From the series "Lights, camera, mic": meet Renato Pezzella

It's been a little while since we last chewed the fat together with Renato Pezzella.
It happened at Egg last December. If you remember it was the snowiest day in London’s modern history and we were all warming up to the electric chimney in the garden at Egg, dreaming about warmer times. Well, here they are now I guess, “warmer days” in full swing.
Now, Renato Pezzella is also in “full swing”. With his latest EP “Home Studio” freshly out on Beatport
Renato Pezzella - Home Studio Ep by Mind Ability Records
a full length artist album in the pipeline ready to launch and a constant gigging schedule on the sunny southern side of Italy, we thought this is a very good time to touch base with Codekontrol’s long time friend and artist Renato Pezzella. Lights, camera, mic, let’s roll!

[Code] Ciao Renato. How have you been? Tell us what's been happening in Renato Pezzella world?

RP: Ciao guys J! I’ve been constantly working on my sound, spending more and more time in the studio trying to capture the music, the feeling that I am playing out at nights. Guess I've been busy working on music that I deeply love, which in turn, has given the necessary grounds to experiment more with other types of influences.

In terms of releases, I've just put out the Home Studio EP on Mind Ability and now getting everything ready for the release of my very first artist album at the end of July.
Also just had another EP (Frequenze) on HSM Records, “Low Profile EP" on Cibi Caldi Records and "Caracas EP" on Arenaria Records. Plus several other remixes coming up!

[Code]: “Full swing” indeed! Also your label, Zenith Recordings is now in its fifth year of existence. How are things going there?

RP: I’m very pleased and thankful to say that Zenith Recordings is going quite nicely. Despite the adverse situation in the global record industry and this economic crisis that seems to not end (Aaaaaaaaaaagh!) we are still live, putting out music that we love and constantly looking to diversify, develop the sound.

[Code]: Any new talents signed to the Zenith imprint in 2011?

RP: Ooooh, yes! J There are some very good artists that I personally produce and who will be releasing on Zenith. Right now I like very much what Damolh33 and Oliver Bailey are making. They’re writing some really good stuff and I look very forward to releasing them.

[Code]: You spend many of your week-ends playing in Naples. How is the “Neapolitan vibe” right now, summer 2011? What do people listen in the clubs there right now?

Naples is a cosmopolitan (diverse) reality. There are a lot of events going on every weekend and for all musical tastes. This gives the opportunity to approach every new project I get involved with in the right context.

[Code]: Is your new EP "Home Studio" on Mind Records Ability to direct influence of the Neapolitan sound?

RP: No I don’t think so. On these tracks I entered the studio afresh and tried to be open-minded. Ideas that I had sounding in my head started working together in new and interesting ways...I think J

[Code]: Here in London, musical trends come and go faster than you'd have time to properly launch an artist.The sound changes from month to month. Do you see the same happening there, in Napoli? Or is it a more laidback and "groovy" process?

RP: In Naples, the process is definitely slower or “laidback” as you call it, then I think that original dj talent has to offer a fresh new sound in order to create a tendency/trend

[Code]: What was the process of creation for the new EP and why the title "Home Studio"?

RP: “The process” isn’t really what you would call “a process”. As I said these are musical ideas I had in my mind and I’ve just started experimenting searching to translate them into notes. And it all started in my home studio, hence the title :)

[Code]: What can we hear new inspirations on the tracks?

RP: The traces are different I guess, each follows its own sound but the EP in its entirety is pure tech house

[Code]: We're looking very forward to hearing you play your new tunes right here in London (maybe the weather will warm up as well with the bit occasion). Are you fond of the London crowd?

RP: I love London! I love the city because it gives you the opportunity as a dj to really play what you want and you feel that the crowd is always interested. There is this openness towards new people, new music new talent that I think you won’t find anywhere in the world.

[Code]: What other places are you playing right now and what’s the best gig for this summer that you can barely wait for?

RP: Well as it looks right now, I’ll be present in many more parties all around Italy, and I’m looking very forward to the super party I’m preparing for the launch of my artist album at the end of July. Expect a resounding fiesta! J More details coming soon…

[Code]: Oke Renato. Thanks for your words! We're hoping to see more of you here in London

Techalot #4 - for the short attention spanned:

LOPAZZ performing with Novation's Twitch:

An alternative to the Traktors S4 brought to you by Novation. As expected it works with all the usual programs like Traktor and Scratch but can also be used for Ableton live. Cool stuff is the finger touch strips for scrolling and beatmatching, The slicer function and the 8 trigger pads for hot cues, loops and triggers.
Even if you are not impressed with the gadget it's still worth watching to grab a look at Lopazz's home studio setup. Offical video here.


