Interview: Giuseppe Ottaviani

Interview: Giuseppe Ottaviani

16 August, 2011 | 6.23AM

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

In the 10 years since Paul van Dyk signed Giuseppe Ottaviani to his VANDIT record label, the Italian trance titan has released the massive singles “Through Your Eyes,” “No More Alone” and “Angel,” won awards for his spectacular live shows and released his debut artist album, “GO!” In February, he launched his own radio show, ”Go On Air,” and just recently he released a compilation off the back of it. He found some time in his hectic schedule to speak to us…

Can you tell us a bit about the sound of your new compilation “Go On Air” and why you chose the particular tracks that feature on it?

Since I started my radio show I’ve been in touch with lots of great productions and what I did for my compilation was just selecting the tracks that I loved the most. It’s a wide range of music that starts from a slow-BPM progressive style and moves to really uplifting trance, and I have included both instrumental and vocal tracks. Since I didn’t want to limit myself to just mixing tunes together I worked hard to make this compilation as much exclusive as possible. I made lots of remixes and reworks plus two brand-new tracks exclusively for the compilation. Everything is mixed with very smooth transitions in order to give a nice and comfortable trip from the start to the end of this “flight.”

A lot of DJs complain about all the flying they have to do, but it seems that with the theme of your radio show and compilation, you’ve embraced it – do you like flying or are you trying to make the best of a bad situation?

I totally love flying and I don’t mind spending time around the airports, though I never wanted to be a pilot! Flying all over the world is so cool and inspires me and my music very much. Since I tend to mix my radio shows on the plane ("on air"), I wanted to use it as the main theme of my radio show. Again, I like flying, but sometimes it can be a hard job, with all the problems related to the airports and bad weather conditions.

Eric Prydz is famous for his fear of flying – is there any advice you would give him to get over his phobia?

Since it’s a phobia I don’t think that trying to convince him that flying is the safest way to travel would work out, so I can just suggest that he drinks a couple of glasses of red wine, wears the earplugs, turns the iPod on and “Go On Air”.

Do you have any fears yourself?

Not many. I don’t actually have claustrophobia, but I don’t like to stay in closed-in places.

Thanks to lots of new producers and remixers like Arty and Ashley Wallbridge, trance music seems to be really flourishing with fresh sounds at the moment – what are your views on the scene right now?

Compared to the past, trance music seems to embrace an even wider range of music now, and from my point of view this is definitely a good thing. I really like everything and everyone who’s able to bring some fresh air to this sound and Arty is definitely my favorite one. Slowly, but constantly, my music is evolving too, although I always try to keep a little of my “old school” sound that represents me the most and allows people to recognize me. The music scene is always changing and evolving, but I think producers should bring just a little bit of their own sound into the new era. I mean if you have been known for a specific sound in your past, you shouldn’t completely delete it, but keep even a small piece of it and make it fresher. This is what I’m trying to do right now.

What’s your favorite tune at the moment?

Soul & Senses’ “Realize.” I envisage this tune being played at a big open-air party at the end of a great night, right before the sunrise.

Soul & Senses, “Realize” [Future Sound of Egypt]

Who would you recommend as one to watch right now?

Arty and Mat Zo are doing very well right now and I admire and really like both of them, though I’m not completely into their style. Also, due to one of his latest productions, “Stealing Time,” I’ve become a big fan of Sied van Riel.

When can we expect another artist album from you?

I wanted to start working on my new album at the beginning of this year, but I’ve been really busy with so many remixes, especially for my latest EP, “10 Years of VANDIT Records,” and then for my compilation “Go On Air.” But now that everything is done I’ll start to work on the new album, for sure. I’ve only done one track so far, but I’ll do my best to fill the album as soon as I can.

Who do you most admire musically?

Talking about EDM, Paul van Dyk is without a doubt my all-time favorite artist. I’ve been a huge fan of him since 1996. The greatest thing for me is that I’ve now been a part of PvD’s family VANDIT Records for 10 years, and I’m looking forward for the next 10 years together. Beside EDM I’m a big fan of U2. Who doesn’t like U2?

You collaborated with Paul van Dyk on “Far Away” and “La Dolce Vita” – is there anyone else you would like to work with?

I’d love to work with Paul again, but I’m always looking forward to new collaborations. They don’t necessarily have to be big names, but right now I would really like to make a collaboration with Ferry Corsten. I really like his new style and I think we could come out with something very interesting.

And finally, if you weren’t in music, what would you be doing for a living?

I guess it would be anything related to electronic circuits, PCB boards (Printed Circuit Board), prototyping service and design. At least that’s what I’ve studied for.

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