Contributing Writer
Matteo Floris is a name that keeps popping up over here in the Music is 4 Lovers offices. After hearing his latest on Max Chapman‘s Resonance Records ‘Rizla’ recently, we decided it was time to find out more, so we sat down with him recently to dig a little more…
Hey Matteo, great to meet you! How has the start of 2018 treated you so far?
Hey guys, thanks for having me, glad to have this chat with you! 2018 started really well with my first release of the year, “Rizla”, out on Resonance Records and some nice gigs here in Barcelona.
What do you hope it brings, in terms of gigs, labels etc? Do you have goals and targets?
Like every year I hope to get many international gigs, in a more constant and professional way, to join a good booking agency and to be 100% satisfied with my music. Of course there are some “dream labels” I’d love to release on, but at the end of the day the most important thing is your music and what you can transmit with it.
When did you move to Barcelona and why? What took you away from Italy? Has it affected the music you make?
I moved to Barcelona on January 2012 basically to study a master of Music Business at SAE Institute, Barcelona is now my home since more than 6 years. My motherland, Sardinia, is amazing, especially on summer time…but maybe I needed to live in a more international context, get more inspirations and increase my experience and personality not just in terms of music. This choice definitely affected my production style and I’m really happy about it.
Tell us about the upcoming ‘Rizla’ track you’ve made for Max Chapman’s Resonance Records label. What inspired it? Did you write it with the label in mind?
“Rizla” is without doubt one of my favourite tracks by far. I had the luck to see Mark Jenkyns dropping it at Elrow Paradise here in Barcelona and the crowd reaction was great 🙂 Also I recently noticed that has been supported by Jamie Jones, Richy Ahmed, Patrick Topping and more big names. I produced it without any specific label in mind, just following my style and feeling the vibe and I have to say that Max Chapman’s Resonance Records is a perfect “home” for this track.
And you have new beats on Lapsus Music also coming soon right? What do they sound like? What inspired them?
Yes I have another track called “Dawnjet” coming out soon on Supernova’s Lapsus Music for their MIAMI WMC Sampler. This one is really solid as well, more rolling tech house vibes, ideal for big open air festivals 🙂 I approached Lapsus by sending them a few demos and they chose straight away this track so everything was quite quick.
What gear do you use to make beats? Software or hardware? Does that matter? Do you care about the tools?
I always use more softwares than hardwares even if I have some drum machine and some synth in my little “bedroom studio”. I think producing with hardwares gives you more fun and more dynamic, but what really counts are the ideas, the sound and the final result. I love hardwares by the way and I’m sure I’ll buy something new soon.
You have only emerged in the last couple years, but how long have you been making beats and dancing in clubs? What got you started?
I started clubbing was I was very young, like 14 years old and I used to play percussions while the dj was spinning some house music. Now I’ve been djing for 10 years and producing for 8 years more or less. I started doing it more professionally for maybe 5 years by signing on some of the top labels on the market and getting cool international gigs.
Do you make music that you play in your own sets? Are they connected like that?
Yea sure, I always test my tunes in the club since the crowd reaction is the best feedback you can get and is also a good chance to promote your stuff.
What else are you working on/are you looking forward to for 2018?
I’m currently working on new original mixes in order to have a decent “demos pack”. I’ve just finished a remix which will be released on digital and vinyl on Andre Salmon’s Sagmen label and I have another 3 forthcoming EP’s which I will be able to announce really soon.
Matteo’s ‘Rizla’ is out now on Resonance Records