Juno Daily – In The Mix & interview: Kreggo

The hills are alive – with the sound of “techno“

Founder of the impeccable Art-Aud label, DJ and producer Kreggo evidently likes to keep busy. The label is preparing to celebrate its tenth birthday at the end of 2024, having many of its founder’s intricate, detailed but atmospheric techno productions and tons of other artists as well.

Here, he collects together a selection of his favourite new underground producers for a Juno Daily – In The Mix session.

Where you are as you type this – have you had a good day, what have you been up to or are up to later?

Lying in bed, about to sleep actually ha. Today I was thinking when would have been a good moment to answer these questions and it just happened to be now.

Definitely a quiet time though. this morning we went for a walk in a valley up my hometown because was snowing a lot, and this winter it didn’t much…  Even though I was starting already to get a little into the spring mood, it was good to go enjoy it. Then later on I had finally put a new record in the works by a new artist for Art-Aud… It hasn’t been such an active year for my label honestly, many factors, so it’s been both nice and nervous at the same time..

A good day, thanks!

Where are you from, what are your first musical memories, what got you into electronic music and what were your first steps in making music?

I was born in Biella, a small town nestled beneath the Alps in northern Italy, and grew up in Mongrando, a smaller village not far from the city. Early musical memories are many, perhaps even confused, due to how many there have been. If I would stop and start think, many would emerge..since I was little I have been surrounded by music of all kinds…in my house, in the car, everywhere. I owe this mainly to my father, I think in the end, it’s his fault! one in particular i remember is that he always took the portable radio on holidays, which was quite large with a built-in CD player, and therefore, wherever we went, the music he brought played. later, during middle school I only listened to American hip-hop… only that.

One day I subscribed to The Source magazine and then I was just spending time keeping me busy discovering uknown artists of all kind. I was leaving home to meet up with friends with the walkman in my pocket and only one CD on repeat…good feelings. Then electronic music arrived more or less towards the first years of high school, from the first times to the disco, to more conscious listenings, deep research and curiosity. after which I started installing the first programs for making music and started trying my hand at it. Then buying first synths..and day by day I eased myself into this nice trap lol

Tell our readers about what you have released to date and for whom 

It’s been a while since I counted the records I’ve made, or where I’ve contributed..more than 30, probably more. Years ago I liked playing with aliases, it’s something that has always fascinated me and which certainly made me feel freer and enticed to experiment with different vibes as a super eclectic head. It was definetely a more common thing than now, and for myself too, then I think I started to give more traceability to a more precise figure, more for recognition purposes, but I miss that a bit.

Anyway yes, I’ve tried many things over the years, releasing from bigger labels to smaller and friends ones. I think one of the most particular records I’ve made is the one under Moscow Death Disco name for Helena Hauff’s label, where I mixed samples taken from some of my dad’s punk tapes with lot of analog machines and other stuff, was fun. But the first name with which I began to take my first steps, first gigs and make myself bit more known was G-23… A more techno, acidic, darker sound, but still varied and contaminated. then i started to experiment and blend the first breaks and rave influences to the structures and tracks, and in late 2013, Surgeon played one of these first attempts i did called “Error Design”on his Rinse Fm show, and from that moment is where a whole new vision began i think.

Tell us what kind of themes your music tackles, your creative process. How do you get the track titles and how do they relate to the music itself?

I have always undertaken making music in different ways… as fun game, as research, as a way to vent or even spend the time.. But actually perhaps not always moved by something precise or decisive before, I don’t know how to say, maybe because in any way and method it has become so natural so I just go. Then of course sometimes you want or need to express more of a message, a feeling or an aesthetic, and you try to store that stuff inside the project, in the name or how you advertise it… But in the end I can say that it’s almost always instinctive.

Then obviously there is the whole side of what is around you, what I see when I am in nature for example, or walking the city, the things that happen in life or the lighter and darker periods… I think there are many factors that mix ultimately in the creative process, even and mostly unconsciously. on a technical level, it depends on the day, sometimes I prefer to work only on the computer and headphones (Ableton became more and more my primary tool over the years) , sometimes out at the park or travelling, sometimes I need to be chill in studio and maybe use machines…and for the track titles, its usually quite quickly actually… puns, abbreviations, mixed names of presets, very often also tributes to people who inspire me or to the tracks I sample, but in a way i quite always like to have them funny and enigmatic

Thanks so much for doing the mix for us.  What did you set out to do with the mix – was there any specific brief beyond good music?

At the time I’m answering these questions I haven’t recorded it yet to tell the truth ha I was just starting to put down and group the tracks to play actually, but i’ll probably do it the next days. i’m going to record it in a space here where they have all settled (i dont have cdjs at home, just turntables..). anyway from mixes intended as stuff recorded and defined at the table or for a radio podcast I always prefer, both from myself and when i listen to others, to be wider, more thoughtful, varied and open, bit less impulsive or in that kind of pumping and hard/fast way you might end play in a party. I find differences and I find that listening at home or in another context is directly proportional to what it has to leave and convey to you, so if it feels more like a trip, the better. its nice to concentrate different vibes and genres, try to frame them in a strange way together and have more of a mental involvement.

So I think it will therefore be a mixture of new and old stuff that I like, also giving particular attention to lesser-known material, emerging artists and labels, to go a bit outside the standards and don’t use things that are already too familiar. in the end It’s another thing It really intrigue me to do many times, discovering new music from distant countries and hidden people is so curious. 

