Liam Miller
Luca Musto, an aficionado of soul, jazz, and blues, seamlessly weaves these influences into his electronic music and ‘slow-house,’ creating a sonic tapestry of grooving beats and entrancing melodies. Rooted in his Italian heritage, Musto’s music mirrors rhythmic reflections through the cracks of a musical mirror, crafting cozy, grounded atmospheres that invite listeners to recline, unwind, and dance—a paradox that beautifully encapsulates the intricacies of Musto’s grooves.
Luca’s vision of deeply pulsating ambience continues to evolve with his beats. In a landscape where some artists adhere to established formulas and embrace complacency, Musto embodies innovation. Nestled in the heart of Berlin’s dungeons, he melds the city’s distinctive musical footprint with his own nuances, projecting a symphony of impressions into his music. We had a chat with Luca Musto – so let’s dive into his thoughts and sound.
Amidst a bustling year, Luca Musto, could you provide us with an overview of your latest musical ventures and projects?
Thank you! I’ve been trying to explore new fields apart from my downtempo and trip-hop roots, collaborating with the Swedish-band FRANGIE few months ago and my pals Coss and iorie. Recently I’ve been focussing on new originals also with guitarist Child May from Cologne, with whom I produced a full six-track EP and live-performance project and, most excitingly, I got a full long player coming on vinyl via my own imprint Rare Affair.
The live performance with Child May in Berlin seemed to be a noteworthy event. Can you share some insights into that collaboration and the experience of performing live with him?
We know each other for some time now, we where introduced to each other in Cologne through a mutual friend, later worked together on early jams like „Slums Of Shaolin“ and my on my first solo album „Nice Place, Bad Intentions“. Initially, he worked his magic on certain sketches and rough idea’s I had.
It eventually turned out that we both wanted to work on music together from scratch, finding and building the groove, harmonies and especially song structures. We where hooked right away and tuned ourself into creative producing circles with team inspiration. We turned these tracks into a live performance we did here in Berlin to kick-off this collaboration together.
Your recent sojourn to the US for shooting music videos has sparked curiosity. Can you tantalize us with a sneak peek into what viewers can anticipate from these upcoming visual projects?
Oh yes, I’m glad you’re mentioning it. There’s two exciting music video up and coming, both made by New York based director Stefan Lan and his team of incredibly talented enthusiasts in the film industry. Even before my artist visa got confirmed, we were planning to work on something visually together and ended up shooting one video here in Berlin and another one in Brooklyn.
Both can be seen as duality piece with lots of love for detail and cinematography, I’m stunned by the outcome honestly. Both songs are part of my second studio album „Old Habits Die Hard“, for which I just finished the final studio recordings with some dope studio-musicians.
As a seasoned studio wizard, adept at blending diverse genres seamlessly, where do you draw your inspiration from for such creative amalgamations?
As it comes and goes, Inspiration I do really find everywhere. Mostly from old movies lately, or pop-culture even. I try to excite myself with new and inspiring music as much as possible, digging into developments. The US hiphop scene is really refreshing to me again with the New-School Boom-Bap movement, it really gives a new and fresh feel to mixing and sound-design.
I just dived into old spaghetti western soundtracks from Luis Bacalov, Armando Trovajoli and maestro Ennio Morricone again. Timeless. I also diged into my teenage CD-collection again and had a real nostalgia trip. When art overcomes time, I’m down.
House, Golden Era Hip Hop, Organic – having explored these genres, what exciting musical realms can we expect Luca Musto to venture into next?
I’m back to trying faster and even weird tempo ranges again now, which is fun cause it’s also part of where I’m coming from – as DJ standpoint at least. When I started playing music to people I mostly played
Tech-House and Minimal alongside Classic House and Electronica jams. Ursula 1000, Erman Erim or Nightmares On Wax to name a few.
I love to mix up sounds and different vibes or genres. So I try to combine our faster driven, modern times with the needed soul and funk, spicing grooves up a bit.
I also did some hip hop instrumentals again for which I’m currently looking for vocalists and rap artists.
Looking ahead, could you outline the roadmap for Luca Musto in the coming weeks and months of 2023?
In a few words: lots and lots of new music! I’m releasing most of my new work independently on my own label Rare Affair, where I also started a podcast series and showcasing talent like Maxim Helincks, Gazbee, Moon’s Voyager and few more to come.
We’re planning the last few shows for this year, climaxing in me most probably playing a funk and hip-hop night at my favorite living room Sisyphos, too. I had an intense year as I also partly toured with a German artist and his whole summer production, so I try to relax a bit during these winter upcoming winter months to re-charge batteries. But knowing me, my Roland SP will never be too far away.
What exciting projects or collaborations can your fans look forward to in 2024?
I’m thinking about – and even negotiating – to open a sub-label for Rare Affair, releasing all my other work which ranges from trip-hop to instrumental hip-hop and lo-fi house such as uptempo and experimental tunes. We’re also planning an album release party for early March here in Berlin to kick off the vinyl release of my new studio album, which will be served as a colored vinyl with printed Inlay and some exceptional graphic work by Elena Schädel. There’s several podcasts in the work, too and I recently jumped back into curating my public playlists more, in case anyone is searching for a good winter blues soundtrack.
