Giuseppe Ottaviani’s debut album ‘GO!’

Giuseppe Ottaviani’s debut album ‘GO!’

15 October, 2009 | 12.09PM

• Written by: Ellie
• Filed under: Music News: giuseppe ottaviani, paul van dyk, vandit

Giuseppe Ottaviani stands on the cusp of trance stardom. The long-serving Italian producer last year collaborated with Germany’s Paul van Dyk on the popular single ‘Far Away’ (which we ran a remix competition for), and with his debut solo album ‘GO!’ released this month on PvD’s VANDIT label, Ottaviani may well push into the A league of trance DJs.

Since splitting from his double act NU NRG with Andrea Ribeca, Ottaviani has wooed dancefloors with melodic room fillers that includes key moments like 2006’s ‘Through Your Eyes’ single, and the more recently released 12-inch ‘No More Alone’.

Although he focuses on melodic trance with beautiful breakdowns, Ottaviani’s talents stretch across the trance spectrum, and his records have appeared on blissed-out compilations by Armin van Buuren, as well as more pumping Judge Jules mix albums.

This ability to satisfy a wide variety of sub-genres is reflected on ‘GO!’. Melodic, hypnotic and euphoric, yet dirty, banging and relentless, Giuseppe Ottaviani proves that trance music is no longer as formulaic as it once was. We interviewed him.

Would you say your new album reflects the state of trance music today, in that there are lots of different sounds, ranging from the euphoric and vocal, to the more pumping and dirty?

I’m not sure if I can say that it reflects the trance scene today, because what I usually try to do is to make music without following any fashion or a particular sound.

It’s just the music that I like the most and there’s no one specific moment to release it which is better than another one. Nevertheless, I have to admit that I’m also influenced by what is on the market, but I think that’s normal.

Was there a particular message you wanted to get across through the album, or did your creativity flow naturally without having to think about it?

Well, everything that happens in my life inspires me and each track tells a story of my life and is connected to a specific experience. Each track gives me a particular emotion and I like to share all those emotions with other people through this album. There’s not a specific message, it’s just the story of a part of my life.

How long did it take you to complete ‘GO!’?

Because I was busy touring around the world with my shows, I didn’t have much time for the studio, so it took more than a year to complete. Also, collaborations take time because you have to coincide work with the other person and sometimes that’s not easy to do. But finally here we ‘GO!’

Your sets can become quite hard and dark at times, but, with the exception of ‘Thermopile’ and ‘Unplugged’, your album is mainly uplifting - is this the sound you prefer?

Yes absolutely. I’m from a classical music background and it’s all about melody for me. It gives me the strongest emotions, even if sometimes I like to rock the dancefloor with some darker productions.

How did you go about choosing the vocalists for the tracks ‘Fallen’, ‘Changing Ways’ and ‘Angel’? Is there a specific voice you have in mind when you first start working on a track?

I had a clear idea regarding the kind of voice that was needed for those productions, but it wasn’t easy to find them, especially because I like to work in the studio with my singers. Fortunately, Francesco and Faith were fantastic in doing that, and their voices were exactly what I was looking for.

Who are you most musically inspired by?

I have a long list of artists that I really like, and it doesn’t include only DJs. While Paul van Dyk is one of the most influential artists to my sound, there’s clearly a U2-ish sound on the first track of my album.

Talking of Paul van Dyk, last year you guys ran a Beatport remix competition for your collaboration ‘Far Away’. How closely do you two work together?

‘Far Away’ was a big hit but ‘La Dolce Vita’ was also a great one. I think we work well together, so we will probably collaborate again in the future.

Did you feel any pressure working with someone of his stature?

I didn’t feel any pressure at all, as it could ruin your work in the studio. Of course, I felt honoured to have the chance to collaborate with him but I felt no stress whilst making the music. I feel lucky because music became my job but as it’s my favourite hobby, enjoying it is the most important thing.

Where does that passion for dance music come from?

Many years ago I got my first techno CDs from some friends and I immediately fell in love with them because of their energetic sound. But still I felt like I was missing something; the melody of classical music. That’s why I started to put melodies on those techno beats and I immediately recognized that this kind of music was already called trance in the rest of the Europe.

How do you feel about recent claims that the minimal sound is out, and piano and melody are making a comeback? Surely this would be a great thing for your kind of music?

I believe in music, and it has always been a part of humanity. To me, anything that has a melody is music. Everything else is a particular fashion which is momentary, and obviously it’s subject to changes. And of course, I’m happy to hear that more attention is being paid to music that’s closer to my sound.

Why didn’t you feature ‘Far Away’ or ‘Through Your Eyes’ on the album?

I had lots of new ideas and I didn’t want to make a ‘Best Of...’ album. I wanted to include new music and tracks that weren’t originally made for release like ‘Unplugged’ and ‘Sunward’, which were only made as live-dedicated tracks for my shows.

Is there a particular artist you would like to work with on future productions?

There’s not a specific one at the moment, but I will continue to do collaborations in the future. I like to collaborate with other people because I think there is always something to learn from each one. This helps me to grow and to understand different points of view - not only in the music field.

Will there ever be a time when you think ‘Right, that’s it, I’ve accomplished everything that I set out to do in my musical career?’

Musically speaking, I already realized my dream in 2001 when Paul van Dyk released my first production on his VANDIT Records. I’ve never really thought about a musical career, but now that I’m here, it’s time to enjoy every single day I spend with music and the people associated with it.

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