On April 10, Be Home Soon was released, the debut EP of the young Francesco TA, and to close a full month in which not only “be home soon”, but also we have not been able to leave it, the Italian is also the protagonist of the new podcast, and there are already 74!
Although the forces falter, we are sure that we will get out of it, and music plays a vital role, make us travel without moving from our seats and makes quarantine more bearable.Accompanying the mix, he has answered some questions to get to know him a little better.
Ladies & Gentlemen … Francesco TA!
When did you start DJing – and what or who were your early passions and influences?
I only started DJing when I moved to Glasgow, my flatmate in Uni Halls had a controller and we would borrow it among us friends to play at afters or pre-drinks. Most of my university friends were really into DNB and those kind of genres, but coming from Rome I had more of a taste for Techno back then. When I first was mixing it was a lot of classic Techno like Ben Klock, Paul Kalkbrenner etc, as well House tracks from the French Era like Daft Punk and Thomas Bangalter’s releases. For newer artists I really liked the Lofi scene with Mall Grab, DJ Boring etc and at the time I was also playing a lot Melodic Techno/House.
What what is about music and/or sound that drew you to it?
I really enjoy how free you can be with a lot of music, especially in dance music/EDM. When I discovered sampling i was blown away how much music came from other artists older work and the way some producers could manipulate sounds/tracks. There’s so much to explore out there in terms of style and with a computer and software you can make pretty much anything you like so I feel it’s a field you can really be creative and express yourself in.
Tell us about your evolution as a producer. Gear used? Hardware vs software? Daw?
I started like many using just FL Studio and still use it to this day as main DAW. I still have the same rough process of finding samples online or from other songs and then adding my own drums and synths around that. I’m exploring new sounds and styles because I enjoy making a lot of different genres of music – though in the last few months I’ve begun producing heavy Techno under an alias and that has allowed to to focus on one type of Sound/Style of tracks, which has it’s own process for production. The only piece of gear I’ve bought to produce yet is an Akai MPk midi keyboard. I still mainly prefer to use software and different synth emulators because I don’t want to get too dependent on one or two pieces of hardware and have a lot of tracks sound very similar. I’m still looking for the right synths and drum machines for me, will probably get one this year.
What single night out has been the most memorable for you? As a DJ? And as an attendee?
As a DJ my debut performance with Glasgow crew Disclaimer at their night at the Flying Duck was so much fun. They really work hard to curate a great atmosphere among friends and it was a wonderful chance to play some of my favourite disco/house tunes to a audience that enjoys it.
As an Attendee the best performance I can remember has to be Biceps Live Set at the Barrowlands in Glasgow a few years ago. I was blown away at the sound and the quality of the Venue but also their performance with a new live set and tracks from their 2017 album was incredible, super appreciated by the glasgow crowd which made the performance even better.
5 of your all time favourites tracks
Fucckk thats a hard question! I’ll list 5 that represent different genres I really like, in no particular order:
- Lawrence Guy – Saw You For The First Time
- Thomas Bangalter – Spinal Scratch
- I Hate Models – Daydream
- Artful Dodger & Craig David & Robbie Craig – Woman Trouble
- Skream – Blue Eyez