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Features
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| Introducing NEM3SI$’s new label Infinite Resistance! | | Mindbenderz talk ‘Lord of the Rings’ and fishing, as well as the creation of their new album ‘Celestial Gateway’! | | Iono-Music artists One Function, Eliyahu, Invisible Reality and Dual Vision talk Robert Miles, kids, dogs and vinyl, while we chat about their current releases! | | Luke&Flex talk influences, the Irish rave scene, why Flex wears a mask and Play Hard, their new EP out now on Onhcet Repbulik Xtreme! | | Lyktum expands on his new album ‘Home’ – talking about his love of storytelling, creating new harmonies and the concept behind his musical works. | | Pan talks getting caught short crossing the Sahara, acid eyeballs and tells us Trance is the Answer, plus shares his thoughts on his latest release 'Beyond the Horizon' - all from a beach in Spain! | | Miss C chats about living with the KLF, DJing in a huge cat’s mouth, training her brain and the upcoming super-duper Superfreq Grande party at LDN East this Saturday, 16th September! | | NEM3SI$ - I Live for the Night – talks superficiality, psychopaths, and bittersweet success, ahead of a plethora of evocative, emotional, and passionate upcoming melodic techno releases! | | Psy-Sisters Spring Blast Off! We talk to DJ competition winner ROEN along with other super talents on the lineup! | | Blasting towards summer festivals with Bahar Canca ahead of Psy-Sisters Spring Blast! | | Shyisma talks parties, UFO's, and Shotokan Karate ahead of his upcoming album 'Particles' on Iono-Music! | | SOME1 talks family, acid, stage fright and wolves - ahead of his upcoming album release ‘Voyager’ on Iono-Music in February 2023! | | The Transmission Crew tell all and talk about their first London event on 24th February 2023! | | NIXIRO talks body, mind and music production ahead of his release 'Planet Impulse' on Static Movement's label - Sol Music! | | Turning the world into a fairy tale with Ivy Orth ahead of Tribal Village’s 10th Birthday Anniversary Presents: The World Lounge Project | | The Psy-Sisters chat about music, achievements, aspirations and the 10-Year Anniversary Party - 18/12/22! | | A decade of dance music with Daniel Lesden | | Earth Needs a Rebirth! Discussions with Psy-Trance Artist Numayma | | Taking a Journey Through Time with Domino | | New Techno Rising Star DKLUB talks about his debut release White Rock on Onhcet Republik! | | PAN expands on many things including his new album 'Hyperbolic Oxymoron' due for release on the 14th April 2022 on PsyWorld Records! | | Psibindi talks all things music including her new collaborative EP 'Sentient Rays' on Aphid Records, her band Sentience Machine and 10 years of Psy-Sisters! | | N-Kore talks Jean-Michel Jarre, unfinished tracks and fatherhood! | | Celebrating International Women’s Day and Ten Years of Psy-Sisters with Amaluna | | A Catch Up with John Phantasm ahead of his upcoming set at the Tribal Village 4 Day Outdoor Event in Kent 6-9 May 2022! | | 'The Maestro that is Tristan talks barn owls, Shazamming and keeping it Psychedelic ahead of his upcoming performance at the Tribal Village 4 Day Event in Kent 6-9 May 2022! |
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'Don't just call me a psy trance DJ': interview with Matteo Mercurio aka M-Klome aka Tubetech aka Tobasco
Reported by Tara
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Submitted 23-05-08 10:52
The road to becoming a full-time producer is not always an easy one, and once you finally climb the mountain and reach the summit, the view can often be a cloudy one indeed. For those talented enough to see a number of on-going trails once they hit that first peak, it can then be very difficult to decide which path to follow next. Then there’s producers like Italian-born Matteo Mercurio, who stride ahead and cover as much terrain as they can. Producing full on psy trance as M–Klome, progressive psy trance as Tubetech and minimal prog house as half of the Tobasco project, moving to Israel last year only presented more routes to explore…
Starting out playing the piano and guitar as a child, Matteo was blown away by electronic music when he first heard it, but didn’t consider making it himself until he came to London and fell in love with psy trance. He quickly resigned from his job in Italy and moved to London, immersing himself in the vibrant psy scene and getting a job at the Psychedelic Dream Temple, which was to become his springboard into the music industry. While studying hard to learn to produce his own music, the people coming into the Temple on a regular basis all helped him along his way, eventually signing and releasing his first tracks.
