Cristiano? : The ‘Shine A Light On’ Mix

Music

Cristiano Feleppa is one of the figureheads behind the Slow Motion Records label which is based upon Italian foundations in the heart of New York City. As a DJ, he stands tall in his own right and we were thrilled when he offered us the opportunity to feature one of his mixes on site. This is a two plus hours extravaganza which he has titled as "_NOTHING_ a trip between Usa and Italy". It's colourful, exciting ane enigmatic, much like Cristiano's character himself. Listen to the mix below:

Please introduce yourself…Who are you, where are you and what are you?

I'm nobody and i'm doing _NOTHING_

_NOTHING_ is my studio in Alphabet City, Manhattan , New York where like Emil Cioran said in The Trouble with Being Born :

"What do you do from morning to night? I endure myself." Im a nomad, an immigrant, a guest of the life.

What does your music sound like? Can you draw what you think it sounds like for us, an image from the old internet is acceptable?

My music sounds like a nightmare with an orgasm. A movie of Jesus Franco or Elio Petri or Seijun Suzuky. An orgy between Guy Debord, Luciano Berio, Pina Bausch, Fratelli La Bionda, Edwige Fenech, Simone de Beuvoir, Carmelo Bene, Yukio Mishima, Alain Delon, Mariana Cordoba and anybody opening the wrong door.

So, explain the concept of the Slow Motion label, what music do you look to sign and release?

Slow Motion is only one of the many beautiful expressions of italianism in a world where the idea of italians are over rated and over used. I'm Italian, you know what i mean: we are not La Dolce Vita, we are not Renzi, we are not Giorgio Moroder. Not only at least. So, the label releases only underground italian artist on a limited vinyl edition. Fabrizio Mammarella, Franz Scala, Federico Scala are the founders. They are in charge to sign and release. Federico is the line producer and graphic designer. I met them 7 years ago when they invited me to play music at Tipografia, the headquarters in Pescara. At that time i had a project called BALERA FM, a live set made of soundtracks of movies , italian progressive rock, proto house and cosmic. After a night of champagne and lust, we ended up friends. I spent every august in Pescara, in a pink hotel on the beach called Esplanade, eating oysters for breakfast, learning from the studios and the lifes of Fabrizio Mammarella and Motorcycle Boy (Federico Marchioli) , "dating" Leonetti ( the owner of Tipografia) ,eating with Arturo Capone, drinking with Andrea Tempo, talking with Francisco, exploring the night with Cosmo, and meeting thousands of beautiful people between Pescara Love and Chieti lover. I became a resident of Tipografia an independent diamond on the Adriatic Coast which is an example of old school club based on quality , culture and community, instead of Instagram, business and customers. During the year you can find on the program people like Stevie Kotey, Darshan Jesrani, Moritz Van Oswald, Ivan Smagghe, Andrew Weatherall, Beppe Loda, Prins Thomas, Daniele Baldelli, Rebolledo, Maurice Fulton,Dj Harvey and many others. It's a small underground paradise, 100 km far from Rimini, which is the underground hell. I'm travelling around the world constantly so my destiny for the label was easy:I became their official Ambassador, consultant and talent scout. Basically my job is to promote Slow Motion everywhere i am, spreading the new records, build a network with international artists , making sure Slow Motion stickers are in the right position in the dj booth where i'm spinning. I organise events, I report new trends and young talents, I plan communication strategies, I support the brand awarness and the distribution, I contribute with graphics and videos, I publish interviews where I talk about it, like this one .

What is upcoming for the label?

The first big news is that Franz Scala (Franz Underwear) opened a sub label of Slow Motion in Berlin, called Wrong Era. So finally we have a great opportunity to release a lot of brilliant non Italian artists.

The first release comes courtesy of Kruton aka Milo Smee (Bintus, Power Vacuum), who brings four tracks of mechanical funk and tweaking disco. Included in the package is his remix of Friction by Gold Blood, a track that has long been a secret weapon for a few select DJ’s.

Other new realeases are coming out but I cannot talk about them yet. With Slow Motion we recently made our 10th year anniversary and we celebrated it having parties in New York, Berlin, Shangai, Rome, Milan, Sidney. We released a special deal for this occasion and re-pressed the first 10 works of our catalog as a limited and numbered edition with new artwork and design inspired by a common thread. Each new record cover will represent the belonging city of the individual authors or an image linked to the title of the EP.

New release's coming up:

EDO – Eugenio Altieri

Our man in Shangai, where he is a professor of design at University, a stunning first Ep inspired by his trip to Japan , full of field recording.

