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 i:Vibes was lucky enough to be able to have an extended chat with Giuseppe Ottaviani, legendary Italian trance producer and one half of the NU-NRG collaboration...
Giuseppe Ottaviani Is The True Italian Trance Master
At first glance, the name Giuseppe Ottaviani may not have rung a bell for the traditional raver some years ago, but after countless hits and the fact that he was ˝ of the very successful Italian duo NU-NRG, he is a household name for most trance fans now. In the last seven years, NU-NRG have been responsible for countless high class trance records like ‘Dreamland’, ‘Connective’, ‘Butterfly’, ‘Freefall’, ‘Casino’ or the breathtaking instrumental ‘Eclisse’. In the last six months, Giuseppe has not only shown that he can produce high quality tracks on his own, but further demonstrated that not only the Benelux countries, England or Germany can produce killer trance records, but even the Italians are able to mix up the trance scene. After producing together with Andrea Ribeca as NU-NRG, he decided to go solo in 2005.
His love for music started at age four as he started to play the piano and a while later studied classical music. At age 15, he was introduced to dance music and soon he started to DJ in local clubs. In 1998 he played his first two hour DJ set for a local radio station. He had a deep love for technology and soon set up his own home studio and used Cubase. Soon he met Andrea Ribeca and NU-NRG was born. In 2001, Paul Van Dyk, who has always had an ear for discovering new talent, signed NU-NRG’S first track ‘Dreamland’ to Vandit. In the next years as NU-NRG, they released the Spaceflower EP and their debut album ‘Free Fall’ in 2004. Through the years Giuseppe also gained a lot of experience touring live as NU-NRG. They played at famous events like Love Parade Berlin, WMC Ultra Music Festival Miami, Street Parade Zurich, Mayday, Gatecrasher, Nature One, Creamfields and Dance Valley. In 2005 Giuseppe went solo, and quickly gained success with his track ‘Linking People’ that was played by all the big DJs and was featured on countless compilations. Since then he has kept busy releasing ‘Until Monday’with German producer Marc van Linden, which found its way on to the legendary compilation Technoclub Vol. 20. He doesn’t produce much, but what he does make is always a trance gem. In 2006, he produced ‘Through Your Eyes’, which was a summer hit. German DJ god Paul Van Dyk has been following his progress for years and it came as no surprise when he was invited to collaborate on ‘In Between’. The track ‘La Dolce Vita’ and ‘Far Away’ were produced. ‘Far Away’ is a track with a beautiful melody that was a huge hit in the summer of 2007. In 2008, he has produced another new masterpiece, ‘No More Alone’ that has hit written all over it. He also has stayed busy the last few years remixing artists like Thomas Bronzwaer, Greg Downey, Andre Visior, Stoneface & Terminal and Jose Amnesia. He is also making a name for himself through his live sets. i:Vibes recently had the chance to interview the Italian trance master...
i:Vibes: Thanks Giuseppe for your time. You went solo in 2005. Does this mean the end of NU-NRG? Why did you take this step? NU-NRG has been so successful for so many years. Will we see NU-NRG again in the future?
Giuseppe Ottaviani: Actually we took a break from the end of December 2005 and I don’t know how long it will be, sincerely speaking I don’t believe so much that NU-NRG will take a place on the music scene again.
i:Vibes: Now that you have gone solo, how is life different for you now, than when you were NU-NRG? What is the most difficult thing about being a solo act?
Giuseppe Ottaviani: My life as solo? I think it’s not so different than before, of course some time to work alone could be a bit “boring” you know, only my computer and I, but on the other hand I can find a perfect concentration and do what I really like doing and play what I really like playing. I mean working solo lets me be able to show people what is my own vision of music.
i:Vibes: Has your sound changed much now you are solo? How would you describe your sound now? How is the Giuseppe Ottaviani sound different than NU-NRG?
Giuseppe Ottaviani: Basically it’s not so different, I’m still focused on the dancefloor, it means I like making powerful tracks like ‘Through Your Eyes’ or ‘Reload’, I love “big” melodies like ‘Linking People’ or ‘Until Monday’, but I also love some low BPM tracks like ‘Skywalk’ or ‘White Lady’, and there will be different kinds of stuff that I’m going to play on my live act.
i:Vibes: You are working very close with Vandit records and one could almost say that you are one of the labels most important acts. What is so special about working with the label Vandit and what makes your work with Vandit so unique?
Giuseppe Ottaviani: Vandit says: NO ART WITHOUT ARTISTS. They want to promote, help and develop artists and this is what they are doing with me and what they already did with the NU-NRG project. The Vandit guys are very good and serious workers, and my work is completely handled by them and this is very good for me because it lets me able to think about music only!
i:Vibes: Paul van Dyk discoverd NU-NRG in 2001 and continues to support you. What is the most important advice Paul van Dyk has given you in the last years?
