Florilegia: Nurturing ICONYC’s latest Compilation

With a revamped sound and a striking visual image, ICONYC has been turning heads throughout 2024, fronting releases by Solique, Roman Kyn, and more. Now, the sophisticated brand unveils the first installment in its newly-minted Florilegia compilation series.

Featuring eight new cuts, ICONYC’s Florilegia showcases a refined search for something that lasts beyond the confines of the traditional dancefloor, exploring the borderlines between house and techno, uncovering its endless shares.

Join us, as we dissect the moving parts inside the handpicked anthology, with exclusive insights from Momery, Anido, Bar.ba & hanami (IT), Way of Thinking & Sofia Lorena, Naeiiv, Baardman, Crudito Sava, and Vaert.

Way Of Thinking - “Get Out Of My Way (Ft. Sofia Lorena)”

Way Of Thinking

"Sofia and I didn't really know each other. I went to visit my friends Frankey & Sandrino at an event in my city, and on the dance floor, Sofia introduced herself and told me that she was the vocalist of Tribu Oro, a band from Malaga that I was familiar with. We decided to exchange contact information, and a few weeks later, she sent me some material.

Sofia has a very soulful voice, and she reminds me a lot of the legendary Amy Winehouse. She sent me her work, but I wanted to create a track that was more special, something more unique, kind of weird, and out of the ordinary. I asked her to get angry and try rapping or just screaming. She completely stepped out of her comfort zone.

When I start a track, I don't really know where it's going, but I always try to create music that's a bit more special. As I was working in the studio, I aimed to capture a sense of coldness while also infusing warmth into the melody. I also wanted to include unexpected moments, all within a span of less than six minutes.”

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Momery - “Who Are You”

Momery

“Who Are You is an inspiring track dedicated to everyone's self-search, something that can be found through the sample in the bridge. A fast melodic arp with an intense bassline complements the main flow of the track, while granular sounds have been used to frame it.”

Anido - “Elijah”

Anido

“Elijah is the result of the union of contrasting - but at the same time - compatible sounds. what makes it exciting is the choice of harmonious and celestial sounds that support his movement. The voice, that keeps the attention alive, stands out, arousing a climax of sensations till the very end.“

Vaert - “Need You“

Vaert

“I wrote this track in a tough period of my life, and I put on it all my feelings at that moment. Need You is a statement for those people who experienced the frustration of being misunderstood about what you need from the other person, which is essentially when we talk about love. For me, it has to be just about the person, the soul, and being there. Nothing more than this.

I decided to explore my House side for this record because I felt it was the right vibe I wanted to achieve.

The process of writing the track was really spontaneous and organic and I usually experience this feeling when there is a strong message behind that I need to share. This is the reason why I do music.”

Naeiiv - “Digital HUman Scan“

Naeiiv

“With my track Digital Human Scan, I intentionally worked with cold digital synths. I wanted to create a futuristic, cold track. Hence the monotonous vocals. To stay true to my emotional and expansive sound, I incorporated a brief euphoric scene just before the second break. With this track, I aim to maintain my existing style while exploring new directions, keeping it as dancefloor-oriented as possible.”

Crudito Sava - “Solskjaer“

Crudito Sava

“Making the tune was some sort of catharsis, my music is usually way more sweeter and calmer, I was trying to explore violence through music.

I intended to catch all the modern sounds available and fit them into my sound design, with aggression as a premise. To keep a huge amount of aggressiveness and forbid me of the urge to add soul and kindness to it, I decided to do no melodies at all, and work with fx, horns, stabs, and hits only, which turned out great.“

Bar.ba, hanami (IT) - “Blossom”

Bar.ba

hanami

“Blossom is a tribute to the birth of hanami, Andrea Vaccaro's new project, born from the collaboration with Bar.ba on a rainy winter Sunday. Sweetness meets depth, creating a track a little different from the usual, where the artistic facets of the two Bergamo-based producers stand out.”