He’s since produced his first album, ‘Interruptions’ in May 2007, made a number of tracks under his other guises and studied mastering, in between playing at London’s top venues, such as seOne, the Coronet, The Mass, The Mayfair and Brixton Academy, where he supported Infected Mushroom and Astrix at Psychedelic Academy. With Matteo back in London this weekend for a live set at Implosion tomorrow night at Jacks — an event put on by Free Spirit Records’ Jay Om to celebrate the launch of their new ‘Neophilia’ compilation — HarderFaster had a chat with this talented musician and discovered that what he says on his MySpace is actually true: “For M-Klome, music is not just a hobby... it’s his way of life.”
For those who don’t know you, where are you from and when did you first come to London and get involved in the psy scene?
I came to London for a holiday and realised maybe there was more to life. I decided that I was meant to do other things. I went back to Italy and sold my car and said goodbye to my town, then come to London to stay.
It must have been very different in London from your native Italy…
Yeah especially as my town — well it’s a city — but it’s quite small. It’s a wealthy place, so there’s lots of judgmental people. In London I was reborn, because I could be anyone. Before I had to be what my parents wanted. If you went out and were something too colourful, people would stare! There’s lots of old people there.
Anyway I moved to London and in my first week went to Psychedelic Dream Temple (as it was then called), it was a bigger shop then. I was into the trance scene and went to some parties in Italy, but when I went to PDT I realised there was something bigger and maybe I could do something.
I’d always been into music. My parents gave me a keyboard when I was five years old. I always liked music and loved to play. The I started playing guitar and that became the instrument I loved the most. I was 14 when I started playing it and when I was 15 years old I put together a band and started writing my own songs with some guys in my area. That was when I did my first performing in public.
Then I left the guitar behind and started getting into electronic music. It completely freaked me out at first! I remember listening to Massive Attack, Fatboy Slim, then Roni Size — drum & bass brought me into the electronic scene. I went to dance parties and finally a psy trance around ’98 and completely freaked out! I couldn’t believe I didn’t know it existed before! That’s when I came to London and started going to parties and decided to get a job in the shop, because I loved it so much and saw I could be a big help because it was the centre of psy at the time, everyone was coming to the shop for parties, labels and promoters.
Finally six months later I got a job there and worked there for three years. They were the best years of my life. We were like a family; we all shared the same tastes. When I was there I started working on my own music.
At first I didn’t even have money for a computer so I used my friends. I started playing around. I had a knowledge of music but had never used the software before. I did some studying and did a lot of reading and did some home courses. I’ve always learned by myself and my music background helped me so I knew what to do. So I had to find a way to mix sounds. People think it’s easy, that you’re just playing with a computer. That’s brilliant! It took me four years to get an album done! OK your first album is the hardest but it’s not as easy as you might think. You have virtual instruments so still have to use notes. It is music, just modern music and it’s a way to express yourself through music. Some people don’t understand because they can only relate to real instruments — but you can’t become a trance producer in one year, it’s very difficult. I’m proud of it, because things are coming along, slowly!
You were musical as a child, playing the piano and then the guitar. Was this something you felt inspired to do or did your parents and/or teachers make you?
It was fun for me! Especially with the guitar, it was so much fun. That’s why I decided to do something real with it. When I came to London, that’s when I saw people living with music and thought I could do that too! I was in love with the music.
What inspired you to first start making your own tracks?
Psy trance really hit me and I knew that’s what I wanted to do. When you go to a psy party you really get into the vibe of what’s happening. When working at the Dream Temple I decided I wanted to make an album, so I wanted to have that to achieve. If you have this inside you, you can’t put it aside. I put aside a nice job and money but at least now I’m happy and doing what I like.
I realised it’s not just about writing music, but the production side really hit me. I wanted to get my sound good. As I said before, it’s not easy. You need to have a very technical approach. It’s not like you go into the studio with a guitar and have an engineer. You have to do it all yourself. If a tune doesn’t sound good, no-one will touch it.
Who have been your musical influences?
In London you can’t stay out of the full-on scene, so I started to like the full-on scene as well. At the time, there was the Israeli scene, mostly because of the production, the technical level these guys have. So my goal was to get as close as possible to this sound without copying it — Astrix, Domestic, Pixel and Wrecked Machines were the most influential.
And now?
If I’m writing full-on, I’m listening to those people as I want to make my sound as close as possible to them. But I also like prog a lot, like FREq, D-Nox. I’ve been working on prog for a long time. But it depends as I also write down tempo music, so I try not to get stuck on one style and be open.
