Riccardo - Life Forms
Riccardo's obsession with electronic music started when he was 15 years old. Today he is most commonly known for the success of his record label Imprints, which he started in 2012 with Domenico Rosa. An all-rounder, his DJ sets are enjoyed by parties such as Seekers, Sleepers, Kulture, Loft, Pragmatism, DAMAGED and so forth. A studio addict indeed, he can spend days- weeks, months- working on beats with his machines in his studio in Berlin. Here he shows us another side to his talent as he explores sounds with a synth.
Hi Riccardo! Thank you for taking the time to answer some questions. Let's start from the beginning... Your hometown is Benevento. What was it like growing up there?
Hello and thanks for your invite. Yes, Benevento is my hometown - a little town near the amazing Napoli. I have great memories of my childhood, my family and my old friends that gave me these beautiful memories and helped me to grow up in the right way... It’s four years now that I no longer live there and it's always a pleasure to come back to see the people who are dear to me.
How did you discover electronic music?
Electronic music came into my life at the age of 15/16, when I started attending clubs around my town and where artists like Domenico Rosa played. I remember I always felt a sense of comfort in the clubs, as if it was the right place for me... just how a football field is the right place for a football player hehe. So from there I started buying vinyl and playing at the small clubs in Benevento.
At what age did you come to London to study sound engineering? What would you say are some of the vital lessons that you learnt during your studies?
In 2011, at the age of 19 I moved to London to attend the London School of Sound. From when I started to use software to make music, I enjoyed creating grooves inspired by the music I had bought. I worked in a studio with analogue instruments (EQ and compressors etc...), acoustic instruments (drums, guitars etc...) and recorded rock bands. I also studied the physics of sound waves - this is what fascinated me and helped me to develop the most, it is from there that I started to find my "music wave”.
What is the one piece of equipment that you can’t live without?
Probably the bass synth is my favourite, I recently bought a Roland SH-101 and I am completely in love with it. Bassline is what touches me the most and when I make music I try to build my sound around it.
Imagine your dream studio... what does it look like?
I think my dream studio is what I have started to build since I moved to Berlin. I’m already really happy with what I have, of course I would like to have more equipment to improve the quality of my sound and evolve my style but everything has its time, and I hope one day to have all the equipment I need to take my music to the next step.
Tell me some artists that have majorly inspired you.
Artists such as Herbert, Gemini and many more inspired me in the beginning. Jazz music has also given me a lot of ideas for drums and bassline grooves. At the moment I’m in a period of evolving my sound, the new equipment that I have bought has given me the opportunity to experiment and create something new... inspiration can come from everything, even synths.
You have a repress coming out of your second Imprints - by you, Domenica Rosa and Isherwood. Why did you choose this record in particular?
The track was chosen by me and Domenico, as we always do for all the releases. To be honest I was unsure about choosing it but I trust in Domenico’s taste - the three tracks are really different so it gives the opportunity to play the record in different situations, in a club or in an after party.
You released an EP 'Decade City' by 100hz on your Imprints label. What attracts you to this group and what was the reason for featuring them on your label?
We really like the work of these amazing artists. Their music attracts us to them, they got in touch and everything happened naturally after that. It was a good opportunity for a great artist of the past to release something new today, a little help to share quality music to everyone who wants to listen to it.
Thank you for making a podcast for Say What?! Can you tell us about it?
It’s an inspiration from a synth…play with it and go deep into the modulations - that's the spark that drives this podcast.
Thanks again for your invite, bye byeeee :)