WYS!: Catching up with...Rico Casazza

This October sees Rico Casazza hit Room One alongside an exuberant array of artists including Peter Glasspool, Cormac and Peter Pixcel for our relentless and supreme Sunday night residential, WetYourSelf! Having spent the latter part of his musical career touching each and every corner of Europe’s exhilarant clubbing circuit,  as well as releasing a fleet of music on labels such as Release Sustain, Apparel Music and Wavetec, it’s clear that Casazza is by no means holding back. With a new album out entitled Dub Chamber, and a chain of releases on the horizon, the musical maestro is surely flourishing across the world of House & Techno. Ahead of his October show, the WYS! team were lucky enough to catch up with Rico, where they found out more about his new releases and his bustling London life. Hey Rico! We are very excited to welcome you back to WetYourSelf! for your live set this Sunday. You have just released a beautiful chill out album Dub Chamber, tell us a bit about the creation and inspiration behind the album? This album is the result of years of music production. Some of the tracks on this album are quite old, and others are more recent. I had the idea to collect those tracks and put them together in order to create a musical journey. I always loved music in all its genres, from house/techno to ambient and dub. The concept behind this album is symphonic music, mixed with heavy and slow rhythms. I always loved the concept of mixing classical symphonic melodies, a bit dark and mystic, together with the sound of 90's trip hop and heavy basslines. The name dub chamber comes from 'chamber music' and 'dub'. Where can we listen to it? You can listen to the preview on my soundcloud here: The album came out yesterday on Beatport, iTunes and all digital portals and will be pressed on CD format later on. At the moment, the album is under promotion via Bonzai Records who released the album. This is actually my second album of 'chill out music', the first one A Mother Love was released with the same label in 2009. What else are you working on at the moment? What releases do you have coming up? I’m working on loads of projects at the moment, and some of the music will be released in the following months. I have an EP coming out on the new Cartulis Music with two remixes of Brendon Moeller & Joel Alter, an EP on Wiggle with my friend Daniel Poli with remix of Sound of the Suburbs, a remix for Sinnmusik label that came out just today, a track that will be featured on the new various artists of Stock5 and lately three stunning remixes I did with my friend Kozber. The first remix for Bueno Bros new label, Sensefloor, second remix for AXMusique new album and third remix for Patrick Turner AKA Lomez, for suspect package records. What have been the best gigs for you this year? The best gig I had this year was playing live at the Echo Festival in Croatia last June, it was an incredible experience, big up to the Echo Festival crew for making that happen. Also, playing for WetYourSelf! at fabric last year in October was an awesome experience, and after exactly 12 months, I will be here again, thank you guys for having me again! You have been in London for more than 10 years, what is it about London that is keeping you here? I like rain, grey clouds, and fried chicken! I just like being here because of the people and the opportunities that this city offers. London has shaped my musical vision big time since I arrived and still does. It’s not an easy city to live in, it’s quite a fast and rough city, but in another way, it’s very challenging and interesting. How do you feel London has changed in the time you have been here? Since my arrival in 2001, I’ve changed a lot. From a human point of view and also, from an artist point of view. Let’s say that for an eighteen year old boy, coming to London is like going to the army, this city shapes people’s attitudes and characters, there is a lot of competition in many different fields, and everyone is always making something here. Many people come here from all over the world to achieve their dreams, so this energy flow of dreamers influences other dreamers and so on, it’s like a chain reaction. Do you work differently when you are making chill out than when you make club music? The only difference in making club music or EDM (that’s what it’s called, right?) and not club music is that when you make club music, there is always a sort of sound that is popular in a certain period, this thing, I never liked it much, as if club music should have some sound reference to be sold and an understanding from most people. Luckily there are some very good musicians and producers that don’t follow these rules, but they have more difficulties getting their music out there. It’s not the same for other styles of music, there are no rules, just pure musical expression without boundaries.