Since moving to the UK in the late 90s, Rico Cassaza has been steadily building a name for himself through his DJing, live sets and productions. With releases on labels such as Soma, Release Sustain and more, his unique take on his love for quality 4x4 techno has reached a global audience and led to him playing everywhere from London to Poland and beyond, sharing stages with the likes of Maceo Plex and Claro Intelecto. We caught up with him before his upcoming London show atThe Meoko Project on Friday, 28 June where he plays alongside Valentino Kanzyani, Jun Akimoto and Voigtmann. He told us about his first experience of Tangerine Dream, the obstacles of producing in today's musical climate and his belief in a “Holy Music Syndicate”.
How difficult has it been as a young creative, to be able to realise your creative ambitions? what have been the biggest obstacles that you think yourself and other artists face today. More than being a creative ambition, I'm doing what I do for the pleasure of doing it. It's a sort of 'inside call' that makes someone do music, and if u can make a living out of it, its even better.
One of the biggest obstacles for producers today is actually the vast ocean of bad music that comes out even day on digital portals, making it look like the electronic dance scene is something shallow, and making the dance music market appear as hammer tunes with no feeling. I believe that there is a 'holy music syndicate' , which is a common belief between good musicians, DJs and producers that recognize each other. A sort of musical freemasonry.
What is your musical background if any? What do you bring to electronic music in terms of aesthetics, approach and style? How did you get into electronic music culture? My music background is various, as I listen to very different styles of music, not only in the electronic environment. When I approach making music I just make stuff under my very personal vision of music. The very first electronic music that I heard in my life was probably Tangerine Dream. My father was a huge record collector of rock, classical, and early electronic music and I was basically absorbing like a sponge what he was listening to during my childhood.
The Meoko project is all about celebrating the diversity of modern London through art and culture… How important do you think it is for cities such as London to host these events? And do you think there should be more? I think there is already a lot of events in london about art and culture already, the Meoko project focuses more on the electronic dance music, with an attitude towards art & culture, and definitely there should be more of events like that in other cities in europe. I can see there is a rising awareness of electronic dance music events outside us, taken more as a form of culture.
Aside from music, what other forms of art and culture interest you, and do you practice anything else such as painting or designing? Do you think the relationship between art, culture, design and music is intrinsically linked in the digital age? I love music to the bone and I think I have an understanding and feeling of art, but I am not a particularly arty person. Yeah, I think the relationship between art, culture and music is very intricate in the digital age.
We hear that you like to play live. How will you leave your mark on the London crowds through what you play? What is your unique trademark so to speak and what's the set up for your live shows? I'm not really looking to leave any particular mark on the London crowd, but its always nice when you see someone getting lost in your music. It's the best feeling you can get. Then i will consider myself a very lucky guy. My set up for my live show is playing my tunes in a particular mixed up order, i have a lot of music of different genres, which makes it more colourful and full of variety. You will hear it at the Meoko project.
In terms of underground talent and rising names – from the worlds of fashion, music, art and culture – who are you championing at the moment? Who should we keep our eyes peeled for? From the world of fashion I have no idea, as I don't follow it. About music there are always talented people coming out from months to months, the list would be infinite. I'd rather tell you about my very good DJ & music friends.
My friends at 'release sustain', Gabbi Lopez & Kid AM. Music slaves & mastering engineer , Kozber. Tech-house italo bros Daniel Poli, Eartulis Day head chef Unai Trotti. Lee Fraged & Philippos N. from Freshit records, Maryam Bash, Jag Kiranmay, Luke Black, Bearight, Slavaki, Oli_N, Doubtingthomas, and many other friends around europe.
Finally, how are the following months looking like for you so far? In terms of releases, productions and more, what's on the horizon for you for you for the rest of the year? I have some music coming out in different labels: Wiggles, Cartulis Music, Release Sustain, Suspect Package, Holic Traxx and Sense Floor plus remixes and collaborations, and also more stuff on chill out /electronica genres.
The Meoko Project
Village Underground
Friday, 28 June
Line Up
VALENTINO KANZYANI (Cadenza / Jesus Loved You)
JUN AKIMOTO (Metroline / Fuse London, / Desolat)
BINH (Club der Visionaere)
VOIGTMANN (Toi.Toi Musik)
RICO CASAZZA (Release Sustain / Safari Numerique
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