Giuseppe Ottaviani: There is not a particular piece of advice that I can remember, by the way I can say that for me the most important “help” is playing together with him live and breathe the music next to him.
i:Vibes: Trance has sometimes gotten a bad name over the years. Some say there are too many DJs playing the cheesy hands in the air trance. However Paul Van Dyk has never been a trance DJ, but moreover an artist supporting the various styles of electronic music. How important has he been to the Global music scene and what can other artists learn from him?
Giuseppe Ottaviani: He’s definitely not a trance DJ only and I really like how he can include many different kinds of music in his sets. I think that each style of music has its own power and Paul shows us how to blend the best parts of each style all together.
i:Vibes: With your current success as a solo artist, you seem to be giving the Italian trance scene a bit of a push. But realistically is their a stable trance scene in Italy? What other artists do you see making a name and where is the trance scene in Italy headed?
Giuseppe Ottaviani: Italian people are focused on different stuff and trance is not so big here, and I tried to push it since 1999 by the NU-NRG name and try to go ahead now. Unfortunately radio stations don’t help the scene. We have only one radio station which plays more electronic and trance stuff, it’s called M2O. By the way, some nice events are happening in Milan and Rome, hopefully they will get bigger and bigger.
i:Vibes: I love ‘Linking People’ and this track was one of my favourites in the second half of 2005. The melody is so catchy that you want to hear it over and over again. What was your inspiration behind this track? Was it difficult producing this track? What was the production time?
Giuseppe Ottaviani: When you find the right inspiration nothing is difficult, and I was inspired by a sound from an old keyboard Korg 01/Wfd, I have matched that sound with a melody which was running in my head from the WMC 2005 experience and after 20 days of work in the studio ‘Linking People’ was born. :-) i:Vibes: How do you work in the studio. Do you have a special way or procedure when working on tracks now that you are alone? Giuseppe Ottaviani: It’s not more difficult, indeed I find it easier!!! I mean it is never easy for two different people to find a good way for both and sometimes it takes a lot of time. Now there is only one way and it’s my way. :-) I don’t know if it is better for the people or not, but I’m feeling much better with it and this is very important for me. i:Vibes: What studio equipment do you use in the studio and what piece of equipment could you not do without? Giuseppe Ottaviani: I need to use my Supernova II on all my productions, and I can’t work without it. By the way I love hardware more than software, and keyboards like the JP 8000, Korg 01/Wfd and Korg Triton are my favourites in my studio. The main desk is a PC Pentium 4 3.2Ghz with Cubase SX3, but the heart of my studio is the 32ch analogic mixer Soundcraft Ghost. i:Vibes: You produced ‘Until Monday’ with the German producer Marc van Linden. How did you guys come together and what was the reason you wanted to produce a track with him? Giuseppe Ottaviani: He’s a very good producer and remixer in my opinion, and I met him one and a half years ago and we were feeling good immediately and last December we decided to make something together. So he came to my studio (in January) and here you go. :-) i:Vibes: You have played at many of the worlds greatest events. What was the most incredible gig you have had in the last five years or so? Giuseppe Ottaviani: No doubt: Love Parade 2002 :-) i:Vibes: Would you ever like to produce another style of music? I could imagine with your classical musical background, that producing a soundtrack for a movie would be something you could master. How would the perfect Giuseppe Ottaviani soundtrack be like? Giuseppe Ottaviani: You already had a taste with the first track of the 2004 NU-NRG album called ‘Eclisse’, this is what I mean for a perfect soundtrack and I want to make something similar and maybe better in the future. i:Vibes: You don’t produce a lot of new material but everything you produce is always a sure fire hit! How do you explain the secret to your success and how much work does it take for you working on a new track? Giuseppe Ottaviani: I don’t believe I have a secret, just have my own way to make music. What I do is what I like best and when I feel good vibrations during production I just press the record button and that’s it :-). It takes time because I usually make tracks for my live acts first and then one of them sometimes becomes a full track. i:Vibes: You had huge hits in 2006 with ‘Linking People’ and ‘Through Your Eyes’. How would you describe your sound development in the last two years? Giuseppe Ottaviani: Well as you know music is continuously evolving and so do I but the thing is to keep some specific sound into all my productions to make them recognizable as a GO production. Besides that I still keep high energy and melodies on top of any production, this is what I’ve done since 2001 actually. i:Vibes: How excited were you when Paul Van Dyk asked you to help collaborate on ‘La Dolce Vita’ and ‘Far Away’? Giuseppe Ottaviani: We where speaking on the phone and I simply told him “Say again…?!” :-). Well that was absolutely great for me, it was an honour to collaborate with him and I really hope to do it again in the future. i:Vibes: Before this happened, did you ever even dream of the idea that Paul Van Dyk could ask one day to produce music with you? Giuseppe Ottaviani: No, I definitely didn’t expect it. But the great thing is that at the beginning we planned only one track together (‘La Dolce Vita’) and then he asked me for a second one. That was