Baardman - “Natura Ly”

Baardman

“This was quite an experimental track for me as I explored some more unconventional sound design techniques for the lead sound. It involved layering multiple midi effects within Ableton to create interesting rhythmic structures for the sound.

Since this was the main focus and took up a lot of space in the mix, I kept the rest of the track minimal with some additional harmonies and a sampled vocal to enhance the emotion.

I didn’t want to lock this track in with any genre or trend so thanks to Pietro & ICONYC for believing in that vision.”

ICONYC’s Florilegia I is out now. Purchase your copy here.

Solique: No Ordinary Thing

Based in Germany, Solique is a dynamic production duo consisting of Julien and Can. Drawing inspiration from artists like Adriatique, Denis Horvat, Dixon, Fideles, and more, Solique has carved out a unique space in the electronic music scene. Despite being partners, friends, and roommates, it is their shared passion for electronic music and their collaborative efforts in playing and producing that truly solidify their bond.

Solique's performances are marked by a rare sense of mutual connection, offering meditative and assertive experiences that challenge listeners with unexpected yet intuitive twists and turns. Their sound is characterized by a deep understanding of rhythm and melody, creating immersive musical journeys that captivate audiences.

The duo's ability to seamlessly blend their influences into a cohesive and distinctive style sets them apart, making Solique a name to watch in electronic dance music. Whether through live performances or studio productions, Julien and Can continue to push the boundaries of their craft, delivering innovative and engaging music that resonates with fans worldwide.

Ahead of their performance at “WE ARE ICONYC x DI.FM“, and the drop of their new Ordinary Things EP for ICONYC, Type < / 01 Magazine caught up with Julien & Can for an in-depth look at the record, their creative process, the evolution of Solique, and more.

Hello Julien! Can! How are you doing? How have you been? Thank you for joining us today. It’s a pleasure to have you with us.

Hey, it’s also a pleasure for us. Thanks for the invite. We are doing just perfect, summer finally arrived in our city and we are preparing for some busy months.

Sounds like everything’s under control. By the way, congratulations on the recent release of your latest single, Ordinary Things! You must be psyched to have this one out. What has the initial reception been like so far? How has this one gone down with the crowd? Do you remember the first time you played it in a club or festival?

Thank you! We're not entirely certain if it was the very first time, but one of the earliest instances was definitely at our own event series, Punkt Punkt Komma Strich. The crowd reaction was always fantastic, and many people asked us about the track. With ICONYC we found a great home for that track.

So, what can your fans and ICONYC devotees come to find on Ordinary Things? Is there an emotional trigger driving this cut?

We aimed to create something that not only gets people moving, but also touches them on an emotional level. The emotional trigger for this cut is nostalgia. It brings back memories of simpler, happier times, making us long for the past.

There’s a very alluring vocal sample sitting at the heart of Ordinary Things. Something that stands between warmth and melancholy in a sense…or nostalgia, as just said. What can you tell us about this bit? Did you guys create the piece around it? Did that come into play later?

Absolutely! We love that kind of vocals, and the sample was definitely the cornerstone for us in creating "Ordinary Things". It served as the key element that inspired the entire track. Once we had that sample, the rest of the instrumental naturally fell into place around it and we completed the track in a pretty short amount of time.

What’s your relationship in the studio like by now? Do you guys have you have set roles in the studio? Do you tend to play on each other's strengths?

Initially, we did have distinct roles in the studio, however, over the past few years, we both contributed to all aspects of the production process. Nowadays, we are sending sketches back and forth and we are working on them together a few days a week.

And where does Ordinary Things stand in your catalog? Does it bring something that wasn’t there before?

It's definitely our fastest track to date, clocking in at 126 BPM, which brings a high-energy vibe that we're really excited about. We designed this track with the intention of making it perfect for bigger stages and large audiences.

By the way, you guys are Austrian and Swedish and met in Australia. Is that right? How did you guys come to meet? Was the idea for Solique an instant thing or did that come with time?

