Demi Riquísimo & Clint: In Conversation

We felt that this was a good opportunity to ask the pair about what makes them tick, what keeps things pushing forward and why…

Demi: It’s been so nice to be back with you for this release on Semi Delicious, I feel like this EP is definitely leaning towards early 90’s inspired progressive house with a modern twist. There’s also a tinge of tech house in some of the grooves. How would you feel the EP sounds?

Clint: I feel like our worlds naturally converge around our own reinterpretation of Italo house. I’ve always been heavily influenced by Italo house and progressive house, and I think you have too. That said, our productions probably lean less towards the cerebral, atmospheric side that a lot of progressive house is known for. Ours are more instinctive, playful and bouncy, which I find really liberating. We kept all those melodic ingredients—stabs, organs, pianos—from Italo house, then reinforced the groove with warm, thick basslines and punchy, percussive drums to really emphasize that bounce.

Demi: Our sounds definitely align but I’d love to know where you go to for inspiration?

Clint: Early Sasha mixes definitely had a huge impact on me, as did the work of Paul Gotel, Lemon8, and releases on labels like Stress Records, Jackpot and Tribal Italia. I also draw a lot of inspiration from Don Carlos productions, especially for the atmospheric, floaty side of his productions.

Demi: For me it’s always been the early inception of genres before they were clearly defined where I find the gems, I feel like those times always inspired the maddest ideas, before they became a normality or caught on as a trend. Do you find there are any trends you stay away from, or dance music turn offs generally? I feel like anything that’s been created out of a fad can be distracting.

Clint: Not a fad but I’d have to say a music turn off for me might be Jungle… I still haven’t unlocked that level yet. The same goes for dubstep. I completely understand the energy and excitement around it, but it’s never been a form of musical escapism for me.

Demi: You’ve got to stick to you. Always. There’s a constant demand for excessive production. I think it’s a real threat to club culture generally. It’s expensive and dominates the ticket prices but also the music itself. Let’s keep it simple.

Clint: I think maybe that’s why people play warm-up sets that don’t actually warm people up. This might sound a bit grumpy, but I really believe the warm-up has an important role. DJing has become much more accessible, which is a great thing, but I also feel like more and more younger DJs don’t really care about that craft anymore. A 140 BPM trance warm-up isn’t really warming anyone up. I’d also say the lack of digging. The obsession with followers counts. And, more broadly, the lack of diversity across line-ups and musical approaches.

Demi: Yep, I’m also seeing way too many straight male lineups online. I fear music can be too disposable and it won’t be these records that stand the test of time. Anyway, before we sound too grumpy let’s get back to the EP – shall we talk about working together on ‘Soft Landing’.

Clint: Well as you know, I was originally sending demos to Semi Delicious for a solo release. Rich immediately connected with one of the tracks and suggested we work on it together. That became ‘Love State’, our first single, which ended up doing incredibly well and was played by DJs from all kinds of different scenes. It’s still one of my favourite tracks I’ve ever made.
Everything happened really quickly. The foundations were already there, but Rich genuinely elevated the original idea.

After that, collaborating again just felt completely natural. Rich suggested we make an EP together, and the whole process was incredibly instinctive. Whenever I had the beginnings of a track—or even just a one- or two-minute sketch to capture an idea—I would send him the stems. A few days later, we’d basically have a finished record. He built around my ideas, and I built around his.

There was very little back and forth, and never any overthinking. The only thing that slowed us down was our schedules. Once the core of a track existed, the rest came together almost effortlessly. Working with Rich is genuinely a joy. We have a lot of fun making music together, and I think you can hear that in the records.

Demi: Yeah, the demos turned into stems which gave birth to Love State. This track inspired us to start an EP which we sent back and forth for a few months working on new ideas. The whole process was really fun and relaxed with no pressure or agenda, which is how I like to work.

Buy the new EP HERE.