Alien Alien – Humana

New EP from the two visionary masters of dark Ed Rodion and Ugo Sanchez , with 2 unreleased tracks + a dub version. Italian Dance Compilation Vol. 5-6 , tracklist top secret and the most important living artist in Italy : FRANCISCO with LINEA BEAT VOLUME 3.

That's it for now.

Where was the mix recorded?

_NOTHING_ my studio in Alphabet City, NYC.

What would be the ideal setting to listen to the mix?

Wear your headphones, push start and drift off.

What should we be wearing?

Black lipstick.

What would be your dream setting to record a mix: Location, system, format?

I will play music anywhere, as long as there's somebody that wants my music, and i have the time to do it. Getting paid to play music is a privelege and I always bless it, everywhere and for anybody. Besides that, I'm not an audiophile so I will not say Klipschorn loudspeakers and bullshit like that. You know what I mean? The capitalism invaded the fragile minds of the neophytes with words like setting, analogic, software, ranking, format, streaming, booking manager, promoter, followers, placement, industry, pre-sale, private, branding, sponsor, social, etc.The wild consumerism created a new generation of fully equipped artists and over shining club corporation: but the music? where is it?

"Where is the higher revelation than all wisdom and philosofy?" (Beethoven)

Are we sure the new talents are protected by that business approach ? And that corporate image is giving an healthy dream to the young generation out there? Of course I really enjoy to play music in a venue with a great professional sound system, but i would like to pass another message to the next : If you want to be a deejay just focus on your talent, listen to as much music as you can and try to be a scandal. That 's what you should dream.

Which track in the mix is your current favourite?

Its a mixtape made only of italian tracks and american tracks, so i will choose two :

Silvia's Element – Salvatore Stallone.

A genius track from a genius mind.

And Invocation, of MoonDOG, American legend.

Also I want to recommend to you two new releases on the mixtape : DUST – She Woke Up in the Water, brilliant fantasy techno collective released on 2MR, the new gem label of the master Mike Simonetti. And Ueno – Eugenio Altieri coming soon on Slow Motion.

What’s your favourite recorded mix of all time?

I like people that push themselves out of the technical limits, overcoming the simple track sharing and trying to tell me something else other than a good selection of music thats well mixed. I love everything that comes from DJ PeakNick (Nicola Bonandrini), Dj Mozart and Ebreo, TBC, Leo Mas and Fabrice, Ltj Experience,Trevor Jackson, Ivan Smagghe, Andrew Weatherall, Coyote, History Clock, Dj Garth, Optimo, Balearic Mike, Chris Duckenfield, Kozmonaut, Sean Johnston, The UnaBombers, the earliest Solid Steel on Kiss Fm, Dj Hollywood and Starksy, the first and second legendary editions of Essential Mix on BBC1 in 1993-1994, all the podcast of A1 records, the cassette from Franchino and Richy Le Roy and Angels of Love festini recorded on Tdk cd. Really its a never ending list. I think the mixtape is very useful to discover new music but at the same time it is still a format under its own potential, in terms of entertainment. Now every body has their own podcast… its a new way to express yourself, a new art form. The enjoyment is still a bit confused but I see a future in that way. All my support to Mixcloud, the lone swordsman in this crazy membership war full of copyright landmines and hideous mercenary start up companies.

If you could go back to back with any DJ from throughout history, who would it be and why?

Forget about it : My friend Cristian Croce somewhere in Milan. My mate Nicola Mazzetti in his record shop Serendeepity. My partner in crime Futuro Tropicale at the Electric Elephant Festival in Tisno, Croatia. And the reasons are the same : after we spin records, something is gonna happen.

What was your first DJ set up at home and what is it now?

Nordmende hi-fi system TU 1351. I used to plug the television into it and mix together tapes, records, random TV channels. Now I have one ION turntable, two Yamaha speakers, one 8 channel Numark mixer, and a microphone. I like to use everything in a mixtape : records, computer, voice, samples, old mini radio, shit cheap instruments, synths, guitar, saxophone, application for iphone, weird noise effects, soundtracks of movies or dialogs from telemarketing, poems and more. I'm a collector of vinyls but for me music can come from any device. Let's free our mind from any rules. Let's drive the dj set to the next step.

What’s more important, the track you start on or the track you end on?

Start and End are the same deep incredible moment. To Catch the energy of the audience is always a challenge: in the beginning to drag people into your creative process, in the end to overwhelm their memory.