Nico Lupo : Interview

He’s been involved in the club scene for 10 years.  He’s rocked dancefloors from The Ministry of Sound, Fabric to Turnmills, as well as taking his sound further afield to places like Cyprus and Thailand.  This South Londoner’s diverse DJ skills have seen him playing alongside heavyweights such as Eric Prydz, Krafty Kuts, Pendulum, Gabriel & Dresden and Andy George to name a few.

Something tells me 2010’s going to be a big year for Nico Lupo and he’s kindly giving FTR the underground lowdown.

4or The Record: Describe your style in 5 words?   

An Energetic Upfront Bricolage Party.

4TR: What would we expect from a Nico Lupo DJ Set?                                                                                       Usually an energetic 3 Deck Set  from 125 to 140BPM mixing a fusion of dancefloor beats taking in the spectrum of house, fidget, techno, dubstep, garage, tribal and carnival beats sprinkled with various acapella’s, classics, melodious soundscapes, mash ups  and personally constructed re-edits. Well, I try anyway.

4TR: I saw you at Plan B, London on NYE laying down fidget house to dubstep to indie mash up.  On paper it shouldn’t work but it was genius, how do you do that?                                                                                                                

It’s not me who does that, I stand there nod my head and unleash my magical Pocket Pixie onto the decks and he blends the genres while I carry on standing and nodding! For me it’s understanding the tracks and visioning how they would work together in context for a bubbling dance floor. 

I would say that music is a straight up love for me and it’s just been the interest in a pure mish-mash of music from quite a young age and the evolving creative processes that capture me. It’s simple, I love playing records. Especially the tunes that evoke a pure dancing reaction in people, however underground. Also it’s my life mission to compile sets that meld random musical styles, crate dig, produce tracks, carry on being involved within the club scene and find the best Sushi restaurant in the world.

Nye was uber fun, Oneman and Martelo raised the roof.

4TR: How and when were you infected by underground music?                                                                            

In 1995 I became fascinated with the Rave scene through magazines and hearing live sets on tape packs namely DJ SY and Spinback at Slammin Vinyl and old tapes that I was given of Danny Rampling and Carl Cox.  I just wanted to be there in those warehouses listening to those loud inspiring beats. From then on this all encompassing musical whirlwind has swept me along its path since. I was buying Hardcore and Hip-Hop records at 11 years old, bought decks at 12, was mixing around 13, doing house hullabaloo’s and pirate radio, it just progressed from there.

4TR: What are your most far-out musical influences?

As influences go, I engulf myself with as much music as alienly possible. Far-out wise I would have to say Sacred Spirit and Ladysmith Black Mambanzo and as a DJ it’s definitely Erick Morillo and EZ. Not forgetting rave music 1992-1997, UK Garage, Ibiza, John Peel and the Notting Hill Carnival.

4TR: As GrooveTherapyPresents...you were fast becoming a force to reckon with on the party scene, can we expect a resurgence?                                                                                                                                                   It was an amazing time, putting on some memorable parties in the U.K and abroad, playing some exciting events and festivals and causing a lot of mischief pushing our polluted house sound around. Most of all though it was a natural process combining musically with my brother from another mother J.Ioannou and imprinting our vision and intricate touches to everything we were doing. He’s living in Barcelona now so we hooked up last summer for an off-Sonar party. It was just the distance, it would be cool to combine now and bring our new influences to the cooking pot.

4TR: Describe the craziest gig you’ve ever played?                                                                                  

One that is up there is a Boat Party in Larnaca, Cyprus with Eddie Richards and Fabric Original Pure Science. I played back to back with my GroveTheraphyPresents.........partner J.Ioannou flinging down melodic techno, U.S Garage and Indie disco style beats on this crazy pirate ship feeling vessel. Open water, warm air and surrounded by some absolutely off key yet amazing people who refused to stop dancing even at 8am. The moment when the sun came up creating a purple sky and we dropped the 87 version of Cece Rogers’ ‘Someday’ is a memory and a half. Ravers were leaping about like hyperactive gazelles and praying to the Sun Lord until we had to rewind the track sound system style and live the moment again for the next 7 minutes. 

4TR: Where is the one venue or corner of the earth you still yearn to play?

