.net/record-label.aspx?id=1144
