Fabio Monesi: Uvijek kažem kako preferiram DJ set, ali fenomenalno se zabavim kada sviram live

UES: Poznat si kao aktivni proponent analognog zvuka. Što misliš, koje su prednosti naspram digitalnog? Kakvu ulogu sirovost igra u cijeloj priči?

Fabio Monesi: Danas stvarno možeš sve pomoću kompjutera. Mnogo pluginova emuliraju zvuk vrpce i analogne distorzije poprilično dobro, tako da ne mogu sasvim reći da je sirovost domena analognog zvuka. Više se radi o osjećaju. Digitalno ima mnoge prednosti – možeš izgraditi stvar u par minuta i možeš uređivati koliko god želiš bez da se zvuk mijenja.  To je nemoguće kad radiš sa vanjskom opremom, pogotovo sa analognom, koja će zvučati drugačije iz dana u dan. Miks na analognom mikseru može biti veoma škakljiv. Moraš završiti isti dan kada si započeo, ili, ako mijenjaš parametre za neki drugi projekt, moraš slikati postavke kako bi ih se mogao prisjetiti kasnije.

UES: Prvi put sam čuo tvoju glazbu kroz Hardmoon output. Kako se glazba koju radiš kao Hissman razlikuje od mjuze koja izlazi pod tvojim imenom?

Fabio Monesi: Počeo sam raditi mjuzu kao Hissman kada je u meni bio jak osjećaj za house, kada sam htio pokazati svoju viziju housea kroz ploče, ali istovremeno, osjećao sam još nešto kako se kuha u meni… U početku, koristio sam taj alias za sirovije i mračnije trake, ali sam kroz neko vrijeme primjetio kako se ta dva projekta pretapaju jedan u drugi.

Danas bih rekao kako je Fabio Monesi dancefloor verzija Hissmana, koji pak može biti eksperimentalniji. Ponekad zna biti teško odvojiti različite projekte, pošto se ipak radi o jednoj osobi iza njih. No neka glazba govori za sebe, ne volim definirati svoju glazbu riječima.

UES: Koje su razlike između dviju etiketa koje vodiš – Hardmoon London i Wilson Records?

Fabio Monesi: Wilson je rođen tokom snažnog house utjecaja tako da sam uvijek pazio na „groove“ kada bih birao trake za Wilson. Hardmoon je rođen kada i Hissman tako da se može reći da na njemu nema pravila.

UES: Studio ti je orijentiran na analogno. Kako to utječe na tvoj kreativni proces?

Fabio Monesi: Jako utječe. Ponekad može biti i ograničavajuće pošto proces izgradnje trake može duže trajati, ali u isto vrijeme možeš eksperimentirati sa opremom i hardverom, što također pridonosi procesu.

UES: Što misliš o suvremenoj talijanskoj house sceni (Steve Murphy, Simoncino, The Analogue Cops,…)?

Fabio Monesi: Zbilja sam sretan zbog nas – svi navedeni su mi prijatelji. Svi imamo manje – viÅ¡e istu viziju glazbe. Mislim da su Talijani zakon trenutno.

UES: Jesi li ikada bio u Hrvatskoj? Imaš mišljenje o našoj sceni?

Fabio Monesi: Nikada nisam bio kao DJ, samo kao turist! Pratim scenu već neko vrijeme i drago mi je vidjeti kako konstantno raste.

UES: Preferiraš li izvođenje glazbe uživo ili ti je draži DJ set? Koje su prednosti i mane to dvoje?

Fabio Monesi: Uvijek kažem kako preferiram DJ set, ali fenomenalno se zabavim kada sviram live. Live tek izvodim dvije godine, tako da će vrijeme pokazati!

UES: Kakvi su ti planovi za blisku budućnost? Više turneja ili ćeš se fokusirati na releasove?

Fabio Monesi: Oboje! Imam puno stvari koje su spremne za izlazak, ali ću istovremeno nastaviti sa svirkama.

UES: You are known as an active proponent of the analogue sound. What do you think of the advantages it has over digital? What part does rawness play in it?

Fabio Monesi: Nowadays you can do everything with computers. Many plugins emulate the tape saturation and the analog distortion pretty decently so I cannot say that it’s all about the rawness of the analog domain. It’s rather more about the feeling. Digital have many advantages. You can build a track in a few minutes and you can edit it as many times as you want and it will always sound the same. This is impossible working with outboards, especially with analogue outboard which often sound different one day to another. Mixing a track on an analogue mixer can also be tricky. You have to finish the mixing the same day you started it or, if you need to change something on the mixer for another project, you will have to take a picture of your setup in order to be recalled the day after.

UES: I first heard your music through your Hardmoon output. How does the music you release under your Hissman moniker differ from the stuff you do under your name?

Fabio Monesi: I started making music as Hissman when my feeling for house music was still really strong inside of me, when I still wanted to show my vision of house music through my records but at the same time I felt something else was boiling inside me.
At the beginning, I used that moniker for “darker and rawer” tracks, but after a while I noticed that the two projects were melting into each other’s.

Today I would say that Fabio Monesi could be the dance floor version of Hissman which can be more experimental-oriented. Sometimes it can be hard to keep different projects separate as after all there is still the same person behind them. Well the music will speak for itself I don’t like to define my music through my words.

UES: What are the differences between the two labels you run, Hardmoon London and Wilson Records?

Fabio Monesi: Wilson was born during a strong house music-influence so I’ve always kept an eye on the groove when I was about to choose the track to release on Wilson.
Hardmoon was born together with Hissman so I can say that you could expect anything from Hardmoon.

UES: Your studio is analogue based. How do you think it reflects on your creative process?

Fabio Monesi: It reflects so much. Sometimes it can be a limitation as it may take you longer to build a track but at the same time you can experiment with machines and hardware’s which also adds to the creative process.

UES: What do you think of the contemporary Italian house scene (Steve Murphy, Simoncino, The Analogue Cops…)?

Fabio Monesi: I am really happy of our movement; all the guys you named are friends of mine. We all each have more or less the same vision of music. I think Italian producers are on fire at the moment.

UES: Ever been to Croatia? Any opinions on its scene?

Fabio Monesi: I’ve never been to Croatia as a DJ, only as Tourist! I’ve been following your scene for some time now and I am happy to see that it’s growing and growing.

UES: Do you prefer performing music live or is a DJ set more of your thing? What are the pros and cons between those two?

Fabio Monesi: I always say that I prefer playing as a DJ but each time I play live I also have much fun. I only started playing live two years ago so only the time will tell!

UES: What are your plans for the near future? More touring or are you going to focus on your releases?

Fabio Monesi: Both! I have many releases coming out but at the same time I’ll keep playing around.