Manifattura Tabacchi is a former cigar and cigarette production site that is having a renaissance thanks to an innovative urban regeneration project. Back in June, the Bosconi Records crew rocked up there for a live hardware jam session featuring an array of musicians from the label including Fabio Della Torre, Dukwa, Ennio Colaci, Herva, Mass Prod, Rufus, The Clover and A Guy Called Gerald. Now the record has been released and we were lucky enough to get a few words from Fabio Della Torre.
For those that don’t know, can you enlighten us about the Bosconi Gang Band and its ethos?
Bosconi Gang Band is a project that i had in mind for a very long time, the idea of playing together with my closest friends which also represent the core of the bosconi crew was really something i was hoping to realise sooner or later.
The idea is pretty much that one of the jam session, start from nothing prepared and follow a flux where we go all together.
We all come from different backgrounds and we all have different tastes but we have been sharing music for years so it cames into a point where we where playing for fun, and i guess the result was challenging and different from anything we have done as individual artists before!
Can you give us some back ground about your musical journey and how you came to develop your musical taste?
I started playing piano in early age, then drums, playing an listening from progressive rock to fusion then from hard rock to metal
I liked synthesis very much and electronic drums and souns, finally came across electronic music and djing in 95’
Since then i pretty much explored a wide range of styles and influences into electronic dance music, Trance , Progressive, Minimal Techno,
Electro, House, Funk, Disco.. Have been collecting vinyls for over two decades and now it is a mixture of all that, although to be honest with myself, I love to play electronics and techno.
What was it like recording the session in Manifattura Tabacchi and how did it differ from recording sessions in a typical studio?
Well when it’s a matter of jamming it does not differ much from when we do it in the studio..
Maybe in studio you have a better listening and a better perception of what’s going on, sometimes you can prepare a few elements before, but a part from that not musch changed, probably the difference is that we were ten people instead of 2 or 3 maximum! So it was kind maybe more difficoult for communicating and understanding who was doing what.
What instrument(s) did you play?
I was basically at the mixer, a behringer x32 motorized mixer from where i could control all the volumes in order to optimize the listening , the recording and to give value to the elements i liked in any specific moment of the Jam.
How long and what was the process like in developing this record?
Well I have to say it was pretty long because I had to choose among many takes we did, i had to improve the mix and the arrangement, still maintaining it faithful to what the jam session was.
Then we all had to agree on the choices and on the final tracklist, that was kind of the hardest part
Finally i had to think about a nice artwork that could represent what the jam session had been.. and that was an important part too.. so basically it took about 6 months after the recording of it!
From listening to the record, it’s incredibly interesting but also very hard to place due to how every track is so different and clearly has multiple influences from different styles – who would you say this record is for? And was it the objective to intertwine so many influences?
I think this record is for everyone who is happy to buy something different from the usual and “safer” packages.
There are tracks that can be played in a dancelfoor, more idm experimental tracks, and a downtempo one.
It’s good both for playing and for listening, it has acoustic elements in contrast with electronic ones.. I think in this way it does have a special flavour.
We didn’t think about a specific purpose, or it does not hide or looks for a specific message, it just tells the story of what we have done all together that day
Building around this style, for those who are looking to expand their library, are there any artists or producers who you would recommend who have a similar vibe to you guys?
Well as the style is hard to define i can find a similar vibe or attitude maybe in some dj Sotofett or Sex Tags Mania productions, Borft, in general maybe into some more north european freaky kind of productions.. but hard to say 🙂