Africa definitely. I’ve got Kenyan roots so possibly a Tribal Festival Rave pairing DJ’s and live acts with traditional percussionists and live musicians with a Safari backdrop. I’m sure the Elephants, meerkats and Lions will shack out too. 

4TR: Have your attitudes changed to the music business now in comparison to when you first started out?                                                                                                                                                                         It’s a constant learning curve. The music business is an absolutely varied entity globally. The big clubs, labels and the commercial audience are definitely accepting more underground bands, artists and DJ’s like The XX, Dizzee Rascal and Pendulum and its positive to see. It’s just a shame to see that sometimes the original underground sound that made these artists who they are is sometimes diluted for a profit making commercial market. 

On the flipside we need to have a commercial to have an underground. But the primary reason for the music in the first place whatever its stereotype is the passion of the underground scene and people doing it regardless if it was a money making thing to do. That’s why I have always had and will have the deepest respect for the Dubstep scene. When it was forming, it was what it was. The people involved early on positively pushed their music from pirate radio stations and near enough empty clubs to filling clubs across the world and being arguably the most innovative cutting edge music scene of the past 10 years. 

4TR: When did you start laying down tracks, and how long was it before you were creating bits that you were happy with?

I started making mash ups melding House and Electro beats with Hip-Hop and Grime acapella’s live on vinyl then adding effects to the tunes digitally around 2004.  It’s been in the last 2 years that my tracks have come together-it’s all about dropping your own tracks and gauging the crowds reactions. There’s so much more I have to grasp in the production game but that will occur over time.            

I’ve always been observing the construction of music as my brother has making beats for about 9 years so it was more of a natural progression. In that time I’ve been woken up after some crazy nights with the most overwhelming bass pulsating through my bed frame at 9am only to be soothed by an epic piano piece. It’s kind of like having a personal musical curator to create the soundtrack to my short lived dreams.

4TR: Are there any tasty club nuggets up the sleeve of Nico Lupo productions at the moment?

I’ve got one called ‘Fidget Pigeon’ that I’ve started to play out recently and it’s had a cool response and some interest from a couple of labels which is positive. There are a number of other tracks that are locked away and will feature in my live sets including ‘Corruption Last Night’ and ‘Nairobi Hope’ which incorporates a combination of world music elements, digital synths and a wicked African Vocal hook co-produced with electronica producer Tron.

4TR: What will we be raving to in the first part of this next decade?                                                            

Styles have always been coming together, since the days of Run DMC and Aerosmith crossing over and erupting with something that gives your ears a good pleasing seeing to. No doubt there’ll be untold new genres that will emerge but in all I feel it will be pure fusion music. Hold tight Skream, Micky Slim, Masters at Work, DJ Zinc, Majorlazer and Bloc Party who have merged genres and scenes and hopefully will carry on to do so with the additions of Deadboy, Breakage, TLGB and many more fresh artists in this new deacde.

4TR: What have you got planned for 2010, festivals, parties with cheese and pineapple on those little sticks, bar mitzvahs, etc?    

I’m getting my sticky production fingers busy with a few projects, more DJ bookings, some festival dates and also a possible tour of some exciting countries. Also I’m definitely not forgetting those exclusive parties that offer cheese and pineapple sticks and jelly.

4TR: As you are a London native, if I was to come visit for a few days what 3 essential places would you take me to experience?                                                                                                                                                 1. The Stolen Space Gallery in East London owned by Local artist D-Face.                                                                

2. An Indian meal in Tooting complete with Mixed Grill, Keema Aloo, Pistachio Kulfi and Galcapeh.

3. Croydub-A Sunday party in Dubstep’s birth place of Croydon put on by DMZ’s host extraordinaire SGT Pokes. Amazing line-up’s and an excellently premium party crowd.

4TR: Annie Mac or A-Trak?

A-Trak.                                                                                                           

4TR: Acid house or a dead mouse?

Acid House.                                                                                        

4TR: Trendy Wendy or freakishly bendy?

Trendy Bendy!

4TR: Marmite or frost bite?

Marmite every time.

For more information check out www.myspace.com/nicolupo and to get an insight into the Nico Lupo sound you can download his Pollution Mix for no pennies from www.soundcloud.com/nicolupo.