Domenico Crisci - The noble art of techno

We meet exclusively with Domenico Crisci, one of the most interesting young DJ-producers around in Italy's vast electronic music firmament. A true craftsman of good techno music, the kind you don't find much anymore, deeply committed to a production approach free of digitization and computer aids, moving between obscure synthetic flights and destabilizing analog blasts.

Caserta, London and Milan are three very different places. Tell me a bit about this production escalation of yours. How much have your experiences in these three cities influenced your music?

Caserta very little, alas, but it's where it all started, and it's there, in my grandfather's club, that I had the chance to play my first records in front of people. Then there was nearby Naples, where the house and techno scene was one of the most important in Italy. London was obviously important too, because there I had the opportunity to frequent historic places like Lost, plenty of other house parties and pretty extreme "events" where excellent music was played. Milan, on the other hand, was more of a study city. I got the chance to further focus my attention on audio theory, but at the same time I can't deny that interesting things were happening there, and still are.

Growing up in a family environment where music is extremely present matters a lot. When did you realize you could follow this particular path?

A "musical environment" definitely helps a lot with that, no doubt about it. My grandfather owned a club around here, called Hipe, which hosted many top DJs. Anyone from around here, or who's been there, knows what I'm talking about. So ever since I was a kid I've always had a deep connection with this genre. I remember we lived very close to the club, and on "party nights" it was absolute chaos, both on the dancefloor and at the gates. Lots of images have stuck with me, but the thing I'll never forget is the echo of the sound system you could hear near the club.

As already mentioned in the review, that thing called techno finally seems to have found various airy escape routes from the countless computerized production hubs churning out a techno that's excessively lacking in emotional intensity, sterile and clinical. Clinging like a mussel to a rock, to a Detroit model that's now saturated with ideas and devoid of new insights, is far too easy a choice, and it shows the first real signs of fatigue in a scene that could still deliver new mutations, new emotions. How much do "machines" and a purely analog creative approach matter to you? How do you approach the laptop?

I use the computer for email…

Ron Morelli's L.I.E.S. brings together excellent producers and is among the most intriguing outposts of today's New York techno scene (and beyond). How did this first production partnership come about?

Ron Morelli heard my music at a friend's place in New York and got in touch with me.

You've also just released an Ep for the fledgling and intriguing Russian Torrent Versions (Beau Wanzer, Svengalisghost etc). Are these the first steps toward a future debut Lp?

Well, thinking about an Lp is a very serious matter, so I'd rather wait a bit longer. There's still a long way to go...

In your music one can sense a circularity that captivates and disorients, while also revealing time and again (especially through the synth) a dark, deep escape. When do you know it's time to fit a particular electronic flow around the beat (which always seems to suggest an intense emotional feeling, a mood far removed from mere entertainment) into the main rhythmic section of each individual track?

I simply try to close my eyes and picture a scenario. As soon as the image comes into focus, I manage to fit the melody in.

Well, it's really just the result of what I feel inside myself. I try to transcribe it in a clean and pure way, without artificial processes.

What's currently on your playlist? Who are your guiding lights?

I love musique concrète from the early '50s, as well as the RAI Studio di Fonologia in Milan and the Cologne school. I've always had music from the '70s/'80s on my playlist too, Einsturzende Neubauten, Psychic Tv, Diamanda Galas, Dead Can Dance and many others in that vein...

Plans for the future?

There are more records on the way and some very important dates, including Berghain in December and Dude Club in Milan in January.

Ride the wave of great music

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