I’m at my sixth post about msft. in just over a year and he still doesn’t pay me. Does that seem fair? We bloggers have to pay bills too! Joking of course, joking (we do not take money for posts)! I’m more than happy to invest time and energy in on a project in which I strongly believe. Not only because he is among one of the few artists that are still nourishing my hopes for the birth of a modern Italian scene, but above all because, hate it or love it, there’s so much to learn from this Venice based producer, talking both about music, relationships, business. From the first release on Hack Records to an official remix for Louis The Child on Interscope, the parabola of his career has been well worth watching so far. With this interview, we asked him to take stock of the situation, focusing on what it means to be an artist exclusively online, his creative process and more. Oh, and obviously, don’t forget to test your ears with this ridiculous mix while reading!
First and Foremost, be our Virgil and guide us in this mix. What are we going through, Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso? What will encounter during the journey?
Definitely Purgatorio, it will be a journey from vibey and groovy beats to heavy drops. Plus there are three IDs from me and A LOT of unreleased material from my super talented friends.
Recently I saw a tweet saying that “experimental bass music is designer bass music.” Do you think it’s a fitting definition?
Couldn’t agree more. I’d add that experimental bass music is always coming from the ones who don’t care about trends, from the ones who only want to push boundaries and have fun. Pushing boundaries without caring too much is, indeed, my main goal.
It’s pretty well known that you’re an 808 fetishist, but what else is inside msft.’s essential producer kit?
Hahaha yeah I love 808s. In my “essentials” I’d add Izotope Trash which is the best distorsion plugin I’ve ever tried, arps, spooky pads, Effector (which is actually a super underrated plugin on FL) and of course water. Water is definitely essential.
I don’t force myself to produce everyday, it may lead to writer’s block. We’re not robots, we can’t be inspired everyday and making music without inspiration is meaningless.
What inspires your productions? What is your creative process based around? Do you actually “wait” for the inspiration to come to you before starting a project or do you prefer to sit down in front of your pc playing with FL again and again until the right idea comes?
I usually produce when I feel something, when I have an idea or when I’m sad (the best beats I made were produced during my nostalgic/sad days). I don’t force myself to produce everyday, it may lead to writer’s block. We’re not robots, we can’t be inspired everyday and making music without inspiration is meaningless.
Let’s go a little further and contextualize the msft. project offline. Help our readers to understand the environment in which you live. Italy is not LA right?
Italy is definitely not LA haha, not at all. I live in a small city near Venice and the “music environment” here is weak. All my best friends in the music industry live in Milan so I can say Milan is a sort of home for the producers. Unfortunately, promoters here don’t believe in bass music that much and the community is not supportive at all. In Italy people get famous in the music industry for doing tons of IG stories without releasing music, without even producing their own music. I hope to live in a better environment, I wanna be surrounded by positive people who can inspire me.
my whole music life is based on online connections.
So, basically the scene in Italy forced you to seek and establish contacts almost exclusively online. How did you live it? Is it frustrating?
It’s definitely frustrating, I have Skype sessions, random chats, email conversations with a lot of producers around the world, some of them turned to be my best friends url (and I can’t wait to meet them all irl). Music connected us and I’m proud to call them friends. Speaking about the business side I’ve always released music with non Italian labels or self-released it, so yeah my whole music life is based on online connections.
Tell us the story behind the Louis The Child remix.
When I came across Kids At Play I immediately fell in love with ‘Space Jam,’ it’s such a powerful track but also vibey and melodic. I wanted to remix it so I did; after a week from the upload on SoundCloud, an Interscope A&R (shoutout to Josh) emailed my manager (shoutout to Giacomo) that they wanted to include it in the official remix package. I freaked out and I couldn’t tell anyone about it so I kept my mouth closed for almost two months (it was so stressful haha).
having a manager can make you do a step forward only if he believes in you and there’s mutual trust.
You mentioned your manager. How long have you been working together? The modern DIY-utopia built around distributors and streaming platforms lures artists to believe that they can build and manage their careers by themselves. What’s your point of view?
I don’t usually call him “manager” since first of all we are friends, he believes in me and I trust him. My overall view about this topic is that it’s important to be surrounded by good people so, to conclude, having a manager can make you do a step forward only if he believes in you and there’s mutual trust.
It’s been a while since you released an original. When can we expect to see one of the IDs featured in the mix, surfacing online?
Of course, the first track of the mix will be released sooner than you think
You’re on my 2019 Ones To Watch list. Who’s on yours?
Thank you man, appreciate it. In mine there are Rome In Silver, Jon Casey, NXSTY, william. and of course my Italian pals Akari, Estremo, GAZZ, Marble and Nextars.
Tracklist
1. msft – ID
2. Floret Loret – Cantuta
3. Inimicvs – Fuze Tea
4. Baauer – Sow (msft Edit)
5. msft – ID
6. msft – Pots
7. anti – ID
8. Louis The Child – Space Jam (msft Remix)
9. msft – ID
10. Sam Gellaitry – Long Distance (VIP)
11. MineSweepa – Black McLaren
12. Emme – ID
13. msft – FML
14. TVBOO & RUVLO – ID
15. Moore Kismet – ID
16. So Sus & Buonofide – ID
17. Blush x msft – Haha
18. Blvk Sheep – AMF – ID
19. Rome In Silver – ID
