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Introducing... Alex Picone, his Mus label & his Steve Reich Bootleg

As the nominated guest, arriving with the return of D’Julz’s Bass Culture Records in Room Two this Saturday, Italian born, Berlin bred, Alex Picone, needs to arrive with an eruption of impelling house and straight dancefloor killers to make an impact - he’s amongst that strong company in D’Julz and Jay Tripwire. Considering his grounding in DJing in his native Italy and the fact that his own productions rapidly caught the attention of Cadenza label boss, Luciano - who signed Floppy and Furby, his first full artist EP in 2008, which some of you may recognise from Luciano's fabric 41 mix - it’s evident that Picone has got the requisite chops to stand tall amongst his contemporaries. Since striking up his relationship with Luciano, Picone has been racking up the hours in the studio putting out music of his own and investing in that of other people, with his own label, Mus, recently releasing Mass Prod’s two part Sorry For Your Ears EP, which’ll be followed shortly by a collaboration between Picone and The Analogue Cops and Argy. A man with a lot of projects we’re excited to welcome him to Farringdon this weekend and as a person who’s heavily influenced by the great American composer, Steve Reich, Picone has presented us with his upcoming ‘Mix 909’ bootleg (out on Illegal Series in October), which you can stream for free below, that acts as the cherry on top of this interview… STREAM: Alex Picone Vs Steve Reich Mix 909 Tell us about your first experiences with music? I think it was when I was 8 years old… I recorded on tape a mix of song from the Sanremo Music Festival (a prestigious musical competition here in Italy). When did you start DJing and putting out records? I started DJing when I was about 14 years old, during school parties. I was resident DJ of the best club in Padova at 17 and I started to produce music at 23. I released my first vinyl in 2005 under the alias Alex Tribal. Who would you say have been your main influences? My brother has always been biggest influence for me, and of course Luciano from around about 2006. What does living in Berlin mean to you? It means I am able to connect, to continuously develop and progress. How did you first hook up with Cadenza? It all started around 2008 when Luciano decided to sign ‘Floppy and Furby’ and from there on it grew and developed in the relationship I have today with the label. What role have they played in your career? After the release of ‘Floppy,’ with Cadenza I had the chance to start touring internationally, have gigs around Europe, tour North & South America, connect with people and other artists, labels. After this I had the chance to start other projects and collaborations. Clearly Cadenza had a key role in developing my career. Can you tell us about your own imprint Mus? It came to be after I met Marcolino, the owner of Ultrasuoni record shop in Rome. We had the same taste and care about sound and quality, so you can say it's been love at first listen. What tracks would you recommend we check out to get a taste for it? ‘MUS 3.3’ by Mass Prod has just been released and it's a gem. Next it will be MUS 4 by Hands Up (a project by me and The Analogue Cops). What have you been working on in your own production recently? Lately I've spent a lot of time in the studio, in shift working mode, from morning till the evening. I've been both developing music that I will be putting out as Alex Picone as well collaborating with a lot of artists, like Lucretio & Marieu (The Analogue Cops) with our Hands Up project, with Mass Prod for Brothers In Low and for sure with my buddy Argy. Lastly – can you tell us about this track. How is Steve Reich such a big influence? Yes for sure, since I bought the all albums he made, I have become hooked on him, its dope! Catch Alex Picone in Room Two this Saturday.
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