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 “Initially nobody wanted to release ‘Bucci Bag’- Nobody. Actually the comments I received were along the line of ‘what’s this crap?’ They had no idea. We then decided to press it up on white label at our own expense, then once it was out there the record took on a life of its own.”
With Bucci Bag becoming one of the biggest and best club records of the last five years, almost as soon as Andea and his production partner Dino Lenny first circulated copies in 2003, the pair were certainly vindicated in their faith, though two year on, Andrea remains unimpressed by the business at home.
“The problem with Italian labels is that they judge a record by their own standards, not knowing even marginally what people may like or buy these days,” he complains. “They have no knowledge of foreign markets, new trends or new sounds. They should put the track out and let people decide if they like it or not. The success of Bucci Bag shows that it’s the quality of the track that ultimately counts, not the promotion around it.”
Prolifically busy as a DJ and producer ever since (also via pseudonyms like PCB- Pin Cushion Boy) he remains based in his hometown of Ravenna, near Bologna, despite being even more pissed off with the state of Italy’s club scene.
“I hate Italian clubs, they’re shit,” he laughs, “There isn’t and there’s never been a ‘club culture’ here, and what’s more there isn’t any interest in creating one. Club owners are not interested in culture, they’re only interested in pulling in the numbers, something you cannot do with just a little flyer or a couple of posters.”
Despite his complaints, Andrea has no plans to leave the country just yet, unlike his compatriot and regular production partner Dino Lenny, who’s works out of London since the early 90s. The pair first met some 8 years ago, and have maintained a tempestuous trans-national partnership, that’s continued more or less continuously to this day.
“We still work together, though not long ago our relationship went through a bit of a hard time,” says Andrea.
“It happened because we’re both very opinionated and at one point we started disagreeing a lot, but we’re also both intelligent so we overcame those issues by not letting our personal opinions interfere with our work. Our collaboration is on again.”
Skrufff (Benedetta Skrufff) Starting with your own new music: your website talks of a new ‘Grand Dame Of The Sea’ audio and visual project’, what’s that all about?
Andrea Doria: The Grand Dame of the Sea was name of the ship that sunk in the Genoa port with whom I share my name, though in this case it’s a visual/musical project I’ve been involved for a while with a group of people I know. Musically it’s still centred around electronic music, but verging this time a little more towards the underground. Once the project is completed it will be followed by a CD release.”
Skrufff: What are your main priorities at the moment- between running your own label, DJing and putting out releases?
Andrea Doria: “My main priority it’s always been and still is to keep doing what I do with a passion. The moment I’ll stop enjoying making music I’ll stop doing it altogether. There’s no point in doing something you’re not enjoying.”
Skrufff: Has that ever happened, even if briefly?
Andrea Doria: “Thankfully no, though I did go through a moment of crisis some time ago, and even recently I’ve had an unhappy stint possibly due to a relationship break up. I had one of those moments when you disappear for a few months to re-emerge more charged up than before and more self-assured than you were.”
Skrufff: You were lucky to have bounced back after just a few months . . .
Andrea Doria: “I know, but those months were intense and I was worried about my future until I realised that, in relationships especially, things hardly ever go the way we’d like them to. Once you understand this, you’re able to go along with whatever comes along. Love should give you energy rather than taking it away from you; if that starts happening you’re better off on your own.”
Skrufff: You use lots of different personas for records, why?
Andrea Doria: “Like many professional musicians I’ll produce a lot of material in a year, though not many of them will see the light through the labels I hoped for, so the pseudonyms make it viable for me to release this music anyway and to test the market at the same time. However I’m not one to release 300 records in year just for the sake of it. I only release music that I believe has real potential. I try not to be too commercial because I like the track to have energy without being too obvious or cheesy. I don’t always get it right, but I do sometimes.”
Skrufff: Perhaps you don’t have an ego problem?
Andrea Doria: “I do have an ego, believe me, but I don’t have a problem because of it. I keep my ego on a tight leash and well under control. I think I am quite an open person too.”
Skrufff: What’s happening with the Bucci bag persona is it dormant or even dead?
Andrea Doria: “Bucci Bag was one of those records that was released like many others without too many expectations, then it took on a life of it’s own. You never know why people like something. A year after it was released it became the most bootlegged track around, and that alone has given me a lot of kudos, especially in the States, where people keep on emailing to tell me how much they loved the record. Just the other day a girl who is also called Andrea Doria emailed me from the US, from “My Space” saying that “Bucci Bag” is her favourite track and it’s on all her compilations. That made me so happy also because from the photos she sent me, she looks stunning.”
Skrufff:Maybe you’ll see more of her in the future?