Alesis Iodock:

If you are going to do the unthinkable and produce music on a iPad the Alesis Iodock solves the greatest problem you will ever encounter...How to connect a midi device? Yes you can use the usb connect on the camera adaptor with a bit of a fix but really how good is that? The Alesis Iodock is the first device that enables anyone with an iPad to create music using virtually any audio gear or instruments thanks to the MIDI In and out (DIN) and USB MIDI.
The video really sells it short but there is a more in-depth one here by a guy with a bad taste is synthesisers.



Axel Boman and the Radio Active Orchestra:

Something a bit odd but a great concept. Swedish art collective Kollektivet Livet pieced together interactive software that mutates ionizing radiation into polarizing music. Incorporating all 3,175 known isotopes, the Radioactive Orchestra allows users to tweak decay rate and scale resulting in a personalized, hipster head-boppin glitch-hop track.

Handy Sites:

Finally a couple of handy webistes, one for anyone wanting to create a music website without going to all the hassel of coding pages thanks to google sites. Easy templates and page creation make building a site fast and easy and it can be automatically be refined for mobile devises viewing your page. You can find an unofficial guide here

Another, thanks to podcomplex, with some guidance of what you should put on your site once it is made.


That's it...Enjoy

Mark (",)

Full June musical blossom at Codekontrol HQs

Can you believe we're already halfway through July?!? Man, these summer days do fly by quite super fast huh? Well, hopefully we'll get some more of those scorching 30+ days until we have to wave goodbye to this year's summertime...

The month just passed meant for us here at Codekontrol HQ that we'd finally got around to finishing up and releasing some long awaited tracks. We hung up the party suits for a few days in favor of our shiny record producer hats.



....no there aren't any real hats. But yes, the tall one does look like our Duncan


















We've had these tracks for a little while, all ready and willing to go to mastering and then on Beatport, all that was needed were the time and the financials to do it. So after a good start to the summer with the first Technicolour: Cinematographic House Music we felt like we had just the right ingredients do get these beats out.

First we had Tony Bar with his Reve du Cuir EP, an EP which for us simply defines summer 2011. You dig?
PKEP06_Tonybar__Reve de cuir by picknik
Tony's "Reve du Cuir" is OUT NOW on Picknik Records. Exclusively on Beatport

Very soon after we had to find the right visual expression for Booz's techno filled grooves "Lazy Days". What'you think?
Boozandthesheep - Lazy Days EP by Minimal Force Records
Out now on Minimal Force. Exclusively through Beatport
Lazy enough? :)

In quite a successive manner Renato Pezzella's "Home Studio" EP
Home studio ep by renatopezzella
and Mario Reder's "Canvas" finished up nicely what was for Codekontrol a month of full blossom musical creation.
Mario Reder - Canvas EP by Solid Tracks Records
Mario's Canvas EP is out now on Solid Tracks. Exclusively through Beatport

We're really loving the results, each is a different and individual expression of sound. Check them out on Soundcloud and get them through Beatport if you dig.
Find out more about these releases and future ones by keeping touch here for the following interviews with each of the artists.

What is social media...for you?

Hah, bet you're like "C'mon dude, lmao! Is this some kind of trick or treat question?!


That's like, E Z!!!"

Truth is that I believe that the seemingly "EZ" question may have as many answers as there are internet connections out there. I think that for as much as we are all together part of "social media", also each and every one of us will use it in their very own, slightly different way. We all choose to use social media however it suits our interests, goals and personality.


Too much choice?

I've actually been meaning to do this post for quite some time, after so many times encountering both brilliant and also less than social media moments. Being online most of my waking hours, while at work and while off work has its perks I guess.


I, for one, am really trying to make the connections created online more about quality than sheer quantity. Not dissing numbers (totally), but I believe in the old adagio which says that "quality brings quantity". So for me social media has to mean quality, otherwise it's not really social (I apologize here and now to everyone that I might've overwhelmed with too many event invitations and the such :). For me, quantity comes second. But...I may be off the ball here, so that's why I've put the question up here. The more opinions the more accurate of a picture we'll have.

And another reason that got me to finally ask the burning question now is the growing sentiment that soon we'd have reach a right moment when we'll all be entering through the Social media 2.0 door.

