ITW : DIVIDE [HAYES, WARMUP RECORDINGS]

Divide is the alias of Davide from Italian duo Syntaxism. His output is like a bridge between old generations and new ones, his sounds ranging from sci-fi techno to ’90s techno, characterized by minimal sequences, heavy drum patterns, and accurate sound design. Previous releases have found a home on Evod Music (a collective of which he is a part of) and Oscar Mulero’s Warm Up Recordings. His latest release, “Computer Music” is an 11-track LP out June 12th via Portuguese collective and label Hayes. 

When did you start your music projects? How did you get into electronic music and music production ? And what about your other project « Syntaxism »?

I started with my project “Syntaxism” in 2014, after a few years I started to feel like I had to express my concept of techno so I started my solo project “Divide” in 2018. I love music since I was a kid, at home music was never missing. When I was 10 I started to play guitar, but after a few months it bored me and I didn’t keep on playing, I was increasingly attracted to the club mystic, electronic music fascinated me.

At first, with the influence of my older brother, I started listening to punk and hip-hop, when I grew up then I got an idea about what I really liked. I met Bruno when we were 15, we found out that we had the same passion for electronic music. We started with a console and we had fun with our friends who enjoyed this kind of music, it was a very good time, we were not many people, always the same, but we always enjoyed that, never getting bored. Over the time we needed to create something that belonged to us, so we installed Ableton and slowly, the first results came.

In the city the scene was poor, there was not much, but i’ve always estimated Alessandro aka “Evod”, he was the only that made me see something more, something else. I was lucky to meet him over the last years, for me that was incredible.We became good friends, in that time Alessio aka “Oisel” attended Alessandro’s studio in which we met and became good friends too. We got very close, Alessandro and Alessio were veterans in the music scene, they had been producing for many years. This helped me very much with music productions, looking at the way they produced and played, the effort and the energy they put into it, I never seen something like that before.

“Syntaxism” a project that i share with Bruno Bosco was created in 2014, collaterally with the creation of “Evod Music”. In that time Alessandro and Alessio wanted to make a change into their concept of music and restarted from scratch, me and Bruno had just started to produce music and these things let us start our project. With Bruno I got on well because we have complementary ideas that together work well, but at the moment the project is stopped because Bruno moved to London to continue his study. It’s a project I’m really tied to, it means a lot to me, it’s been a growth object, the best thing is be able to share the same passion with other people, this gives you energy.

How would you describe the « sound » of your new solo project?

My sound is the meeting between The Old and The New. I am really attracted to ’90 Techno, fast and dry grooves, raw sounds, but i am also attracted to what’s New. The current technology makes things easier, so why not playing music from back in the day, but with new available technologies, mixing the old with the new? I really like the final result! I always try to mix new things, I never stop with one thing. I really like to interact with the sound, mostly when it starts with a feeling, it seems to me like talking with music and understand each other.

You recorded an exclusive podcast for InDepth. Can you talk a little bit about the direction you took when piecing this mix together?

For the podcast I thought that was right taking the chance to explore my released music and other tracks as well.

As a producer, you’ve had recent releases on labels including a full album on Warm Up Recording. It was first long distance trip on their digital branch. How did you started to collaborate with Oscar Murelo and his label?

It was a great inspirational time, I had with me almost 70 demos. So i told myself “Why not try? Why not send my music to him?” I think it passed a month, maybe two and I didn’t receive a feedback. I was almost resigned. Then his answer came, it was unbelievable, I thought I was dreaming. I discovered a wonderful person, I will never stop thanking him! The amount of demos I sent to him were several, he asked me some time to listen to them and during that period I made new stuff and sent to him. He really liked my music and proposed me to publish an Album. I respect him so much, he is the undisputed master and moreover and exquisite person.

” It was a great inspirational time, I had with me almost 70 demos. So i told myself “Why not try? Why not send my music to him?”

On the 12th of June, you’re releasing a new album on Hayes Collective. What’s the story behind your collaboration?

Everything was born with the release on “Warm Up”, Artur aka “Nørback” wrote me congratulating me for the release. I heard of him, because he met with Alessio and Alessandro during an event in Barcelona. They talked to me about him as a great person, with him was born a brotherly friendship, I admire him, I have a connection with him, we listen to each other every day, we compare and give advices. As i said I had many demos and he asked me a release on his Label “Hayes” that he shares with his friends in Portugal. After listening to the music demos, he asked me to publish an album and for me it was fantastic. Later he told me that with other guys he decided to publish my work in CD format (click here to buy on Bandcamp) I was very happy with this and I said thank you to the whole collective for the opportunity they gave me, and for believing in me and in my music.

Two LP released the same year… It’s really impressive! How do you find your inspiration and how do your maintain variety between your tracks?

It has been a productive period. The inspiration comes from the amount of music I listen to, many kinda of music, not just techno. The most amazing thing is when I connect with the sound, I can’t stop, it’s like i’m living with it, I spend all time creating and editing, I wake up in the morning thinking about this. The range of music comes from the fact that there are not precise rules ore ideas i follow, i don’t even decide what I want when I create, everything comes out in the moment

What are your production secrets? Can you tell us a bit about your studio process? Do you use software, hardware or both?

I don’t know if I have secrets, I just say that you need to know well what you do. An advice I can give is that you need to study, you need to know what brought you to this. In studio everything comes out during our live sessions, in which I mainly record my hardware instrument in separate tracks, then in post production I edit everything, but most of my stuff is recorded live. The computer is essential to me, but I really like analogic hardware too and the combination with this two things is amazing!

Are there any pieces of gear or software that you couldn’t do without?

Yes, the computer.

For some artists collaboration is an important part of their work. Is that something you are interested in? What kind of dynamic do you like to collaborate in?

Yes, I confirm. You need collaboration, exchanging ideas lead you every time to something new, it lets you understand many things. I have several collaborations like Syntaxism, E.O.S. with my friends Evod and Oisel, from here the name of the collaboration, and I recently started a new collaboration with Nørbak and I have to say that we are making many good stuff!

There is a lot of focus on contemporary producers to be equally as good at DJing as they are at production. Do you think that DJing is important in the path or career of a producer ? And what about live set ? Do you have a preference ? What about you ?

I started with Djing, it’s a thing I’ve always liked, in the music production it could be useless but not essential, I don’t even know if djing is a really important step during your career, it’s a subjective thing. I like mixing and playing in live acts, they are two different worlds but they are connected with each other. Combining these two things helps you to create a feeling with the audience who is listening to you.

” I like mixing and playing in live acts, they are two different worlds but they are connected with each other. Combining these two things helps you to create a feeling with the audience who is listening to you.

Lastly, what are your upcoming projects in 2020 that you would like to share with us?

I believe that 2020 will be a rich period for me, I’ve got many confirmed releases. A vinyl release on Evod Music, I recently confirmed a release on Mind Trip Records, and iI have scheduled some various artists, two remixes and many other things. We will have a great time together. Thank you!