Interview: Five Minutes with Gaston Zani
To say Gaston Zani is to speak about one of the most promising and acclaimed Techno artists in the world nowadays. He has been recognised for his releases on Intec, Suara, Phobiq and Analytic TraiI, and now he is ready to share Something 4 Your Mind, his debut on Eats Everything & Andres Campo’s collab label EI8HT. Where others flee, this artist of Argentine roots and Spanish upbringing enters the search for innovation willing to explore each and every corner, a risky attitude that is directly reflected in his style and in the wide amount of styles within the Techno that he is capable of covering.
Enjoy our interview with Gaston Zani below and be sure to catch Something 4 Your Mind dropping on the 25th September via EI8HT
https://www.beatport.com/release/something-4-your-mind/3112906
What was your first entry into music appreciation? And music production?
I discovered electronic music through a radio program called “World Dance music” back in 1999 when I was only 16. Since then I wanted to know more about that style of music and I started to get into it. When I found my first job, I spent my entire first salary on a couple of turntables, an Akiyama mixer, and a few vinyls to start practising. I will never forget the sensation when I put the needle on the vinyl for the first time and the record started playing. Not to mention when I managed to make my first satisfactory mix hahaha. Since then I knew that was what I wanted to do forever. The music production came a few years later, in 2004 to be exact, I had my first ever vinyl release called La Ferro which included two melodic/progressive tracks, they were other times and that was the style we used to listen to the most in my city then. A few years later I discovered Techno and I fell in love with it. I had my first Techno release in 2015, and since then I have not stopped.
What do you think your Argentinian roots and Spanish upbringing contribute to your sound?
I really believe that there are small differences between the two countries, at the end of the day, Techno is Techno, but I grew up in Spain since I was 10 years old, so I consider my Spanish education much more influential when it comes to inspiring me to create music in the studio, although my heart has a space very special for my dear Argentina.
Tell us about your latest release on EI8HT. What were you trying to capture/communicate on this release?
I am honestly very proud of this release and very happy that is signed on a label like EI8HT. When I started creating Something 4 Your Mind I had very clear ideas for it, I wanted to use the vocal of the mythical and classic ‘The Realm’ sampled in this particular way, I know that it is well known and that there are thousands of tracks that have already used it before in many different styles, but I wanted to give it my personal touch, raw and groovy at the same time, I had the complete base and the vocal arranged and placed where I wanted in my project, but it took a while to find the right elements and synthesizers that fit the puzzle, it took me around 1 year to finish this track, but the result has been very satisfactory. The other two tracks were created to fit the EP, keeping the same line/formula in the case of ‘The Way We Like To Raw’ and giving it a more aggressive touch and BPM rise to “sound Barrier” to offer something a bit more different. I hope people like it as much as I do.
Take us through a day in the studio. Are there any particular steps you take when putting a track together?
Previously I used to start with the kick and bass-line, create the structure of the track and then fill it with effects, percussions, synths and all that… but I honestly think that was not the best way to make music, many times I got bored if I couldn’t find suitable sounds and ended up abandoning projects.
Nowadays I do the opposite way, first I look for a hook, sound sequence, or it can be also a vocal sampler that attracts my attention and I think it could have a big impact on the dance floor, and once I get it then I start with the kick & bass-line and then the rest of the necessary elements. Once it is finished, I listen to the track for several days to look for possible adjustments or changes in the case is necessary and if everything is fine then that is when I start the next project, I do not like working on several projects at the same time. I start one and finish it and so on.
You have seen so much success in your career so far. Is there anything, in particular, you would still like to achieve with your music?
Of course, I still have a lot to achieve in my artistic career, this is just beginning for me, I would love to be part of many incredible clubs and festivals that there are throughout the year to which unfortunately I have not yet had access, but I hope that one day I can reach them, I have many countries and cities to visit and those to make dance with my music. And regarding music production, I have several goals yet to be met, record labels to sign on and collaborations with artists that would make me very excited to make them come true.
What are you most looking forward to when you can get back on the road and in the club?
Without a doubt, the heat of the public on the dance floor, the feeling of satisfaction after a performance, going from airport to airport every weekend, preparing the track-list at the last minute at the hotel before going to the club, finishing a track and wanting to try it in the next gig and see how it works, the truth is that I miss all that a lot, but I am a very positive person and I think that very soon we will be back on the circuit (at least I hope so).
Break down the news for us, what can we expect from you in the near future?
More lockdown? hahaha, joke! It is really a bit disconcerting to know how the scene is going to come back, obviously, now I have many pending and postponed shows in cities such as Tunis, Marseille, Buenos Aires, Lima, Santiago de Chile, Barcelona among others that I hope will come out once all this problem with the pandemic ends. For the rest of the year I will dedicate my time to producing music to release it on my own record label we(R)aw and who knows if any other label more, the idea is to stay active in some way both musically and on social networks for such a period strange.
Follow Gaston Zani
BEATPORT – FACEBOOK – INSTAGRAM – SOUNDCLOUD
