FABIO FLORIDO INTERVIEW

Fabio Florido is a name now synonymous with Minus through his releases and multiple appearances with Richie Hawtin. Fabio’s now an ambassador of the new Model 1 mixer, designed by Richie Hawtin and PLAYdifferently. Joe Roberts talked to Fabio ahead of his gig at Familia this weekend, when the mixer will be used for the first time at Egg London. Joe also pulled up a chair with PLAYdifferently’s Alex Zinn and discussed the technical benefits of the kit and why they decided to create the mixer in the first place.

Fabio Florido

How did you get the bug for electronic Music? Were you going out much in Italy and if so where? Was is to local Djs or international guests?

Hi and nice meeting you all here. Music is around me since I was a little kid, my uncle was a guitar teacher and my untie a piano one. I went trough classic rock, metal and Hip hop too during my youth until one day I found on the web this guy called "Plastikman"..hehe. I was listening to his track "Consumed" which reminded me some Pink Floyd intro or dark moment... I got hypnotized. Then I found out about Richie Hawtin (the man behind Plastikman) and quickly all the other Electronic/Techno Artists. As soon as I went out first time to a club I realized that was the best environment I've ever seen! I'm from Florence and near my house I had clubs like Tenax, Kama Kama, Jaiss, Imperiale..in Italy we always had a great electronic music scene. It was all about International Guests, every weekend I could choose between may different ones.

After moving to London in 2007, what were some of your formative experiences clubbing? Were you already Djing before your first release came out in 2011?

I told my mom I wanted to move to London to learn English but I didn't mention the other reasons called: Fabric, The End, Egg and all that underground feeling you could get only in London at that time. I remember also many Warehouse parties in Dalston, Shoreditch ... I have such great memories from that time! First release came out in 2010 and some time later around 2011 I started to have my first very little appearance as a Dj.

Can you tell us about the influence of Richie Hawtin. When did you first hear him play and how much did he inspire your love of techno? Can you remember the first time you had personal contact?

First time I heard him play live was at "Cocoricò" in 2004. That's it, I was completely amazed by what I saw and heard.. since that time my love for techno jumped to the next level made me realize I wanted to have more and more of those nights/experiences. I liked a lot of other Djs of course, but Richie was delivering something different touching some remote part of my brain, so yeah, he inspired me a lot.
I think the first time we had a contact was for the after party at the end of the first ENTER. season back in 2012 in Ibiza, I obviously barely talked ahah but it was nice to hang around with him and the crew first time!

What was the process by which you became resident at ENTER.? Is Djing at a club like Space week after week is different to playing there as one-off?

It happened very naturally and spontaneously. I moved to Ibiza because of Richie's party and I was mainly enjoying the moment. I used to work for ENTER. in the promotional team for the first two years, I was giving him all my new music week after week and also slowly getting to know him in some nice Ibiza circumstances. He liked my music and after he listened to me playing at one house party on the island I got the amazing proposal to become resident. I think it doesn't change much if you play in clubs such Space one time or as a resident, you want to give the maximum and you would get the same buzz/excitement before playing every time. Maybe being resident you feel more comfortable with the surrounding, the sound and what people like the most overall.

You're one of the ambassadors of Richie's MODEL1/PLAYdifferently mixer. Can you tell us, as a Dj, what sets it apart from other mixers? Who is it aimed at?

The first thing you notice is the sound quality; so warm, clean in every detail, so deep and intense..with no doubt something we've never experienced before. I can four tracks running, one effect and live drums all at the same time without distorting the sound or sound messy. If you love vinyl you will hear them play like never before, no matter what is your musical taste or how you present your music, you will find a way to make it yours because of its new possibilities to play and manipulate your music like the LP&HP filters on each channel as well as the master filter, the sweepable EQ, the overdrive....You can sculpt and model music as your wish in a very quick and intuitive way.

It seems like you' a restless soul. What were the best and worse things about living in Prato, London, Ibiza and your last home, Berlin?

I could write a book! I will try to keep it short. 

-Prato is good because is where family is, where you can do the most simple things with friends, one hour to the sea, one to the mountains and just 30min to the magical hills in Tuscany full of amazing wine and food... Unfortunately you might feel that nothing is moving forward, everything stays the same and also the mentality sometimes can be a bit too closed. 

-London is one of the most beautiful capitals in the world. Great shops and atmosphere, perfect to learn how to work efficiently and perfect to meet interesting people from all over the world... but.. it's frenetic way of being made people forget that we only have one life and we must dedicate time to ourselves too. Business is important but it's definitely not everything.

 
-Ibiza is magic. The only place on earth where you can combine some of the most breathtaking beaches, hidden natural places and luxury resorts with some incredible electronic nights with the best Djs on the planet.I can't find something I don't like there! -Berlin is the place to be, it is the capital of a country but not chaotic at all. A city to discover with many different centers and some of them incredibly beautiful. Full of Arts, Museums, Bars with amazing live music and of course some of the craziest techno parties. People are educated and sophisticated. Too damn cold!

