Like most people, DJs and producers have specific songs tied to events throughout their lives. In Crate Expectations, we extract a playlist from their memories to tell their story. This week's subject: Anthony Middleton and Luca Saporito of Audiofly.
THUMP: What's the first song you ever loved?
Luca: "Paradise City" by Guns N' Roses. Please spare me, but I was 16 years old and about to go on the trip of a lifetime with all of my schoolmates. My best friend at the time had just bought the album and brought it on the school bus, which we were about to spend the next 24 hours on. I begged my friend to let me borrow the cassette tape, but he promptly refused. I then proceeded to steal the tape from him whilst he was asleep and play that song on repeat for the duration of the journey. A great start to my first ever trip alone with no parental control!What are the first two songs you ever mixed together?
Luca: I think it was Iz and Diz's "Mouth," the Pepe Braddock remix, with some west coast house (most probably something by H Foundation.) It must be said though that my first DJ job wasn't at a club. I used to work in a department store in London (Selfridges) and I clearly remember convincing the floor manager that I had been a DJ for a long time—I obviously hadn't! That day I spent £200 buying some random vinyls and sat up all night practicing my mixing. The day after I proceeded to show my newly obtained skills to a room full of women buying Prada bags who hadn't the faintest idea of what was coming out of the speakers. It was a disaster, as I obviously couldn't mix for shit. But I faked it pretty well, and after a while I relaxed into it and actually managed to get a few mixes right. The floor manager came over during one of those lucky mixes and by some unknown forces working to my benefit, he gave me the job. True Story.
Luca: It is and always will be "Toto" by Africa. I remember playing it as my last song at a Robot Heart party in Tulum and the whole crowd went bananas. I've never stopped getting shit for it from all my fellow DJ mates who heard me playing it. To this day, some of them still call me Toto.What song have you had on repeat in the last month?
Luca: Eric Volta's "Analogy of Rhythm." It's an upcoming song on our label Supernature and I swear I can't stop listening to it. It has such a weird arrangement and a hook that won't let you go until the very end. It's a very unique piece. I can't remember listening to a tune and signing it on the spot like that. I wrote to Eric immediately and asked him to go on Skype. I wanted to give him the news personally and let him know how excited I was about the song.Which track of your own do you love the most?
Anthony: I think that "Blue Man" was a really beautiful journey. It was written after a Temazcal & Peyote ritual in the jungle in Mexico. I remember coming out of the Temazcal tent the morning after and having a sense of what we needed to write burning in my head. It was an interesting feeling, as our writing is normally such an organic experience…
I think it would have to be a remix we did many years ago of a Deep Dish release titled "Sacramento." Although it was a great opportunity and the beginning of a long history with Ali, the song was really a forced effort from us. We didn't feel comfortable with the vocals and other parts provided for the remix. We tried to shy away from them and do something different but we were 'encouraged' by the label to use the original parts however we could. In all honesty it was great education in what to remix and what not to. We obviously couldn't say no… it was Deep Dish! And it was one of our first big invitations! In the end, the result was very pop sounding and in fact, it might have set us back a couple of years in terms of our credibility. But that situation was the greatest of teachers and marked a definitive soul searching moment, so nothing lost in the end.
The one that has been going into every Sankeys set so far this summer is "9th Configuration" by ourselves and Martin Buttrich on Supernature. It's a place we like to get to around halfway into our sets, when we're pushing into the tougher end of our sound. It sounds amazing on the Sankeys Void system! A track that isn't ours that has been keeping us excited might be "Baumhaus" by Robag's Paavo and Veita Rehand. I know that's two, but there's two of us!
"Piece of Mind" by Idris Muhumaad, perhaps? I can't imagine how I could ever get that track into a set either, nor would I want to! What a beauty. In fact, if anyone ever tries to put it into a dance music track I will personally hunt them down, sit with them and explain a few things to the poor misguided soul. Some things just should not be touched!What's the last song you want to hear before the lights go on?
Definitely, definitively Aphex Twin's "Tha" from the Selected Ambient Works 85-92. Say no more!Audiofly will play Flying Circus closing at Sankeys Ibiza on Friday, September 26th together with M.A.N.D.Y, Martin Buttrich (live), Blond:ish and Dance Spirit. If you liked this, you'll love:
Watch Blackout Now!
