Label Focus – Opilec Music
We meet I-Robots AKA DJ/producer and founder of Opilec Music, Gianlucca Pandullo…
WHAT’S THE NAME OF YOUR LABEL, AND WHO RUNS IT?
Opilec Music. ‘Opilec’ is a story by Josef Čapek, a writer and cubist painter, and the brother of Karel Čapek. He’s credited as the man who invented the term “robot”, which originally meant “servant”. From this etymology, which truly inspired all of Isaac Asimov’s literature, comes Opilec Music.
I built the label around Asimov’s thoughts on technology; how it is not humanity’s enemy, but a friendly real and useful extension of our mind. I believe robots are our friends in music too.
We mainly do old-school disco, Chicago house & Detroit techno, as well as early 80’s italo, synth, electro and cosmic disco. We also love krautrock and any other electronic genre with its own influence on the history of dance music.
Our sublabel, Turin Dancefloor Express, was build to reflect my own experiences as a DJ and collector and from time spent digging in archives, old collections and anywhere else I could. The aim is to put out music that outlines how important Turin and the Piedmont area was to the development of electronic and dance music in the 70s and 80s. Its logo artwork draws on the logo that the monorail company Alweg used from Turin’s historical photo archives, and since FIAT is based in Turin, it’s become known as Italy’s Motor City, which adds another nice layer of circularity.
Interestingly, many of the tunes from this period were made by live bands until DJs and producers took over. This rubbed off onto the dance music that emerged later; we’ve had some seminal names join for releases on the label, with earlier influences ranging from psychedelic funk, to neo-R&B, to soul, disco, afrobeat, rock and pop and so much more. The tunes are all uptempo, with classic synth sounds and weird vocals, rare grooves and cosmic oddities all hoping to colour the trip.
WHEN & WHY DID THE LABEL START?
I started Opilec around 2008 after formerly working with Irma Records, Irma Elettrica, Relish Records and Lucy Lee Quality Recordings. I thought it was high time to start my own label after becoming tired of waiting for responses from others, who weren’t really on the same artistic page as myself, and had very different musical backgrounds. Turin Dancefloor Express started in 2016 with its first CD compilation, and later became a full-blown sub-imprint..
GIVE US A BRIEF SUMMARY OF WHAT YOU’VE RELEASED SINCE THEN…
We’ve been trying to keep it eclectic on Opilec, putting out mainly nu-disco, indie dance, deep house, mash-ups, and re-edits. The sublabel, on the other hand, has been putting out retro disco influenced solely by 70’s/80’s Piedmont and Turin.
WHAT QUALITIES ARE YOU LOOKING FOR IN THE MUSIC YOU RELEASE?
I personally select the artists and their music. I usually get involved, helping them finalise their tracks to guarantee a solid sound and result. I know what I like, so every release comes out with a view to complementing what I would play in my sets. I always try to prioritise friendships and collaborations with VIP artists, but will also always give new artists the chance they deserve.
WHAT KIND OF VISUAL IDENTITY DOES THE LABEL HAVE (ARTWORK, VIDEOS ETC)?
Art and music go hand in hand, which is why each release always comes with artwork signed by an international artist, painter, or designer. Over the years I’ve worked with LittleYorke, Kae Seak, Artefract, and Tomozo. We generally go for abstract and cosmic art, but also hi-tech and retrofuturistic vintage styles.
WHAT’S BEEN YOUR BIGGEST SELLING RELEASE TO DATE? TELL US A BIT ABOUT IT AND WHY YOU THINK IT WAS SO POPULAR.
The Units’ ‘Connections’ EP, taken from the main ‘Connections’ 3xCD release. It has two I-Robots reconstructions and a Todd Terje remix.
Another one that did very well was the Giorgio Moroder vs. I-Robots release, ‘Utopia’. It was officially approved by Giorgio, and the extended versions were missing from 1977 until 2014 when I put them out.
NAME ONE RELEASE THAT YOU THINK DESERVED TO GET MORE ATTENTION THAN IT DID
My very own EP, ‘Laws Of Robotics’, which came out in 2020. Isaac Asimov’s original ‘Laws Of Robotics’ has always been a big influence on my music.
IF YOU COULD SIGN ANY ARTIST, ALIVE OR DEAD, WHO WOULD YOU CHOOSE AND WHY?
I would have loved to work with Freddie Mercury, Bob Marley and Larry Levan. Not because they’re legends, but only because I think they were incredible artists. I could have learned a great deal from them, but that’s sadly not possible anymore.
For living artists, it would have to be Larry Heard, Cajmere, and Adrian Sherwood. Those will all happen, I promise… their styles are all essential parts of my background.
WHICH OTHER LABELS DO YOU ADMIRE AND WHY?
I love too many artists and labels to list, but here are some of my friends’ labels: Electronic Emergencies, Disko Milk, Sticky Music, and Agrellomatica.
WHAT CAN WE LOOK TO FROM YOUR LABEL NEXT?
We Are Opilec Vol 5 is out now and we have some great stuff coming out. Look out for my track with Kathy Brown, ‘Respect’, which will also have a remix on it by Don Carlos. We’ve also got ‘Disco Ruin’, a compilation with contributions from Daniele Baldelli, Alexander Robotnick, Francesco Farfa, and Paolo Martini. It’s the soundtrack to the forthcoming Disco Ruin Movie with Sky Arts, looking back at over 40 years of Italian nightlife, people, culture fashion and architecture.