Hunter/Game may seem like new comers, but these boys – Martino Bertola and Emmanuele Nicosia - have long been releasing tracks on labels such as Hot Creations and Get Physical. Their secret loft parties in Milan ‘Just This’ saw the birth of talent such as Tale of Us and gave them a solid platform to launch the Hunter/Game name, which has received a huge response both from fans and the industry alike.
Moving towards a more underground direction, exploring new sounds, Hunter/Game have released their new EP ‘The Island’ featuring smooth, ethereal tracks that house their signature deep groove. The EP is currently out on Sasha’s Last Night on Earth label - an imprint dedicated to showcasing new and upcoming electronic music talent. We speak with Hunter/Game to find out more.
Pulse: How would you describe your sound? Emmanuele Nicosia (Hunter/Game): Our sound comes from our different backgrounds. Emmanuel was influenced by the late 80s and Indie rock music, Martino has always been into techno. Now we are more influenced by the new waves from the electronic music scene as Boards of Canada, Flying Lotus and Mount Kimbie. We merge our feelings into a unique vibe, trying to move our sound more into electronic music, always keeping techno as the main element.
Your new EP ‘The Island” is out on Sasha's Last Night on Earth label. What has the response been so far, not just from the crowd but the DJ community? Actually we had a really great response from the DJ community, also from people we weren’t expecting. This release was really versatile and was able to catch a lot of people, breaking the borders of different genres. That’s why we had also great feedback from the crowd too.
Do you have any favourite tracks off the EP, any that you find yourself regularly playing? The Single 'The Island' is really important for us. It signals a really big change into our sound, we evolved our music more into electronic music, trying to go a bit far from the clubbing sound. 'North Voice' with Voidstep is part of a story in our DJ sets and the remix pack is really working in clubs. Jacob Korn has a really strong analog vibe and the Baikal remix is a real killer track.
All the tracks are collaborations with other artists. Were they made specifically for the EP or a mix of tracks that you’ve made over time? We started to produce some tracks for our album during the last year, involving singers over some tracks, with a global concept over all. Then we decided to release some of them before the album release, so we came out with this EP. We were big fan of Bajka’s works and felt really special to be able to make a track together, and the lyrics she wrote for us caught exactly our vibe. We are still working together for another track for our album.Camille is a friend from NYC that came into our music, we were surprised to hear her great talent. Voidstep is one of our best friends, sitting many times in studio with us - he has always been next to the H/G project since the beginning.
You’ve released on Hot Creations, Get Physical Music and a number of other labels. Any plans in the future for your own label? At the moment we are thinking about our Music, and the evolution of our sound. We really want to go far from clubbing and the music that is going around now. We are really happy with LNOE, they give us a lot of space, and Sasha really supports our music. This is the perfect base for an artist to release interesting music.
What can we expect from Hunter/Game in the future? Are there any projects you’re working on? It’s more than a year we've been working on our album and we actually don’t know when it is going to be ready. We have a lot of tracks going on and some great collaborations, so for sure we will have space to make some releases in the meantime. We actually signed off on a couple of EPs coming out this winter, it’s going to be a surprise.
Sasha has made you residents at his “Never Say Never” party in Ushuaia. How has that been so far? The Never Say Never party in Ushuaia Tower is something special in Ibiza, a different vibe to all the things going on in the island. It’s amazing to perform there with artists as Matthew Dear, Ewan Person, DJ Sneak and off course Sasha, in a special rooftop venue. We found in Sasha a great person to work with - he is a legend, but he acts like the guy next door. He keeps his profile low over 20 years and he has the sensibility to understand where the music is going so far. He has an intense energy that he shares with people and his crowd, so playing with him is always special.
Ushuaia has brought back day partying to Ibiza. What do you think the day parties have brought, especially Never Say Never? What does it add that's different to the overflowing calendar of parties on the island? Daytime parties have always had a great mood, living the sunset moment while you are playing or dancing is always special. You can take people into a journey that passes from the day sunshine to the depth of the night. Never Say Never was really an innovative situation in the Island, the rooftop has an intense energy and a suggestive location with a view to the whole island. The crowd following Sasha is quite adult and mature and gives you the possibility to express your music and feel totally free. In our opinion, day parties give the chance to all those people who don't want to go really forward into the night and instead live the Island by its beautiful day time to have fun and a great music experience.
Any other places on the island or around the world that fans can look forward to? We had a small Turkish tour in Istanbul and in Izmir in August, then we went straight to our crazy friends in Malta. But before coming back to Ibiza we will take off a couple of weeks to make a proper vacation after a full year.
Is it your first time visit to Australia in October? What do you know about us? It’s our first time in Australia and we are really excited about our tour there. We were at Pulse Radio during a gig in London couple of years ago. We think Pulse is a really good platform, it's not focused only on reviews and events, and gives a lot of space to podcasts, and that is a really great chance for artists to reach their audience. The technology era has helped the electronic music community to grow. Internet media such as youtube, podcasts and blogs, are replacing the old media such as TV, radio and press. Everything is more accessible, from users and from artists that have the network to promote themselves for free.
Congratulations on your recent signing to Primary Talent. How does it feel to finally be represented by an agency and have someone else do all the time consuming hard work like management and press releases? We had this great chance to get into Primary Talent, the biggest booking agency managing artists such as Daft Punk and Lana Del Rey. They have an incredible way to work that gives us the confidence to focus on our music.
Where do you prefer playing, in an open air festival-like venue such as Ushuaia or an intimate loft party or warehouse such as DC10? The dynamics of the crowd and music are both different in these two spaces. The most important thing is the vibe from the people that makes everything magic. It can be an open air, a club, a loft, or a friend's basement. Just everyone sharing good energy to make an unforgettable night.
After summer, where will you be based? Berlin, Milan or New York? Well you didn’t mentioned London! Anyway after a year as gypsies, we decided to be based in Milan. We think it’s really the fashion to move around. We have everything we need in our city: our studio, our friends...and our Mums cooking for us on Sunday after the gigs!