Coffee Break with Vaert
Hi Gianluca, thanks for having this little chat with us today.
Hi everyone and thanks for having me in this series.
First of all, what was the process for creating your artist alias Vaert, and what was your attention by doing so?
At the beginning of my relationship with electronic music I was obsessed with the word “rave” and I was looking for a name with an acronym for this word. After a bit of brainstorming I came up with “Vaert” as being my interpretation of “Rave Time”.
Please tell us about your introduction to music in general, then electronic music, and later your first steps as a music producer.
The first memory I have with music is an album from Queen, which my father was a big fan of. In my really early years I was also influenced by Elton John, Madonna, Michael Jackson, all the pop artists that my parents were listening to.
Then at the end of the 90’s Italy saw the rise of new genres like dance music and dutch hardcore, which basically became a new culture, everybody was listening to that and it immediately fascinated me.
Later I started to experience nightlife which was really cool at that time in Italy, I was going to clubs like four times a week, from clubs in Milan to other places all over the country, and that’s when I discovered artists like Richie Hawtin, Marco Carola, Ricardo Villalobos, Luciano etc. Then at some point I started DJing myself for fun and after one year of playing other people’s records I decided to also try producing my own tracks.
What does a typical day in the Vaert studio look like?
I recently changed my approach in the studio: I start the day with a listening session, and after that I step into my projects. Usually I work on two or three projects simultaneously in order to have fresh ears every time I switch from one to another.
In June you had your first release on Mind Against’s label: Habitat, with the track “High Hopes”. In our opinion, it’s a savant mix of melodic techno and Detroit-like sonorities, resonating perfectly with the current “back to the roots” attitude of the scene, mixing old and new. Could you tell us about your inspiration for creating this track and the story behind it?
I had been living in Berlin for a few months and then covid came. That’s when I wrote “High Hopes”. I was feeling lonely back then because I was in a new city, didn’t know many people and the only thing I had was making music. Back then I was really into Prince of Denmark records, and I think in a way it helped me develop my sound and put into music how I felt at that particular moment of my life: this feeling of melancholy mixed with a big sense of hope.
What gear or plugins did you use to make it?
To be honest I don't really remember this, but my setup now is a mix of synthesizers like Prophet 6, SH101, Analog Four and several plug-ins that I love like Serum or the Native Instruments collection.
Can we expect new music from you soon?
At the moment I’m focusing on my first EP which will hopefully see the light in 2024, with a single that will probably come out at the beginning of the year.
You just released a track with Mind Against on Afterlife: “Posterity”. How did this collaboration happen?
As I mentioned before, I used to live in Berlin and even though I live in Italy now, I still come back often because I love this city. Last time was in February this year and I spent some time in the studio with Alex and Freddie making music together, and that’s how “Posterity” was born. I’m very grateful for this.
“In my opinion today’s scene is missing something that was fundamental in the past and that shaped many artists who made a real contribution to this world, which is to have a mentor. ”
We are also curious about the EP you are working on. Is there anything you can share about it yet?
After “High Hopes” which is an introspective track, I felt like doing something for the dancefloor with more of a ravey vibe, but keeping an emotive side to it. I hope that it will reflect my intentions.
Events with Vaert on the lineup are quite rare. Is there a reason for this and when can we catch you playing soon?
I recently had my debut gig at Volt Club in Milan where they gave me the chance to open the night for Mind Against, which was really special. Hopefully next year we will meet somewhere.
You seem to be close to Mind Against. Would you like to tell us about your relationship with the Italian duo?
Alex and Freddie are basically family to me, they really helped me a lot to develop my taste and my artistic vision. They have this ability to make people grow and it’s a quality that goes beyond music.
In my opinion today’s scene is missing something that was fundamental in the past and that shaped many artists who made a real contribution to this world, which is to have a mentor. And I feel grateful for this because I can see them as such, in addition to being really close friends.
Is there anything else you would like to tell our readers?
I would like to say thank you to all the people who have supported me since “High Hopes” came out, it means a lot and gave me the energy to keep going and get better and better.
And last but not least: how do you like your coffee?
As an Italian I'm a big fan of Espresso, but outside of Italy I realized that a good Americano could also be great :)
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