When you first came to London you worked at the Psychedelic Dream Temple. How did this happen? You must’ve met some great friends that way!
I wanted to promote the scene. I couldn’t leave, it was my life. The people there were my family. I was just there and was happy, then started meeting more people. It definitely helped me a lot. I didn’t need to look for people in the music scene, they came to the shop and we’d chat. That’s where I first met Kristian, Shane Gobi, Spencer — Alchemy Records especially helped me at the beginning, as they were the label who released my first track!
What’s the appeal of psy trance for you?
Well the way people make a party. The feeling when you walk into a trance party, you don’t really believe it’s happening. My friends from home come to a party and they’re blown away—the decorations, the music, the colours, the effort involved. It blows you away! Techno has always been for factories, warehouses, but psy — Goa — started on a beach. That’s how it all started — acid techno on a beach!
You DJ as well as playing live and producing. If you could only do one, what would it be?
Music production. For this kind of music you don’t do much actual recording. I definitely have enough with this hardware to make tracks in a professional way.
When did you first start playing your own tracks?
We had CDJs at the Dream Temple. It was a nice way to start as we had a great system.
What hardware and software do you prefer to use in the studio?
Now I’m turning more to Logic and getting a wider idea of what’s out there. I mainly use Dynaudio studio monitors, RME FIREFACE 400, Digidesign MBOX, VAIO laptop, software like Logic, Pro tools, Ableton LIVE and various softsynths.
How did you get involved with Jay OM and Free Spirit Records?
About four and a half years ago probably. Time flies! On 20 October 2003 he started the DJ agency, then the label on 1 March 2006.
What was the first track you made? Has your sound changed and evolved much since then?
There’s tracks you have to throw away but each track helps you get to the next level.
A lot! Probably that’s my biggest aim—to get sound quality. Instead of sitting at that level of production, I’ve always wanted to get to a better level. My second track ‘They’re All Nuts’ was released after six months on the Dream Temple comp on Millenium Records and my sound was already different. I spent three months in Italy just working on music and came out with 12 new tracks and started doing live sets. That three months helped me get a style for myself. All my gigs then started when I got back as I had the material for live sets.
Last year you finished your first artist album, ‘Interrruptions’. This is one hell of an achievement and you must have been very happy. Was there a concept behind the album or did you make each track one by one?
Some are more commercial, some are more underground. But there’s definitely something different. That’s why I included the prog track and chill out as they’re more commercial. Most albums released these days sound the same all the way through. Unless they’re a big name, it’s very hard to find a difference between the tracks.
Was it difficult to choose the tracks for the album?
In a way, because I had a lot of them! There were 12 more that could have been put on the album. But for various reasons—the sound quality may not have been as good if they were written in the early stages, with the help of Jay I decided what made a good track list. And the way we put it together? We tried to make a good flow to the music. But it’s hard! I always wanted to add a new track but you get to the point where you can’t any more.
One of the tracks on your album is called ‘Winds of Change’. What inspired this track?
It’s a collaboration with Francesco Mora (DJ Kalimamboh) of Dejavoo. When we started this track I decided I wanted to do something darker than usual but also join the styles of M-Klome and Dejavoo. But because I trust the guy as a team… the concept was to make something that would make people whistle and scream — and believe me, this always happens! That’s one good thing to give people.
What changes have you seen in the psy scene since you first started out?
I’ve noticed how much the scene has been growing lately, especially since the DJ Magazine article on Infected Mushroom last year. It’s come to a point where it’s recognised on a bigger scale. There’s so many good producers — Infected Mushroom, Astrix — but they’re still not considered on the same level as Sasha etc., just because their music isn’t recognised. It’s something that used to be underground, but now people are breaking through and it will help the artists thrive.
Some people believe that trance and psy should be underground, but some people spend hours in the studio so why shouldn’t they get to higher levels? It’s happening, which is good for me! But it’s going to be a long journey for me — but that’s the way it’s supposed to be!
If you could make any changes in the music scene, what would they be?
One thing that always not upsets me but makes me think is the fact there’s a lot of politics behind these things. Sometimes people will get an ego from being a DJ and being on stage. This will change you emotionally, but it shouldn’t change who you are. I’ve always wanted to be myself. If you make something, it doesn’t make you someone special.
But never, to take these people, you may be a good producer and I might admire them, but I think they should be themselves — it would be easier for everyone.
How about the track on your album called ‘The Wrong Man’? Were you?