Andrea Doria: “That’d be great. Hopefully she’ll find me a few dates in Ibiza, where she says she organizes parties (chuckling). That record has opened so many doors for me, because of it, I was booked to play in Russia for example, so you never know.”
Skrufff: How much did you get caught up in the electroclash wave of a few years ago?
Andrea Doria: “I do really like it as a genre even now, I like its rawness, its electric slightly out of key sound and its energy. Electroclash represented a great evolution in terms of sound, but it quickly became over-exposed and like everything else that reaches that sort of height in a short space of time it was quickly over. That’s why at this moment in time I’m trying to distance myself from that sound a bit, though I still like it very much.”
Skrufff: Do you often change from one musical style to another?
Andrea Doria: “I do, but only because I like all types of music, I also write ambient tracks and film scores. I try to evolve whilst avoiding becoming too commercial and always keeping an eye on the underground. I like music that allows me to have that space.”
Skrufff: Since then italo-disco suddenly emerged: how much have you been affected by that trend?
Andrea Doria: “Well, lately I happened to remix a track called ‘Call Me Mr Telephone’, that was a big commercial hit in the US at the beginning of the ‘80’s. The great thing was that, even though the song had been so successful nobody else seemed to remembered it, so when I was asked to remix it I jumped at the offer, also because it was an Italian record in the first place. It was one of those tracks that rode on the wave of Miami Sound Machine, whose sound became extremely popular in Italy at that time.”
Skrufff: What is your relationship with Dino Lenny these days?
Andrea Doria: “We still work together, though not long ago our relationship went through a bit of a hard time. It happened because we’re both very opinionated and at one point we started disagreeing a lot, but we’re also both intelligent so we overcame those issues by not letting our personal opinions interfere with our work. Our collaboration is on again, thanks also to a bootleg around at the moment that is pissing us off, it’s one of our records “Deep Sleepless Night” sung by Sean Christopher that came out on Free 2 Air one year ago. This Belgian DJ has bootlegged the track just adding a few words ‘Word is pussy’ on it and Pete Tong has been plugging it a lot for two weeks in a row. So we’re back at work together to re-release this track which has clearly proved to be very popular.”
Skrufff: Who does what between the two of you?
Andrea Doria: “Dino thinks he’s the brains behind it all, but in reality we both are. In the studio, I create and engineer the sounds and I work on the ideas. He does that too to a certain extent, but he also has moments of pure genius, which helps. I have to say though, that without him I wouldn’t have got anywhere because here in Italy there aren’t many opportunities. He’s always been very correct and encouraging towards me, we may clash in terms of ideas but maybe there’s where our strength lays.”
Skrufff: How’s the club scene in Italy these days?
Andrea Doria: “Ah, what a dreadful subject . . .”
Skrufff: Benny Benassi told Skrufff 18 months ago that it was still dominated by champagne bars?
Andrea Doria: “I’m going to be less diplomatic than Benny B. I hate Italian clubs. They’re shit. There isn’t and there’s never been a ‘club culture’ here, and what’s more there isn’t any interest in creating it. Club owners are not interested in culture, they’re only interested in pulling in the numbers, something you cannot do with just a little flyer or a couple of posters. There should be a school to teach them how to run a night, and when they get it wrong a teacher should cane them. Seriously though, apart from a few artistic directors/promoters who occasionally stick their noses outside our borders, no one here has got a clue.”
Skrufff: Do you mean the whole of Italy?
Andrea Doria: “I’ve been around and really the situation is quite painful. Actually recently I played in Apulia, near Bari, where I had a good time, mainly because people were there for the music. Elsewhere people go out for all other reasons except to listen and dance to music. Music is merely there as a background, no one cares about what you play and how you play it.”
Skrufff: Why is that?
Andrea Doria: “My feeling is that in Italy there isn’t a political interest in creating a dance music scene. Promoters are only interested in filling their clubs, so they’ll hire someone like Claudio Coccoluto, who pulls crowds but demands a lot of money, and even if at the end of the night they’ve made no profit at all, they feel their job is done. Hence they don’t help new talent, nor trends or new scenes to emerge.”
Skrufff: Have you thought of re-locating elsewhere?
Andrea Doria: “Whenever I’ll find a good ground for my work I will, trust me. Generally I spend too much time in the studio, sometimes I have to take a rest from it all for a couple of months to give my ears a rest and also because I can’t take it anymore. Right now I’m actually going through a good phase, because I’m making the music I like, so I’m enjoying the whole process again, I’ve also had a big burst up with the labels people not so long ago. I told myself from now on I’d only make the music I like regardless of their opinion, and here I am today. If they release my music or not, I don’t care. I’ll find some other way to put it out.”
http://www.readytorockmusic.com
Interview by: Benedetta Ferraro (Skrufff.com)
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