We've been friends since we were quite young. Both of us grew up in the same area in Cologne. We always shared the same taste in music. The idea of forming a duo naturally developed over time as we started going out frequently and listening to many DJs. We began by teaching ourselves everything from scratch. After some time, we started to get opportunities to play a few gigs around Cologne.

Reflecting on the sound of Ordinary Things, are you making the music that you thought you’d be making when you first started? If not, what do you think of the voice you have found as artists?

I think it's crucial for an artist to evolve. We've definitely grown since we first started, and our music now reflects that progression. While "Ordinary Things" is different from our early work, it represents the unique voice we've discovered along the way.

Moving into a hot topic…what do you guys think of the implementation of AI in music? Has any form of AI been implemented in Ordinary Things? What’s your relationship with that likes?

There’s always a good and a bad side, for now, AI gives you a bunch of new options in the form of useful tools.

However, we believe that the heart and soul of music still come from human emotion and intuition. For us, the key is blending the innovative power of AI with the authenticity and personal touch that makes music resonate with listeners.

Now that Ordinary Things is out, what’s next for Solique? What new milestones are you looking forward to? Where can your fans catch you next?

We have some things in store. Can’t say much about it, but there are some really exciting collaborations and labels coming up. And we have a nice little tour coming up next month with Istanbul, Dubai, and Baku and an India tour, for example.

Thank you for your time guys! See you at ADE for “WE ARE ICONYC x DI.FM“!

Thanks for having us. We hope to see everyone on the dancefloor!

Solique’s Ordinary Things EP is out now via ICONYC. Purchase your copy here.

INSIDE THE SECRET WORLD OF LUCA BACCHETTI

Luca Bacchetti has soaked up a wild aural palette as a globe-trotting DJ. Still, returning to a bungalow in rural Tuscany allowed him to shape his debut album, Secret World.

"Even when I'm producing in the studio, I feel like a DJ. I love to arrange and mix my musicians and their performances like tracks," says Luca Bacchetti, enthusiastic about his conductor-like approach to making his debut album, Secret World.

"For me, the biggest buzz comes from the encounters between musical worlds that initially seem far apart."

Sonic disparities seem central to Luca's approach, gently ebbing and flowing at the heart of his new record. After over a decade of DJ'ing worldwide, from DC10 to Tokyo's Womb, the infamous Burning Man festival, and beyond, his name is associated with killer club cuts for labels including Crosstown Rebels and Defected. Yet, the Italian opted to take creative refuge in the tranquil beauty of his Tuscan homeland to create the 13 tracks on Secret World, his boldest artistic statement.

Originally conceived as an ambient piece, the scale of Secret World became broader as it was pulled together over several weeks in a bungalow at the Il Ciocco resort. Luca gathered friends, musicians, and fellow travelers to record using a mobile studio in the heart of this rural idyll.

One of the most exciting aspects of the project was placing the musicians in an unusual recording environment, disconnected from the frenzy of everyday life," he explains.

"I felt very strongly that the recordings should occur in a bungalow in a forest. I was convinced it would condition the mood for everyone working on the record."

Luca stitched together recordings of the performances after dark, overdubbing during solitary sessions, using recordings from the woods and snippets of sounds he'd captured while traveling as a DJ. Secret World may have seen him physically return to his roots to work. Still, with the help of live musicians, it also led his music into bold new pastures, some way beyond the global dancefloors where he's made his name.

“Even though you'll find club references across the album, the musical language used differs. I wanted to try and reconnect with our natural surroundings, and the most challenging objective was translating this into music."

Luca began his musical journey as a young DJ and beat-lover in the early nineties. Tuscany is an area of jaw-dropping natural beauty. Still, no record shops or clubs were to satisfy his musical obsessions in Pieve Fosciana, the tiny village he called home. So instead, Luca turned to the radio to get his fix, setting his love for hip hop alight, then embracing the alien house and techno pulses emanating from the cities of Detroit and Chicago.