You’re based in Italy, what’s going on the club scene at the moment?

This is a tough question. Or rather I wish it were an easy one to answer. The matter is more complex than a simple “good” or “bad”, it’s one of those precise cases where the thing really lies somewhere in the middle. Italy is a strange place, lately even more, an absurdly beautiful varied land but full of intrinsic social-political problems, which obviously impact on many aspects of life in general, and therefore ofc on stuff like art, music or club culture.

It must be said that we have never competed, except maybe some periods between the 80s and 90s, with the classic European cities that are usually get mentioned in the evolutionary processes of genres and scenes, but now more than ever there is a stasis and a difficulty like never seen before. The main and largest Italian cities count if it is good, for two thirds of real clubs that can be considered quite such, but most not even have those (do the maths on the whole country..). Then most of these have problems staying open and risk closing, as many places more and more have done in the past years, or allow theirself to organise stuff for the masses to try not to lose money.

This already says a lot about the process of maintaining and creating a scene… If you don’t have places where you can propose your ideas, where you can identify or for the younger ones to aspire to end up do stuff there, the whole thing collapses a bit. Not to mention the marginalisation that the government does to this type of things, demonising and seeing them as things to fight.

But I would open parentheses that are too long…some new festivals and weekenders are really nice tho, they can make more use of the variety of places and natural infrastructures that Italy luckily has full of and also concentrate their forces more in a few days experience. anyway, on the other hand, I think we have never had problems of quantity of talents, expressiveness, material and things to say really, even if its became normal that most of those have started sought, and found, their fortune elsewhere. there are lot of people who do things and build luckily, but sometimes feelings of competition and jealousy given by the small cake to share, force cohesion and groups building, and then everything slows down a bit and becomes less exciting. so well, its okay and let’s keep the flame alive !

What musical  influences do you think you can hear in your music?  

As I said before, it depends a lot on the periods and things that surround me, and therefore obviously also on my listening, which can be very different time to time. However, especially when I make club-oriented music or for dance use, I always try not to let myself be influenced too much by my more personal and more musical spheres, even if obviously a pinch will certainly be and is inevitable. I always try to imagine people’s reaction to certain sounds or certain moments of the piece, how they can be mixed with other similar or different pieces by other DJs/producers or to what roots they can be linked to..a little different however is when I make more introspective or deep stuff, in which I instead want to communicate personal things or particular imaginaries, or have the people who listen to it create their one..

However, as I progress and therefore know more and more stuff, I have more handles and influences in my drawer so I also enjoy switching between and mixing them together. In the last few months I’ve been quite obsessed with spiritual jazz and free stuff from the 60s and 70s… I’ve researched, listened and bought a lot of records, and so it came naturally to me to start working on pieces that want to have a more song-like structure, with inserts of instruments and less conceived in a classical way..lets see what happens. Maybe tomorrow I’ll lose my mind with classical music.

What’s next for you in the short, medium and long term?

Well, first of all my label will turn ten years old this coming December. Up until now I haven’t thought about it much, I definitely felt the arrival of this moment in the past years but at the same time I didn’t even want to pay too much attention to it, even if i still reckon it’s an important reach so I would like to prepare something for it for sure. The first ep, which coincides with also being the first Secret Rave record, actually came out between the end of that year and the beginning of 2015, so I was thinking of keeping 2025 as a year of celebration to take more time for plan some parties, some special releases etc… we’ll see!

As for me, honestly, I don’t have that big ambitions. The most important thing remains the sustainability of what I do in the end, although it is sometimes difficult to keep it going, even due to some personal/ethical choices or non-choices, I am experiencing a fairly balanced period that allows me to do more things of various kinds at the same time, and not just in music.

I like to always let my head go and create, so I would definitely like to experiment with new things, new shapes, new people… Also I would really like to finally start a second album. and definitely play and travel more often. Anyway not always “more” is the better, we are very clogged up by what we see and perceive from the outside and want it, but it must also be said that very often those things come about due to certain compromises and circumstances, and I like balance, so in the end I think that yes, with all the good and bad things of the case, if they ask me to sign up for another ten years like the past ones, I don’t think I would doubt.

Check Kreggo’s catalogue on Juno here

TRACKLISTING

HIDEO NAKASAKO – 24FEB 2

SHIBA / DJ KENSEI – LEOGAN DUB

CHOENYI – DEFERVESCENCE (POTPOURRI MIX)

BOGGER – STREET

LURKA – AIRLOCK

SYNTROVERT – SCOUTING

PRODUCT TOSS – FOGGY MAN BACK

OHSAURUS – SUNKEN CITY

DR. BUTTONS – DIGITAL RECEPTION

YOUNG ADULTS – PSYCHOSOMATIC

PLEBEIAN – PANIC

RUPERT MARNIE – C2 RHYTHM 02

SANGUINE – TORT OF PUBLIC NUISANCE

PHARMA – MORENA

USER ONLY – THE STRAIN

MOON RHYTHMS – YELLOW MAGNETIC SUN

ANYBODY ANYTIME – IN ’N OUT

HNGWY – TICKING

TUNAS – OOLONG

COCCOLA – GBGO

METAMATICS – NEO OUIJA