Contributing WriterBerlin-based label Raamo is a new imprint founded by Italian Berliners Cioz and Corpino, with illustrator Daria Rosso creating its visual identity. Raamo’s roots go back more than a decade, to when Cioz and Corpino met at university and started Knobs Bergamo, a project that brought electronic music and live performance together and gave artists a place to connect, experiment, and develop ideas. After years of individual artistic journeys and the evolution of their own sounds, they return with a new vision: a label that focuses on genuine collaboration, communication, and the human side of creation. Raamo celebrates music as an organic process: something personal, imperfect, and shaped by the people behind it. Bergamo-born, Berlin-based artist Cioz kicks off the label with his latest EP ‘Amazed’, releasing on October 16th.
1. Hey Cioz, it’s great to have you here today. How has 2026 been for you so far?
2026 has been going really well! I’ve been focusing a lot on my live set. I’ve been taking it around and hopefully pushing it further. One of the craziest things this year was playing it on a mountain in Kazakhstan. That was pretty wild! We’ve also been working a lot on launching RAAMO Records with Corpino and Daria Rosso on the artwork direction. I’m sooo excited about it! And I’ve got an Australian tour coming up. So yeah, lots of exciting things happening, and hopefully it’s just the beginning!
2. Your “Amazed” EP is coming out on RAAMO on October 16th. Can you tell us a bit about it?
I’ve wanted to release these two tracks together for a while. I often play Amazed as an opener, and it’s usually how I start my live set. Raamata, on the other hand, has been sitting on my hard drive for about three years! I always dreamed of releasing it, but at some point I thought, if I’m going to release it, why not do it on my own label?
Lately, I’ve been experimenting with making complex-sounding music using as few sounds as possible. Amazed started with a hypnotic groove and stayed that way for a while. After a few months, I added chords on my Novation Summit, and it completely changed the track, making it much more emotional.
Enamour was the first person I thought of for the remix. I love his music, and I felt the chords and synth sounds would really connect with what he’s been doing lately. He’s such a great sound designer, and I’m really happy with how it turned out! Raamata was almost the opposite: I made it in about two hours, starting with a single percussion loop and building everything around it. The idea was to create something that moves your body from the ground up.
3. RAAMO is your new label with Corpino. What’s the idea behind it, and how did you two come together?
I’ve wanted to start a label for a long time because my sound doesn’t really fit into specific boxes. I wanted a space to experiment, try new things, and release music without overthinking where it belongs. RAAMO is about new ideas, unconventional dancefloor music, and a very DIY, community-driven spirit.
Corpino and I met at university around 12 or 13 years ago, where we studied Computer Music. We also started Knobs Bergamo (a project for live electronic music) together. He studied 3D audio, worked as a mastering engineer, and he’s super talented. He’s like a brother to me, and we complement each other really well. I’m the guy with a million ideas, and he’s the one who puts everything in order and makes things happen.
Jan and Patrick help us with the trickiest label management tasks and also give us plenty of mental space. Daria Rosso is also a big part of RAAMO, handling the visual concept and art direction. Without her, it wouldn’t have been possible. Working with her is amazing because she’s always coming up with new ideas and bringing so much energy to the project. She’s also my girlfriend, and I love exploring the world together with her 🙂
We have a great circle of friends who help us bring things to life. At our launch party in Berlin, everyone made little things like bracelets, magnets, and necklaces with tiny lights to give away. 7heads even created a mystery vending machine filled with those tiny items to give away for free to guests! That’s exactly the spirit we want: building something together, having fun, and letting everyone contribute.
The name comes from the Italian word ramo, meaning branch, with an extra A for a little more! We love the idea of something growing organically in unexpected directions. Like life, no? RAAMO is a place where ideas grow sideways.
4. Do the labels you release on influence your sound, or do you always stay true to your own identity?
I think my sound always goes where it wants. I’ve produced everything from downtempo to much faster, more aggressive stuff, although some tracks are still sitting on my hard drive, so who knows if they’ll ever come out!
I’ve explored lots of different emotional palettes, from playful club tracks to melancholic music that’s almost like a personal diary. And people still tell me they recognise my sound in all of them. That’s a big achievement for me.
I make music that reflects who I am in that moment, without putting too many boundaries around myself. I think more about the label only when I do a remix, because I’m contributing to someone else’s project and want to bring something new while respecting the original.
5. How have Bergamo and Berlin shaped you as an artist?
Bergamo had a huge influence on me. Back then, I didn’t know many people who produced electronic music, so I had to imagine how it worked. It was a place where I could experiment and organise events with our friends. Corpino and I started Knobs Bergamo, focusing on live electronic music, but maybe we were a little too early for the city!
When I first started producing, my music was much more melodic and laid-back. Playing clubs gradually changed my sound, but moving to Berlin in 2018 really matured it, making it much more psychedelic and dancefloor-oriented.
Berlin is a melting pot of creativity. You can meet someone, go into the studio, and start jamming almost without talking. Recently, I got to jam with Monolink, and that session became Don’t Talk To Me. It was incredible because, in such a short time, we kept the original idea alive, and it became the final track. It’s crazy when something happens so naturally.
Of course, being surrounded by so many talented artists at first can give you a bit of impostor syndrome. You think, “Wow, now they are going to realise I’m not really that good”. But in reality, you end up learning so much just by working with them, and they learn too. I absorb a lot creatively, so those moments are incredibly inspiring.
6. Your music has very distinctive textures and sounds. Where do you find inspiration, and how do you start making a track?
I don’t really have one way of starting a track. It can begin with anything. I record lots of random sounds on my phone when I’m out and about. Sometimes you hear something, and it opens up a completely new direction. It almost feels like connecting to some kind of extraterrestrial channel that brings you ideas!
You can’t just sit down and decide to get inspired. Ideas come while you’re doing things, so I think it’s important to move quickly when you’re in that creative flow. It’s like telling a story: if someone keeps interrupting you, you lose your train of thought. Making a track is the same. You need the time and space to follow your ideas from beginning to end. It might be imperfect, but it has its own logic, and that’s often what makes it interesting.
7. You’ve remixed artists like Diplo, Damian Lazarus, and Oliver Koletzki. What do you enjoy about remixing, and how does it compare to having someone remix your own music?
Having someone remix your music is always a bit magical. You hear what they’ve done and think, “Wow, I would never have thought of that!” It’s amazing how two people can take the same idea in completely different directions.
With someone like Enamour, a great sound designer who follows his instincts rather than trends, it’s especially interesting to hear how the original evolves in his hands.
I also love remixing other artists. For me, it starts with finding one sound or idea that really catches my attention. If that initial spark isn’t there, it’s harder to create something meaningful.
8. What’s next for Cioz and RAAMO?
There’s a lot coming up! After Amazed, we’ve got a super release by Corpino on RAAMO called Superbouncing, and it really is bouncy!
I’ve also got a new single coming out on Crosstown Rebels with Monolink, and I’ll be touring Australia during their summer season, including playing at Subsonic Festival. I’m super excited about that.
I want to keep developing my live set, hopefully collaborate with other artists on something special, and put a lot of energy into RAAMO. I want to listen to a million demos and discover new artists and ideas.
Mostly, I just want to keep experimenting and growing in a slightly weird way, without necessarily knowing where we’re going. You know, growing sideways!