cool. I’m very proud about this collaboration indeed. i:Vibes: What inspired you too produce ‘La Dolce Vita’ (‘The Sweet Life’)? I can imagine it has something to do with your sweet life in the classic city Rome? Giuseppe Ottaviani: I think it has something to do with a lifestyle in general. I mean, try to keep yourself out from the daily stress and problems and have a look at your life with different eyes… you will see how “sweet” it is. And music helps! i:Vibes: I love the vocal tracks with Ashley Tomberlin on ‘In Between’ but without a doubt my favourite track on the album is ‘Far Away’. This track had anthem written all over it the first time I ever heard it. What was the inspiration behind this track? Giuseppe Ottaviani: In general, I usually start a track from the main melody and then I build the rest around that. I personally love great breakdowns with big chord changes, it brings strong emotions, this is what classical music does, and this is what we did. Sometimes the idea simply comes from gigs experience, especially when playing in a big festival. And ‘“Far Away’ is something for big crowds I guess. i:Vibes: You released a mix compilation for Vandit, but when will you release your debut album for Vandit? Giuseppe Ottaviani: The album is nearly finished and it will see the light in 2009, but we have no release date yet. i:Vibes: I also have fallen in love with ‘No More Alone’. This track is so beautiful. What was your inspiration behind this track? Giuseppe Ottaviani: I wanted to test some vocals on my productions, actually this is the first time I used vocals and I was looking for something short and simple. I’m not really into the full vocal tracks and I always focus more on good melody. ‘No More Alone’ is doing well so there will be a future for vocals on my tracks even if I concentrate more on instrumentals. i:Vibes: How difficult was it producing this track? I can imagine that this was another track which took a lot of bleeding to make. Giuseppe Ottaviani: Yes it took a while especially for the lyrics. I’m not a songwriter at all and usually it is not easy to convey a concept or message with only a few words. The search for the right voice was also not easy but fortunately I found Stephen Pickup and here we go! i:Vibes: You also remixed the classic instrumental Paul van Dyk track ‘In Between’. What did you want to do differently with your remix version? Giuseppe Ottaviani: Sorry but I didn’t remix it. What I did is the vocal track ‘Get Back’ :-). Moreover I’ve worked on a special version of ‘Detournement’ for my live act and I played it for the very first time at Transmission in Prague on November 8th. i:Vibes: What other releases can we expect from you in the future? Giuseppe Ottaviani: New tracks for the album, new collaborations (I have one more with John O’Callaghan) and new remixes of course. i:Vibes: Rome is one of my favourite cities in the world. Up on the Pincio Park is my favourite spot in Rome. Where is your favourite spot in Rome where you like to be alone and just reflect on life and music? Giuseppe Ottaviani: Rome is beautiful everywhere, but I personally prefer the sea side. That is my favourite place to reflect and get relaxed. i:Vibes: You are an obvious supporter of Paul Van Dyk. I was surprised that he wasn’t #1 DJ in 2007 in the DJ Mag poll. Even if it is a DJ ranking, the productions are just as important. PvD clearly had the better album than Armin van Buuren and Tiesto. Do people tend to forget just how important PvD is for the global dance scene? Giuseppe Ottaviani: I think the most important thing for a DJ or musician is not really a chart but just the music. The Top 100 DJ Mag poll is the most important DJ ranking of course, but more important is to make good music I believe. i:Vibes: You will be touring in Australia soon. How excited are you about this and what do you want to experience down under? Giuseppe Ottaviani: I’m always excited to perform there, the crowd is so warm and I had very good experiences so far. It is also a very good place to stay and spend some time and this is what I will do. i:Vibes: Are you always playing LIVE? How much work does it require with giving a LIVE performance? Giuseppe Ottaviani: Yes always. This is my “politics of dancing” even if it’s hard and it takes lot of work during the performance and before, in the studio. Since I play my music only (productions and remixes), as I said, I need to make music first and as you can imagine it takes time. But this is the way I like to play my music, it gives me more emotions than playing CDs, so you will see me playing live for a while :-). i:Vibes: What are your five all time favourite tracks? Giuseppe Ottaviani: Eh eh eh it’s not easy to decide, what can I say:
Nu Nrg – Connective
Motorcycle – As the Rush Comes
Armin van Buuren – Sunburn
Ennio Morricone – Secreet of The Sahara
and of course PvD – For an Angel i:Vibes: Where do you see yourself in ten years? Giuseppe Ottaviani: 10 years? Umm, too much for a prediction, :-) maybe married???? i:Vibes: What are your hobbies? Giuseppe Ottaviani: I spend all my time playing the piano, beside it I like going out with my friends to everywhere but above all to the restaurant, because first of all I love eating as all Italian people do! i:Vibes: ‘Dreamland’ belongs with my all time favourite tracks, and I just love this track. What was your inspiration behind this track and what was the secret to producing this absolute masterpiece? Giuseppe Ottaviani: Try to close your eyes and think to be in a place where no body else can be with you, think to a place where you can be so close with the nature and try to breathe the quiet all around you, and...... i:Vibes: Thank you Giuseppe for the chat. And all the best! Giuseppe Ottaviani: Thanks for the interview, ciao!
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