It’s mostly from the movie ‘Four Rooms’ by Tarantino. The idea comes from the movie. There’s four chapters in the movie and ‘The Wrong Man’ is one of them. It’s one of my favourite movies, it’s so good!
How do you go about making a track?
Now it’s much more difficult to work on track cos I want something deeper.
You start with a kick and a bassline, it’s the basis of this music. The if you want it funkier, darker, you develop on key and get a melody in use.
You also work under the names ‘Tubetech’, a solo progressive psy project; Tobasco, a minimal and progressive house project with Jay Blatch; and as ‘Forgotten Memories’, a chill-our project with Maya Glick. Why the different names? How did the different projects come about?
Well there’s many people in the music scene who produce different music under different names. M-Klome is full-on psychedelic. If I wanted to make something different, it’s a different concept so has to be under a different name.
I also have another psy project, Tubetech on my own, it’s a prog project. I think because this music is still very underground, you need to be working in many different areas to make a living. Most of the big producers have side projects too!
Since I moved to Israel last year I started Tobasco with Jay Blatch. We’ve done a few tracks already and we’re currently looking for a label to put them out.
Forgotten Memories is still in a very early age. We’ve done about three tracks. There’s so much going on in my life but it’s something that will happen over time. I love down tempo music so it’s something I definitely want to keep doing.
Is it hard wearing so many hats?
It’s hard in a way but very refreshing for your mind. It’s very easy to get stuck and can be difficult to get new ideas if you just work on one thing. It’s good to try other things and listen to all kinds of music to get other influences. You have to try and get more projects done.
Could you ever choose just one style?
No! I don’t think so. It’s hard to say that I’d have to choose cos it’s not me—I love all kinds of music. In future I wouldn’t mind working on some pop music, or house, or whatever comes!
What plans do you have for the future?
Well I moved to Israel last year to produce full-time. Before that I was concentrating on making as many tracks as possible for the prog project, and of course some full-on tracks too. So hopefully by the beginning of the year I’ll have another album… so second album, different project!
In 2006 I did a mastering audio course — the last process of music production, which opened a lot of doors for me. You send your finished tracks to a mastering engineer. I did mastering for trance and completed my album and the Free Spirit compilation. It’s good to have the chance to do so many things and people were very happy with my work. I’d love to build a proper mastering studio and work on mastering.
Could you tell us a bit about putting together the Free Spirit Compilation, did it take long?
It took three days to sit down. The average time to master each track is about half an hour to an hour, depending on what you’re going to be doing. If you’re working on an album it may be easier because the artist has the same production all the way through.
With a compilation it can be difficult because you’re trying to get the sound of 8–9 producers. It’s probably the hardest thing about mastering, trying to balance every track at the same range of frequencies to get the same result, so the listener doesn’t feel like each track is completely different. I love the way Free Sprit is always finding new artists and promoting them. So many new artists deserve to get chances!
What advise would you give to up and coming DJs and producers reading this?
The first thing is try and distance the top from the short. Don’t waste money at the beginning on expensive equipment because it takes a long time to get to the point where you need it. Once you get better you can get more expensive equipment. Monitors are probably the big thing — spend more on monitors rather than expensive hardware or synths.
Finally, is there anything else you’d like to plug?
I’m just really happy the album happened and the opportunity from Free Spirit. I’d like to see in the future that their music is recognised more. It’s a hard job to produce this music and people don’t really realise that!
For more info about M-Klome and Tubetech check out: www.myspace.com/mklome1
To listen to some new Tobasco tracks check out: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=367547826
Photos courtesy of Matteo Mercurio. Not to be reproduced without permission.
IMPLOSION Pres Free-Spirit Label Party
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On:
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Saturday 24th May 2008
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At:
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Jacks [map]
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From:
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22.00 - 7.00
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Cost:
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15 on the door £10 before 23h00 with flyer
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Website:
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www.free-spiritrecords.com
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Ticket Info:
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Advance Tickets: £10+B/F from Access All Areas 020 7267 8320 or from
Startessa, Unit 522, Stables market, Camden, London
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Buy Online:
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Click here to buy tickets
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More:
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IMPLOSION
presents
FREE-SPIRIT RECORDS LABEL PARTY
Free-Spirit Records are proud to announce
the release of the long awaited new compilation Volume 3 ‘Neophilia’
out in June 08.
Compiled by Free-Spirit Recs. label manager Jay OM,
nine tracks from some of the hottest artists about: Polaris, Tron, Journey, M-Theory,
Twenty Eight, Mental Broadcast vs XSpiral, Star~Trip, Ital, M-Klome.
