Fresh from releases on legendary imprints such as Italian label Vibraphone and Phil Weeks’ Robsoul (alongside their ever impressive work at their own Bosconi label), Fabio Della Torre and Ennio Colaci aka Minimono join the Inner Balance family for an EP of four fine house dishes.
Each cut on On The Edge EP gives us a different taste of classic house, from the sharp Melchior shuffle of “Goblin” to the sweet Rhodes and walking bassline of title track “On the Edge”, which wouldn’t sound out of place in the Fair Park catalogue. Elsewhere, “Still Alive” is a light confection of soft pads topped with subtle improvisation, while “This Side of the Forest” delivers a more flavorsome Sir Lord Commix-style groove.
Check out our exclusive interview with the duo and listen to “On The Edge” below.
Ciao ragazzi! Thanks for talking to us about the Minimono project. This started as a multimedia project involving experimentation through music installations, graphic design and theater performances. It later became a music project when you two met. How did you meet?
We had some friends in common and we met after Sonar 2001 in Exmud club Firenze , a small underground club where I (Fabio) was djing under the artistic direction of Simone Fabbroni, guru of the local scene.
How did that meeting ultimately develop into a music partnership?
Ennio was already producing electronic music, mainly focused on experimental compositions for contemprary art installations and he was also releasing a techno record on Urban mantra imprint from firenze in that year.
So we decided for fun to try to combine his experience as producer with my experience from djing into some production.. mainly cut and paste very basic, a bit Akufen / Dan bell inspired always with some funk attitude.
it ended up with our very first release on Paris based Telegraph records in 2005 with the track “Ok Feel”
We are friends and we complete each other, muscially speaking, even though come from different musical backgrounds, we were actually both drummers, so we had a similar sense of groove.. that’s where we always start from!
You’re based in Florence right? Can you tell us a little about the local scene and your role within it?
I used to promote some parties back in the days… from Tenax Mint in ’97 to Berlin Electro parties at Exmud in 2001 where we first invited Ellen Allien to play, also Werk in 2004. Then music was taking us so much time that we decided to just focus on the production.
I started and I’m regularly DJing at Tenax Club which is still one of my favorite clubs worldwide. In our local scene we also have collaborated with realities like Lattex that is right now a consolidate party and a brand new festival in Firenze.
There are also some nice parties like Tropical Animals, Disconnect and to mention is Dissi#Danse organization which brings the idea of a different clubbing in unconventional locations… and uncoded music & people!
What’s the best place in the city for bistecca alla fiorentina?
Perseus o Buca Lapi are my favourite for a huge Fiorentina steak!
Is that where the locals go or do you have any other non-touristy food spots you recommend visitors check out?
To have an aperitivo with good typical products you can go to “I fratellini” or go to one of the best lampredottaro I’d suggest the one in St. Ambrogio’s square. A nice and not very touristic option is Amble.
I would also recommend to visit Move On record store in Duomo square by the way… you can’t miss it!
The Italian electronic music scene is in constant change but always vibrant. What are some trends, parties or artists we should keep an eye on from here in the States?
Well we don’t really follow any particular trend these days. There’s so many good projects that it would be difficoult to mention all of them. We can say we’re very proud of some friends that are doing really well these days whose music is worth to check: Herva releasing on Planet Mu and All City, Dukwa with cool eps coming on Jackmaster’s Numbers records, and Nas1 who recently released on Glenn Astro & Max Graef’s Money Sex.
We also like very much the project True West from Mass Prod, Rufus and Herva together producing experimental free jazz influenced electronics on berlin based Marmo music.
You’ve been at it in the studio this year with one release after another. What is the secret to being so productive in making music?
We had quite a break producing Minimono from 2011 to 2015. Nothing special happened, we had been maybe more focusing on Bosconi records for a while rather then on our own music.
Now we really feel like producing again, it’s coming naturally… we have ideas, different setup and way of producing so we’re pretty stimulated.
Is there a dream label you’d like to release on that you haven’t yet?
We don’t aim to release on any particular label actually, we’re happy when someone appreciate our stuff and ask us for some music. We just want to always grow as producers and do better music each time for ourselves and the people who listen to it.
You’re about to release an EP on Inner Balance at the end of Sept. Can you tell us a little about the tracks on this one?
We’re happy about this EP coming on Inner Balance, it’s four tracks we’ve been producing early this year so it’s pretty fresh.
We focused on the grooves and on the melodies, i believe there is a nice mixture between classic and more innovative elements into house tracks production.
Any other exciting projects for 2017 coming up?
After the Inner Balance is coming an EP on John Dimas’ Elephant Moon
And another one with more vintage tracks on Veniceberg records with cool remixes from Titonton Duvante and Mike Shannon.
A remix for Bologna based artist DJ Rou, know for running the infamous “L’Archivio” record Store, is also coming on Daphian records in winter.
If you could have two wishes for 2018, one music related and one not, what would they be?
2018 will be the year where we’ll celebrate the 10 years of Bosconi records with a compilation and a tour.
Our wish is to celebrate other anniversaries like this and to all keep doing what we love for a living, working and be together with the people who share the same passion.
We also wish Napoli wins the Champions League!
Purchase On The Edge EP by Minimono here
Connect with Minimono: Facebook | SoundCloud
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