What's next on the release front?
As the winter kicked in I'm finally going back to the studio. I was a bit sucked by the gigs and other matters but now I'm writing again, let's see what happens!

Alex Zinn from PLAYdifferently

Why did you team up with Richie Hawtin to design a new mixer? Who had the idea first?
I am the product specialist for the MODEL 1, and while I have been involved in some of the final design decisions but I was not involved with the initial design concept of the mixer. The original design concept came about between Richie Hawtin and Andy Rigby-Jones, a well-known name in the Dj world for being the engineer who founded the Xone series with Allen&Heath, designing the Xone:62, 92, and later on the DB4, is the lead engineer of MODEL 1. By the time I was brought on board in February 2016 the basic design of the mixer was more or less locked down. Rich and Andy had been discussing the idea of creating a new mixer for some time, and about 2 years ago they got together and started working on a prototype.

What does this mixer deliver that isn't already available elsewhere?

There are several main features that MODEL 1 offer, currently not available elsewhere, that help it deliver uncompromising studio-quality sound and an innovative way to approach mixing. 

The first main goal behind the design of MODEL 1 was that of providing studio quality analog sound in a club format Dj mixer. We’ve included several aspects to its design that are unheard of in a DJ mixer, and up until this point only found in high-end studio mixers. Firstly we are the only DJ mixer, that I am aware of, that has fully balanced circuitry. 

This is one of the design aspects that leads to the low noise floor and overall high dynamic range; in other words: high fidelity. Having fully balanced circuitry also allowed us to include professional audio inputs and outputs on the mixer. 

MODEL 1 is the only DJ mixer on the market with fully balanced Tascam DSUB25 inputs and outputs, allowing for quick and easy connectivity of all channels with balanced inputs. Another concept we borrowed from the studio environment is “zero crossing detection.” which helps minimize “clicks and pop” artifacts for channel filter selection, master filter on/off and master eq on/off. This system allows each of these functions to be used quickly and intuitively as performance effects. The idea is that MODEL 1 can, literally, be played as an instrument. 

The second main goal driving its design was to offer something different, to offer a new approach to DJs mixing records. If one looks at Dj mixers over the past 10-15 years, they’re all more or less the same. Offering 2 - 4 channels with a 3 or 4 band EQ per channel. We wanted to offer DJs a new way of mixing. 

We have replaced the 3 / 4 band EQ with two very smooth contouring low and high pass filters designed not to add color to the sound as they are swept across their frequency range. The problem with a traditional 3 / 4 band EQ is that the frequency at which the bands are set are set at the factory. 

For example, the Bass EQ could be set at, say, 80 Hz, which means that as the DJ you can only cut or boost at 80Hz. We all know that every record sounds different, who’s to say that every record needs cutting at 80 Hz. By replacing the EQ with filters, artists are given much more control over exactly which frequencies they want to bring into the mix, allowing for very precise and smooth layering of tracks. 

We’ve also included a single sculpting EQ; a semi-parametric swept bell EQ, which also allows the artist to select which frequency he wants to cut or boost. This is a very new concept of mixing for the DJ industry, again incorporating things from the DJ world. 

MODEL 1 is the first DJ mixer to offer dual independent Cue’s, allowing two DJs to cue two channels simultaneously without getting in the way of each other. This was originally intended to help with B2B sets, but we’ve found that since artists do not need to “step out of the bubble” in order to cue what they want to bring in next B2B sets become more truly collaborative sets. 

One can also link two MODEL 1 mixers together. The mixer linking system is one that allows multiple mixers to be linked together, either for use with two or more performers, or as a way to expand the number of channels. When Linked together the mixers share a common balanced mix feeding the PA and Booth monitors. In addition, the two Cue systems are joined allowing interactive cueing between multiple performers.

How did having DJs testing the mixer help you to perfect its design?

I was told by Andy RJ that MODEL 1 has had far more artist feedback in the development stage than any other mixer he’s ever worked on. From February through to about May we had prototypes shipped to artists and DJs for testing; getting their feedback about how the mixer felt. We were able to take all of this input and really dial in the all of the details. One thing we spent a lot of time on is the filter curves, just how much the filters cut as you turn them. You can really tell that the mixer is made by a Dj for Djs. One example of that is the fact that the booth output has a built-in EQ, allowing each artist to tune the monitors to their liking.

It's a hefty bit of kit. Who would you recommend investing in it and why?

The mixer is recommended to anyone who is interested in having the best possible sound. It’s for Djs and artists who are looking to mix music in new innovative and creative ways, and for those who wish to stand out from the cookie-cutter world the Dj market has become. The whole idea behind PLAYdifferently is to give artists instruments which allow them to express their uniqueness and individuality; that tools used to mix and perform should be as creative and as unique as the artists who use them. The mixer is the Dj’s instrument, and no matter what you connect to MODEL 1 it will sound amazing. Whether its turntables connected through our 3 high-performance turntable inputs, CDjs, laptops with audio interfaces, or external synthesizers and drum machines. It allows one to stand out sonically.
I’ve felt it happen on several occasions when a MODEL 1 Dj comes on and all of a sudden people feel different, more in tune with the music.