Italy's Club Culture Pioneer Beppe Loda Has Played More Parties and Mixed More Genres Than You

Image: Typhoon

Later this week, an Italian airplane bound for Australia will take off under the heavy weight of some most precious musical cargo. Aboard it will be the high commander-in-chief of all djs, Signor Beppe Loda. This living treasure is really the DJs' DJ. Greatly revered by all those who understand the breadth of his knowledge and much loved by the countless thousands who have danced under his spell (over the last 40 years). For those uninitiated, Beppe is a DJ polymath, as comfortable mixing Steve Reich with traditional Maracatu rhythms as he is mixing Conrad Schnitzler with Celtic folk. Hailing from the town of Manerbio, south-east of Milano, Beppe began developing his style in the mid 70's and coined the term 'Afro' to describe both it and the movement that it spawned. He refined his unique sound and skills during his long residency at the mythical Typhoon club from 1980-1987, hypnotising thousands of dancers a week and recording some of the greatest mixtapes ever made.

The beat of Beppe's drum is still sending ripples around the globe and finally we now can hear the rhythms direct from the DJ himself. I asked the legend a few questions whilst he was preparing for his maiden voyage to the fatal shore (thanks to Claud Santoro for the translation and to Michael Kucyk for facilitating).

Felix: Hi Beppe, we are very excited to have you come to Australia. For those readers who may not be familiar with your work, how would you introduce your DJing style and what genres and tempos can people expect to hear when they are dancing?
Beppe Loda: Hello! I am also very happy to visit Australia! Today, as always, I'm an alternative DJ that does this without a defined style. At the moment, I'm re-proposing obscure Italian disco from the 70s and 80s. The Australian tour will be a nice occasion to listen and dance to really rare records. I don't think it will be very easy to listen to them in many different circumstances, if not on my Australia tour. In a few words, I present myself as a witness of the era of dark Italian disco. Music of superlative quality.

There is a rich history to your career and you must be very proud to still carry the flag of the original Afro movement some 30 years or more after its inception.  When you were piecing together your early tapes in clubs in the late 70's did you ever imagine you would still be a DJ all these years later?
The audience keeps me operating. I sincerely thought at 25 that I'd stop at 30, at 30 I thought I'd stop at 40, and so on. Today I think I'll go forward so long as I have something to say and people want to listen.

We're listening. But back to the beginning for a moment, the alternative club culture of Northern Italy during the 1980's seems like it formed a great community. It is a rare thing for such an alternative scene to be so well supported and remain so strong for so many years.  Are you still in touch with many of your DJ contemporaries from that time? Mozart, Ebreo, Rubens, and Pery?
No! I'm no longer in contact, because many DJs from the 80s got married to a single genre of music that I don't entirely accept. Because of this we have nothing to share. EVERYONE FOR THEMSELVES AND GOD IS FOR EVERYONE.

I have once heard you referred to as "the DJ who plays the strange music". I can imagine that in Italy in 1979/1980 not many people had been exposed to music from Africa, Brazil and Japan (and certainly not all together and on a dance floor) – how did people initially react to the style of music you programmed at Typhoon?
Typhoon remained open for about 7 years. In this long time, I experimented with many different styles of music. To answer the question, I'll say the place was always completely full. Sometimes we had 3 or 4 thousand people outside on the street waiting for hours to potentially get in. My principle and longest standing creation has definitely been Afro music, which survives even today. The definition of Afro has been adopted by people and is taken from my series of Afro tapes. The genre, Afro-Italian is not a style of music. Rather, a box within which music is inserted deriving directly or indirectly from African rhythms. AFRO BRASIL, AFRO CUBANO, AFRO JAZZ, AFRO FUNK, AFRO DISCO, AFRO ROCK, African music in general.

Can you remember Typhoon's opening night? Did everything go to plan?
I'd already been a DJ for 7 years by the time Typhoon opened. I was very well known in the area in which I lived. The new place was tailored to me perfectly and only a continuation of an alternative path that had already begun 2 or 3 year before. Yes, I remember the opening night perfectly – December 19, 1980. It all went very well. The place was very full, a beautiful party!

You must have amassed a vast amount of records over all these years. When you are going on tour (especially to somewhere you've never been) what is your process for selecting the tracks you will take with you?
Extremely random.  I DJ in the club both linearly and logically.

Some of the soundscapes you create seem to have an almost cinematic feel to them, the sort of music that sets the imagination running. I know you do play the music of Vangelis, John Carpenter and other film-score composers, do you ever take inspiration from cinema when it comes to musical selection?
To be honest, I've followed Vangelis from when he was with Aphrodite Child, and I only have a few John Carpenter records. I'm a collector and enthusiast of electronic music, especially from Germany. I extract many songs from film scores so…yes, cinema has very much inspired me. With the film Woodstock, I discovered some rock!! With Clockwork Orange, I discovered some classical, and with the film Malena, I discovered Monica Bellucci!

During the establishment of the Afro movement did you or any of the other DJs involved ever take inspiration from any other alternative musical scenes that were happening in Europe at that time?
No. I was often travelling through Europe searching for records but that was it. Some DJs in Tirolo, Bayern and Switzerland had a style that was inspired by "Afro". In reality there were only three real "Afro" DJs. Others only rode the fashion.

Do you own any Australian records?
I'm a big fan of Charlie McMahon, I really like the didgeridoo.

I know you have travelled to both Japan and the United States within the last few years, it must have been fantastic to visit these places from which so much of the music you play comes. Have you ever been to Brazil or Africa or do you have plans to go?
Yes. I've been to Brazil 3 or 4 times and to Africa a few times also. My latest plan is to come to Australia!

It's a long flight over here Beppe, what will you listen to on the plane?
I believe I'll watch some films!

CIAO
See you soon!

Catch Beppe Loda during his upcoming Australian tour:
Friday 22 August – Connections Nightclub, Perth w/ Samo DJ & NIM
Saturday 23 August – The Imperial Hotel, Sydney w/ Pelvis, Steele Bonus & NIMH
Saturday 30 August – Animals Dancing @ The Abbotsford Convent w/ Tornado Wallace, Andee Frost & Otologic