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Crate Expectations: Luca Bacchetti
Luca: "Paradise City" by Guns N' Roses. Please spare me, but I was 16 years old and about to go on the trip of a lifetime with all of my schoolmates. My best friend at the time had just bought the album and brought it on the school bus, which we were about to spend the next 24 hours on. I begged my friend to let me borrow the cassette tape, but he promptly refused. I then proceeded to steal the tape from him whilst he was asleep and play that song on repeat for the duration of the journey. A great start to my first ever trip alone with no parental control!
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Luca: I think it was Iz and Diz's "Mouth," the Pepe Braddock remix, with some west coast house (most probably something by H Foundation.) It must be said though that my first DJ job wasn't at a club. I used to work in a department store in London (Selfridges) and I clearly remember convincing the floor manager that I had been a DJ for a long time—I obviously hadn't! That day I spent £200 buying some random vinyls and sat up all night practicing my mixing. The day after I proceeded to show my newly obtained skills to a room full of women buying Prada bags who hadn't the faintest idea of what was coming out of the speakers. It was a disaster, as I obviously couldn't mix for shit. But I faked it pretty well, and after a while I relaxed into it and actually managed to get a few mixes right. The floor manager came over during one of those lucky mixes and by some unknown forces working to my benefit, he gave me the job. True Story.
What is your worst guilty pleasure song?
Luca: It is and always will be "Toto" by Africa. I remember playing it as my last song at a Robot Heart party in Tulum and the whole crowd went bananas. I've never stopped getting shit for it from all my fellow DJ mates who heard me playing it. To this day, some of them still call me Toto.What song have you had on repeat in the last month?
Luca: Eric Volta's "Analogy of Rhythm." It's an upcoming song on our label Supernature and I swear I can't stop listening to it. It has such a weird arrangement and a hook that won't let you go until the very end. It's a very unique piece. I can't remember listening to a tune and signing it on the spot like that. I wrote to Eric immediately and asked him to go on Skype. I wanted to give him the news personally and let him know how excited I was about the song.
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Anthony: I think that "Blue Man" was a really beautiful journey. It was written after a Temazcal & Peyote ritual in the jungle in Mexico. I remember coming out of the Temazcal tent the morning after and having a sense of what we needed to write burning in my head. It was an interesting feeling, as our writing is normally such an organic experience…
What track of your own do you hate the most?
I think it would have to be a remix we did many years ago of a Deep Dish release titled "Sacramento." Although it was a great opportunity and the beginning of a long history with Ali, the song was really a forced effort from us. We didn't feel comfortable with the vocals and other parts provided for the remix. We tried to shy away from them and do something different but we were 'encouraged' by the label to use the original parts however we could. In all honesty it was great education in what to remix and what not to. We obviously couldn't say no… it was Deep Dish! And it was one of our first big invitations! In the end, the result was very pop sounding and in fact, it might have set us back a couple of years in terms of our credibility. But that situation was the greatest of teachers and marked a definitive soul searching moment, so nothing lost in the end.
What track are you most excited to play during your residency at Sankeys Ibiza?
The one that has been going into every Sankeys set so far this summer is "9th Configuration" by ourselves and Martin Buttrich on Supernature. It's a place we like to get to around halfway into our sets, when we're pushing into the tougher end of our sound. It sounds amazing on the Sankeys Void system! A track that isn't ours that has been keeping us excited might be "Baumhaus" by Robag's Paavo and Veita Rehand. I know that's two, but there's two of us!
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What's your favourite track that you wish worked in a set?
"Piece of Mind" by Idris Muhumaad, perhaps? I can't imagine how I could ever get that track into a set either, nor would I want to! What a beauty. In fact, if anyone ever tries to put it into a dance music track I will personally hunt them down, sit with them and explain a few things to the poor misguided soul. Some things just should not be touched!What's the last song you want to hear before the lights go on?
Definitely, definitively Aphex Twin's "Tha" from the Selected Ambient Works 85-92. Say no more!Audiofly will play Flying Circus closing at Sankeys Ibiza on Friday, September 26th together with M.A.N.D.Y, Martin Buttrich (live), Blond:ish and Dance Spirit. If you liked this, you'll love:
Watch Blackout Now!
There's a Reason Jeff Button Has Played With Every Deep House Headliner
Crate Expectations: Luca Bacchetti