And how does that look I have no concrete idea, but I'm guessing it will maybe have to be more social, more interactive and more real.


But then again, let's hear what you think. Open fire!

Serge for Codekontrol

Techalot #3 - for the short attention spanned:

Introducing The Slim Phatty:

Moog’s new toy gives you a joyful bucket load of crazy fun and messed up noises. Descended from the iconic Minimoog Model D it's a monophonic, monotimbral, monaural subtractive synthesizer with analog circuitry throughout (So they say).

Native Instruments West Africa:

I just love Native Instrument sound banks so anything new from them is good with me. Drums please...


Fruity Loops Studio Mobile:

The first DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) I ever used is now available for Mobiles and Tablets. Not a fan of the idea of producing on a mobile but the nostalgia of Fruity Loops is too much to resist.

SoftStep KeyWorx controls:

The idea of the is awesome giving you extra controls when you run out of hands but the actual product looks a bit too Fisher Price in my eyes. Personally I would prefer to get rid of the arrow keys and have a whole block of kick pedals that I could assign.

Finally a couple of good reads for anyone wanting better sound from their tracks and studios:
Monitors and Studio Acoustics
Make your Tracks Bigger

That's it...Enjoy

Mark (",)

Techalot #2 - for the short attention spanned:

Presenting SPARK Creative Drum Machine

A beautiful hybrid drum machine that mixes analogue emulation with digital functionality. Can either be run as a stand alone or integrated with Ableton / Cubase etc. A Really nice feature is the analogue tuning and tweeking of samples due to some super drum modelling technology. Also contains filters, tape oscillation and loopers.
More detailed demonstration can be seen here:


Presonus Studio Live Remote for iPad:

Normally I am against the use of the iPad for any sort of controlling of audio software, as i have never seen a app be as responsive or reliable as a physical device in a live environment. However for sound engineers working in at live venues this application could be an indispensable if you HAVE a Studio Live mixing Desk.
Excuse the overly excited presenter shouting "You're Awesome"


Novation Launchpad and Bach:

High Brown Optical Bubble Gum - Feel smarter as you listen to classical music and marvel at the pretty lights - Not convinced by the drum and hats though.


Beatport Beta
Beatport revamps itself with a new and Apple friendly HTML5 Webpage. First impressions of the site were not that great as it looked fairly standard and uninspired, but the more I poke around the more I like it. There are some really nice additions like the details of BPM and Key for each track you click on, Keyboard shortcuts and the wav image on the player is a definite bonus. Here are a couple of access codes for anyone wishing to check it out: TM7RWWMM & GXUFVFZV




That's it...Enjoy

Mark (",)

Techalot - for the short attention spanned:

Plastikman Live Stage:

Kicking off let's begin with every bodies favourite supergeek megastar 'Richie Hawtin' talking through the tools and tech he used for the Plastikman Live stage tour:


Amon Tobin 'ISAM' Live:

Next up Amon Tobin takes his stage show to a whole another level using the same technology used for 3D Building Projections:
Amon Tobin 'ISAM' Live : Mutek Premiere (Official):


AudioTube:

AudioTube - A random video site I found with a limited selection of ORIGINAL videos from some Bpitch and other Old School artist like Prodigy and Basement Jaxx that are hard to find . Downside is Adele "Chasing Pavements" plays automatically when you open the site (but maybe that is a bonus for some?).

Pioneer DDJ T1:

This review of the new Pioneer DDJ T1 that just drove me mad - How do you review a brand new piece of DJ gadgety designed for Traktor? Get a well know DJ to show you how they use it in the wild? No no, Get some tool who is more interested in the finish of the product than what it does, Then have him badly mix two awful tracks while failing to understand the sync function, talking randomly about whatever is in front of him skipping over any unique features, like the finger slide track skipping. ...Rant over.
http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/08/pioneer-ddj-t1-review/
In Fairness the Offical Video is not even that much better:
Official DDJ T1 Video

About.me:

Think of this as a Digital Business Card available to everyone showing your Bio and links with a nice custom backdrop.- It gives a pretty slick one stop shop for people to find out about you and is attracting all media types from producers to artist to developers. One of the things I like is the The "Random Profile" Button which can bring up some interesting sights. At the minute they have some link to a printing company where they will offer you 50 free business cards (but you pay the P+P).

All about about.me from about.me on Vimeo.

That's it really.. only thing left is to say Thanks to Alpha Channel for letting me shamelessly rip of the name of one of his tracks (",)

Mark