"Radio saved my life. There was no internet. But radio helped me learn about hip-hop. Then I landed a job at a radio station, started working on shows, and found my way to drum 'n' bass, electronica, and techno," he reveals.

"I grew up listening to everything: electronica, blues, jazz, soul, funk. I am a huge music lover," he says.

Secret World demonstrates the depth and complexity of his taste. While the track ”Black Swan” swirls in a riot of psychedelic guitars, other album tracks dispense different moods, from the reflective state of “After the Silence” to “Fervor De Buenos Aires”, a rhythmically complex moment capturing South America's distinctive musical flavors. Luca is excited by the new sonic territories he's entered.

"I knew I wanted to go in different directions to what I'm known for and say something more than I've ever done before," he states.

"Because of my job as a DJ, I'm very much a traveler. So I wanted to squeeze all the emotion of the places I've seen and visited into the tracks of this album."

BACK TO HIS ROOTS

At the start of 2018, Luca decamped to the Tuscan bungalow to start work on Secret World. Joined by a collection of Italian accomplices, including Stefano Onorati (keyboards), Andrea Guzzoletti (trumpet), and Leo Di Angilla (percussion), he aimed to reconnect with the natural environment around them, then let this influence and inspire the recordings.

"I have lived all around the world, from Barcelona to the US, but Tuscany is where I first started dreaming of music," he explains his decision to return to make the record.

Growing up in a musically remote region made the younger Luca want to leave his hometown. Still, now, in his forties, perspectives have changed.

"When you return to your roots, a place you didn't like when you were younger, you might realize that it's full of treasures, which happened to me. This record was an opportunity to rediscover them, then show them off," Luca explains.

Luca initially started recording over two three-day sessions in the bungalow to capture the various components that made up the sounds of a 'Secret World'. Then, he left for an Asian tour before returning to record once again in the wilderness after his galavanting was completed. Other musical strands and aural knick-knacks complemented the performances captured in the woods he collected on his travels.

"It was a straightforward setup in the studio, and thankfully, the natural acoustics of the bungalow studio at II Ciocco helped us enormously and didn't require too much adjustment," he reveals.

"We recorded everything through a UAD Apollo Twin audio interface with a pair of Adam A5X monitors. The DAW was Ableton Live 9, and we hooked up some additional gear, including a Moog Sub 37, Arturia Minibrute, and a modular system. This comprised Intellijel, Make Noise, Mutable Instruments, Expert Sleepers and Doepfer modules. It was the most essential part of the setup we used during the recordings.”

Luca lists many musical gear that helped him construct the album. During the sessions, he was open to experimenting to let the songs, like the landscape around them, flow as naturally as possible. How did he make the creative process work with his collaborators while making the record?

"I always started songs with my foundations, the groove, and the bass, then I moved onto the recording of several overdubs. When working with musicians, I bring them ideas, often singing them to help them understand the melodies and where I want to go with the music. I use this process until I have all the elements to build a song. Then the arrangement comes later when I work alone at night."

The record's range of styles sprang from a series of recording sessions with the percussive talents of Leo Di Angilla, who helped place the sonics outside the club. His playing reverberates through Secret World, helping create many of the album's best musical scenes. "We recorded his percussion playing in the nearby Ciocco Studios, assisted by producer Gianni Nuzzi. I wanted to do something that would work in different environments. You can play certain tracks in a DJ set, but I needed the music to act as a soundtrack for a greater range of moments, too."

Percussionist Leo is mainly present in choice moments such as “La Ruta Del Sur”, “After The Silence” and “The Bridge”. Other innovative textures included the string sections created by Omisphere 2 on the title track. Weaving these various aspects together helped Luca develop many song structures and arrangements.

"I finished Secret World working in the studio in the box," he says. "This time with Ableton 10 and mainly using Waves and UAD plugins. My faithful Genelec 8030A were the monitors during this phase. Rather than be led by my technology, I aimed to serve the songs as best as possible."

