Sound Bites: Discodromo

Music

Giacomo Garavelloni and Giovanni Turco are unfamiliar names, Discodromo however is not.

The Italian duo have become a pioneering force within modern day club culture having helped champion a broad spectrum of artists on their own Cocktail d'Amore imprint alongside Dj Boris. Based in Berlin they have become notorious party starters and their monthly party in the German capital has become the talk of legends and late night fairytales. Influenced by a heritage of italo and science fiction across the decades they have crafted a cosmic niche within which they dominate and command the dancers under darkness and into the daylight. Cocktail d'Amore has frankly become one of the most important electronic labels and parties of the present and we felt that now was more crucial than ever to touch base with the dynamic duo known as Discodromo who will appear at the vast Innervisions party as part of OffSonar at Poble Espanyol next month…

Short and sweet the pair let the late nights do the talking…

So, growing up independently you both experienced different elements of club culture – which of these were most memorable? Is there a moment you can pinpoint which helped launch your musical trajectory?

"I have been going to house and techno clubs since ’93: I started in Italy at this club called La Scala which was one hour from where I grew up. it was the place that blew my mind because until that point (I was still 15 yo) I hadn't heard that kind of music and I hadn't seen all of these extravagant creatures of the night that populated the place. I kept going out and going to many different clubs in Italy, even working as a PR for some until I went to london in ’97 and stayed for few months.

Whilst there I used to go to the free illegal parties in warehouses and abandoned locations (one time in a old theater on Caledonia Rd I remember), to the Drum&Bass sunday sessions of Metalheadz and more weekly house nights. I wouldn’t say that there is a specific moment for me but i think that the whole clubbing arc until today has been formative and developed my taste in music." – Giacomo

"Personally, listening to Marco Dionigi’s sets at Alter Ego in Verona in the mid 90’s. I didn't know I was gonna be a DJ at that time… but I think that's where I got (beside my first disco injection) the fascination for experimental, unexpected sounds and the sense for eclecticism in a dj set, which is something I've been holding onto since." – Giovanni

Cocktail d’amore has become a Berlin institution of sorts, what was the initial intention behind the party?

"We started Cocktail in 2009 (Yes, we're turning 10 next year!). At that time, Berlin was very much about minimal house, which we're into (some of it at least)… but back then you could hear it at almost every party, dj set after dj set, and we were just so bored of it…"

As disc jockeys, do you feel intertwined musically – there must have been occasions when one of you has veered towards a direction the other differs from?

"Of course! We argue over music all the time but over time we also learnt how to disagree. The thing with us though is that we grew up listening to the same DJ's so it's somehow like we went to the same school and that…"

You have been less focused on production as of late, is this intentional?

"Ehm… no. Hard to find the time at the moment with one party, two labels and touring ourselves. We do have a collaborative track coming out soon on Cocktail d'Amore Music though, something we did with Massimiliano Pagliara a while ago."