Brand-new tunes, specifically written, each one set to be a future-fave
on dance-floors around the world, indoor and out.
No better way to celebrate the event in big style,
then with the Free-Spirit Records Label Party at the Jacks Club in London on the 24th May, showcasing label Artists and DJs alongside some very special guests.
Featuring Journey ‘LIVE’, Star~Trip ‘LIVE’ debut, M-Theory ‘LIVE’, M-Klome ‘LIVE’, Jay OM,
Loic , Sangohan and Mononegro in the main room
and Herbert Newbert ‘LIVE’, Kallaloo, Tubetech, Josko, Diego, Coelho, Mish Mash, Alex Ampt and Mr. MUSH in the Implobeats Room.
Plus everything else you would expect to find at Implosion party: stalls, good vibes, massage, decor transformation, free fruit, a fluffy, diverse dance-floor….good times.
Crystal Clear 10K Opus Sound Sytem by Alfaomega Sound SystemsVisuals by Psytwin www.psytwin.org
Decor by Kailash Productions & Pickle
Sky Healing Area
Saturday 24th April 2008
22:00 - 07.00
@ Jacks Club
(7 - 9 Crucifix Lane, London Bridge, SE1 3JW)
Psychedelic Floor , Implobeats Room Chillout Area with Fluoro Market & Healing space
Dancers, fluffy and friendly crowd, visuals by Psytwin plus magical decor transformation by Kailash Productions & Pickle
Entry: £15 on the door £10 before 23h00 with flyer
Info: 07961 033 809
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Flyer:
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 - 
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Region:
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London
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Music:
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Trance. Psy Trance. Breaks. Electro. Reggae. Dubstep. Reggaeton.
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DJ's:
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STAR~TRIP LIVE - UK/Russia
\\\'First time in UK\\\'
www.myspace.com/startripproject
M-THEORY LIVE - UK
www.myspace.com/mtheoryuk
M-KLOME LIVE - Italy/Israel
www.myspace.com/mklome1
Journey LIVE - UK
www.myspace.com/freespiritrecs
Jay OM - UK
\\\'Showcasing \\\'Neophilia\\\'
www.myspace.com/freespiritrecs
LOIC - France
www.myspace.com/djloicgrenoble
SANGOHAN - France
www.myspace.com/djsangohan
MONONEGRO - UK/Italy
\\\'DownTempo set\\\'
www.myspace.com/mononegro
IMPLOBEATS ROOM
HERBERT NEWBERT LIVE - UK
www.myspace.com/herbertnewbert
KALLALOO - Italy
\\\'First time in UK\\\'
www.myspace.com/kallaloosoundsystem
TUBETECH - Italy/Israel
www.myspace.com/mklome1
JOSKO - Italy
www.myspace.com/giorgiogatti
DIEGO COELHO - Brasil
www.myspace.com/djdigoa
MISH MASH - France
www.myspace.com/djmishmash
ALEX AMPT - South Africa
Mr MUSH - UK
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Other Features By Tara:
Blasting towards summer festivals with Bahar Canca ahead of Psy-Sisters Spring Blast!
Turning the world into a fairy tale with Ivy Orth ahead of Tribal Village’s 10th Birthday Anniversary Presents: The World Lounge Project
A decade of dance music with Daniel Lesden
Telling Cosmic Tales with DJ Strophoria
Tom Psylicious aka EarthAlien takes 50 Spins Around the Sun: Raising Awareness Through the Power of Music
The views and opinions expressed in this review are strictly those of the author only for which HarderFaster will not be held responsible or liable.
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Comments:
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From: antiworld on 24th May 2008 09:15.54
great interview mate and i hope the party tonight will go well.
hope to have you back at antiworld events soon as well
enjoy london .... the antiworld crew!
From: Sutekh on 27th May 2008 13:53.18
top geezer , top music, keep em coming Matteo , hopefully we shall party together soon my friend. Looking frwd to all the future Free-Spirit releases , check em out guys, this is the future !!
From: Andy Force on 28th May 2008 12:25.26
Excellent interview 
From: Jay OM on 29th May 2008 11:35.00
Killer interview, cheers Tara!
Matteo is for sure one of the most complete uprising star of the WorldTrance scene, groovy added to A top production!
Enjoy his music and keep the Spirit-Free!!
Jay & everyone @Free-Spirit Records
www.free-spiritrecords.com
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