Many moons ago Loverboy hosted our own radio show, where one of our guests was the lovely Mattia Bison. An Italian DJ/Producer, currently residing in Ibiza, specialising in House and those beats from the Balearic Isles.
Finding himself with time on his hands during the pandemic he got to work on producing his latest EP, Underlying Messages, the debut release of his very own label, Dirty Digital. Looking as much to dancefloor fillers as chilled out moments, Dirty Digital sees Mattia begin the year with a bang!
Mattia talks us through Underlying Messages, teaches us Italy’s own history with Electronic Music and tells us about those legendary nights DJing at Pikes Ibiza…
Mattia, congratulations on the launch of Dirty Digital. Why did you decide the time was right to launch your own label? How long had you been considering it?
Thank you so much! As a producer, I always want to show my music to the world so actually the idea of a label is something that I have had since I started to produce music back in 2015. At the beginning I only wanted to learn as much as possible but after the pandemic, I spent the summer of 2021 in Ibiza and it’s at that moment that I looked at this dream from another perspective. At the end of the day, the right moment is when you decide that is the right moment, right?!
For real! Have you set up the label with a manifesto?
The label’s manifesto focuses basically on releasing music that doesn’t follow trends. I always follow my feelings so if a song gives me something it’s ok, no matter if it’s a dancefloor banger or a 100bpm chill song.
The first release is ‘Underlying Messages‘. Do you feel more pressure because it is the first release to represent the label?
I’m feeling very chilled about it…you know, it’s part of a process so I prefer to enjoy the ride instead of stressing myself out.
I personally love ‘Get You’. The dark synths with those deep vocals. Is there a moment in your life or a musical influence that inspired the track?
The vocals of ‘Get You’ say that the only reason to fight is for love. This is the very first track because it explains my vision of life, I can’t live without love so this track’s influence is my whole life for sure!
‘Leap Year’ has a real bounce to it. What’s the story behind this one?
‘Leap Year’ was produced in just one day while I was locked in my house during the pandemic. With a lot of free time and mixed feelings (like everyone else I suppose) it’s the result of what my head was processing with the information we had…a kind of ordered chaos.
‘Get You’ and ‘Leap Year’ feel different to ‘La Nit’. You’re taking us on a journey! How did you come to select these three together?
This is exactly the aim of the label. Just like my DJ sets, I’ll always try to create a story, to surprise myself and others in order to make the experience that will stay as long as possible.
You’re over in Ibiza, while I am currently reading a book about La Ruta del Bakalao. Haha…what moments of Spain’s dance history interest you?
La Ruta del Bakalao has been such an interesting moment in Spain’s dance history. I heard a lot of stories about those years from people who lived them and they always remark on the sense of freedom they were experimenting with. After Franco’s dictatorship that was the way to express all the repression they suffered. So intense!
As you say, I live part of the year in Ibiza and personally feel more identified with the chill vibes of the Balearic movement. Its history is in perpetual evolution and nowadays there are a lot of great artists out there continuing its legacy, creating amazing music. Every corner of the ‘white island’ is full of anecdotes and I find it very inspiring!
Tell us about some of the clubs you play over there. Pikes is pretty iconic!
When I think about Ibiza I think about Pikes. It’s my favourite place on the island so far, it’s a fairytale. Words can’t describe the energy of that place and the connection between music and crowd. I played many times at the crazy Homies parties, a monthly event hosted by Christian Len, Camilo Miranda and Luca Averna. Literally every time I step in there is good music and the people are friendly because we are all there for the same reason…to have fun! At Pikes I had the pleasure to listen to some of the best artists around, such as Nightmares On Wax, DJ Harvey, Crazy P and many more. Malanga Cafe is also nice, it’s a cozy club in Ibiza town open all year long with good line-ups where most of the residents of the island go to show their dance moves. Paradise Lost is a cocktail bar where I used to play on Thursdays that is also a good place if you want to start the night in the proper way. I can’t wait for next summer!
And as an Italian, obviously Italo is enormous. ‘Get You’ has those synths going on. But tell us a little bit about Italy’s history with Electronic music. Anyone we need to know about?
I produced ‘Get You’ mainly using the Roland Juno 106 analog synthesizer that is a keyboard released in 1984 so the sound is very familiar to Italo indeed. Without talking about Italo, the history of electronic music in Italy is pretty similar to La Ruta del Bakalao because we had a flourishing moment almost in the same period as Spain. By the end of the 80s and the decade of the 90s a lot of good music had been played around by Andrea Gemolotto, Leo Mas, Daniele Baldelli, Massimino Lippoli, Stefano Noferini, Alex Neri, Claudio Coccoluto and many more. From north to south there was a vibrant artistic movement influenced by the US house and the UK progressive and garage. The club scene was on fire.
Lastly we are named after the biggest-selling single of 2001 so we always ask what is your favourite Mariah Carey song?
Of course I was waiting for this question! David Morales remixes are milestones, I always bring with me ‘Dreamlover (Def Tribal Mix)’. Years ago I had the chance to see her singing in a wedding in Capri and I remember she performed ‘Emotions’. It was a great moment! ‘When You Believe’ with Whitney Houston gives me goosebumps every time I listen to it and recently I discovered an edit of ‘Fantasy’ by Subtrax that is cool.
Underlying Messages is out now via Dirty Digital
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