Although Luca has used the more recent 8050s, he's a massive fan of the older studio monitor model.

"I've used the 8050s, but there's always a risk of increasingly turning the volume up, louder and louder. It's a vice of mine, whereas the 8030A is perfect in my studio setting. They have great definition in the low frequencies and always manage to tell me the truth when I'm in the mixing phase."

MUSICAL AMBITIONS FROM A SECRET WORLD

Although many creative ideas for the songs on Secret World had been orbiting Luca for some years, it took his approach as a DJ. Then, it transposed them onto the studio, where they sparked into life. Luca believes this allowed him to break with musical conventions and gave him freedoms never enjoyed by traditionally trained players.

"DJs are allowed to break the rules in the studio and go against the grain. For musicians, playing music or releasing songs that they see as full of mistakes or errors is blasphemy. But as long as the grooves and melodies work, I like the imperfections to be there."

So, how does he communicate his ideas to professional players as a confessed non-musician? Luca uses visual images to show off the directions of his musical thoughts and dreams.

"Images are so important to me. My track “Black Swan” was born at the Burning Man Festival in the US. It's a special, unique festival where I absorbed so much music. So, in the studio, I wanted to create a song to capture this mood and feel the desert's humidity and dust. Music should express this sense of danger and tension. And I tried to get my performers involved in thinking about their music like this."

Essential production advice

Luca's exciting move from behind the decks and into the studio. It should help paint a bigger picture of him, not only as an artist but also as a character. Secret World is a profoundly personal album, demonstrating a more excellent, more sophisticated musicality only hinted at before. Luca believes any other DJs looking to take the plunge and start crafting their beats and grooves must wrestle with their aims to realize their ambitions.

"You need to understand the motivation, why you want to be a producer. If you want to be an artist, this is more than just performing at festivals or making money," he states.

But with technology now being so agile and more readily accessible than ever, Luca states it is easier for DJs to make this transition.

"It's important to try and surround yourself with only what you need for a project: the real studio is inside your head."

"With a laptop, you have a musical bomb in your hands. Thanks to powerful computers, plugins, and drum machines, it's so easy to access amazing sounds now. And there are plenty of great producers to look to. Someone like Four Tet is making incredible music but with a super easy, simple setup. It's inspiring."

However, the Italian is concerned that having a world of sonic tools at your fingertips has drawbacks. "It's amazing what you can access," he says, "but you must impose limitations to get the best out of your music. You're all set if you have a drum machine and something to create beats."

Has he any advice for DJs looking to make a similar creative leap and express themselves as artists outside the club?

We used many machines with this project and spent some time mic-ing up our live instrumentation. You need to think carefully about marrying the two when working on this kind of music where these two separate sounds come together. At the same time, it's essential to try and surround yourself with only what you need for a project: the actual studio is inside your head.

So, with the album now out on the broader World and picking up critical praise, Luca is keeping himself busy working on promotion for the record and daring to dream about a potential live show, something he wants to be more of an event than a traditional gig.

"I want to explore the options of a live show involving different installations and visual artists. With this kind of album, it makes sense to go further with the experience and root it in the environment where it was created. I want to do it so people are bowled over, sit up, and take notice."

Luca also reveals that he was advised not to make the record, to instead concentrate on DJ'ing, but the album was something he needed to let out. It's partly what makes the record so honest, personal, and born out of the landscape that shaped him.

"You have to take a risk – which I did with this album – but the setting was crucial.

This is why I prefer intimate and isolated places; everything becomes clear… even when there are voices around you, nature communicates; that's why I love my homeland and live in Tuscany. But although I'm proud of the results, I'm now thinking about the next steps. I want to do more, learn more, and say even more."

Original interview Credit: https://musictech.com/features/luca-bacchetti-secret-world/

Visit lucabacchetti.com to find out more.