Hi guys!
I'm here in London today as you can see.
I'm gonna hook up for a chat with an awesome dj producer.
The Great Daniele Davoli..
For this full episode of Flussi Creativi.
The interview will be held here in Southbank.
I'm now heading off to meet him at Embankment.
On the other side of the river.
We'll cross the whole bridge..
and then finally start our Flussi Creativi interview with Daniele Davoli.
Hi Daniele!
Good morning.. how you doing?
Good and you?
Thanks for coming over to London 'cos if you were to wait for me..
over in italy.. you could forget about it!
Infact, I was thinking: even though I previously done the other interviews around the Modena area..
Thought to myself: who knows if in the near future Daniele would eventually accept it?
I just come once a year to eat some proper Capelletti, but that's about it!
So, how you been?
Yeah, great.. today we got a sunny day here in London..
You're doing some.. Some gigs as you were telling me..
Yes.. we're about to leave for South America..
..Midweek..
For a few gigs.. then yeah..
..we got another few gigs here in the Uk ..and so on.
So the Black Box scenario is still standing strong?
We've revised it because we started..
well, we actually quit it for a while.. around the early 2000's
Also because the whole 90's genre had been forgotten by then.
Then unintentionally, things became trendy again.
Around the end of the decade 2008/2009 ..
They started asking us "Why don't you get back on the road again"..?..
I then decided to get in contact with Charvoni our singer for the second album..
Who still lives in the U.S. in New Jersey
I asked her: what do you think? ..you want to do it? ..Yeah, ok let's go for it!!
We put the band together..
We got a guitarist, a percussionist I've got a pair of decks..
Where I play non instrumental tracks which are obviously played live..
The guitarist and I both do background vocals..
and the lead singer sings live.
We play a classic 30 to 40 minute gig.
Depending on the promoters' request, we could do a bit more but usually..
Clubs require 30/40 minutes max.
The songs that you play are Strike It Up, Ride On Time..
The Hits: Ride On Time, I Don't Know Anybody Else, Everybody Everybody, Strike It Up, Fantasy..
Fantasy.. exactly!
Then we did a new track recently 'cos we published a new "Superbest" which includes all the material.
The different versions that we like, the lesser known, all remastered and remixed.
That you're now watching on video.. then I'll ask you for my ad share.. publicity is always good!..
Listen.. let me ask you this..
The music scene has changed, hasn't it? Especially the Dance genre from back in the day till now.
Well it did a 360º I'd say.
Although there's been a rediscovery of the late 80s & 90s House style.
Look at Calvin Harris, in the last 2 or 3 years, he had a few major international hits.
Mimicking the 90's house music flavours.
We can say he got inspired by us..
As a genre I mean, not that he copied us n any way..
but there's obvious reference to Crystal Waters, and others..
There's a large part of the crowd that enjoys it so..
Me personally, I'm always looking forward to new things.. Freshness above all, somewhat like cultural revolutions, but then again..
Well.. ehm.. one thing I was wondering about lately: Quote unquote..
The hit single "Ride On Time"..
Yes..
Is the actual track title Ride On Time or Right On Time?
I think I know the answer, but maybe some people don't..
Well we've entitled it Ride On Time cause we thought Loleatta Holloway was saying Ride On Time..
Therefore, Riding Upon Time..
So what's she saying guys? Yeah.. she's Riding On Time... Oh great!
Perfect guys.. RIDE ON TIME be it!
In reality the sample actually said Right On Time..
You're punctual! You're right on time... Exactly!
Then.. another thing I wanted to ask, whilst we're talking about.. Ride On Time
So we're looking at 1989/1990 more or less.. no?
1989 for Ride On Time.
For those of you who are insightful House Music lovers.. Can that moment can be seen as the proper beginning, where it exploded?
Well, I'd say it exploded for us dj producers in the industry, in the music world.
For the rest of the world it was the beginning I'd say.
We had a few cases previous to ours like S-Express, Cold Cut, Bomb The Bass just to give you an example..
but, they were a bit isolated.. Pump Up The Volume 2 years earlier.
It's like you'd have one, then back to normal again..then another one, and so on..
I'm talking about the Charts.
Whereas, when we kind of exploded, there were Snap, C&C Music Factory, Dee Lite..
You'd start to see one after the other. Every week you would find one or two in the charts.
I wanted to ask you, since you've mentioned S-Xpress Cold Cut and so on..
I'd like to throw in The Beatmasters 'cos their from London as well..
Among those three.. who would you push off the charts of that time..those days.
Oh gosh! Help..How can you?..
You can't to be honest.
I Agree!..
It's linked to personal tastes..
De Gustibus Non Est Disputandum.
..so let's learn from that!
S-Xpress fans wouldn't want that to happen, just like Cold Cuts' fanbase either, I would've thought.
It's a personal thing. All three are pioneers of that early movement.
I wanted to provoke you and stir you up.
No, I don't feel provoked at all, because I don't put myself against characters of that magnitude.
They've innovated, we all had been inspired by them back in the day.. you can't exclude one to gain the other.
They've all got their relevance and did great things.
They were very much beyond.. They were pioneers of what eventually became mainstream..
To tell you the truth, between the three I remained in contact with Mark Moore from S-Xpress. I still see him out and about..
He still produces interesting stuff does plenty of research as well.
Ok, he's not having the level of success he had before, but the same goes with us.
In any case he does interesting things. Cold Cut, I don't know them personally so..
Oh you were saying.. oh about.. The Beatmasters
Beatmasters Yes.. but yeah, I don't know them personally.
I really liked The Beatmasters they felt very fresh to me..
They were more underground if you will.. The other guys were more commercial and song related.
Cold Cut with People Hold On..that's been one hell of a track!
Let's talk about you and Black Box, because we're here for that.
So we had Ride On Time.. the follow up was I Don't Know Anybody Else..
Awesome by the way!
Also because if you listen to the piano, it's not.. how can I say.. the usual thing..
..the classic House pattern!
We kinda ventured off an said: Let's do something different..
..and that I really appreciated it.
So that's the result.. whilst fooling around.
I tell you this.. if you listen to it, don't know about you lot but if you listen to that track..
'cos clearly "Ride On Time" has become an Unesco World Heritage song, something like that..
It's a Classic.. yes.. we can consider it a classic.
but if you listen to I Don't Know Anybody Else.. I immediately go back exactly to those days that moment etc..
Picchio Rosso club cause that's where I'd go clubbing.
That was the moment you know. it just takes me back in the day.. crazy how music does this to you.
I think that today this track has been forgotten a bit because for the mainstream media such as Radio Tv..
..when they happen to play them, the tend to play Ride On Time, Everybody Everybody, Strike It Up and Fantasy.
It's basically those four.
At the same time when we tour and play I Don't Know Anybody Else people seem to enjoy it very much and sing along.
So they still haven't forgotten about it.
It's a great track I think!
Out of all the songs, it's probably the one that drew less attention.
So to speak, therefore the media tends to highlight the usual hits. It's quite subjective.
The singer was still Charvoni?
Charvoni came later.
ok I see..
Also because then there was the image controversy.
We had the female image for the first Album
and because we sampled Loleatta Holloway..
..obviously we couldn't use her image!
Eventually for the rest of the album we hired a different singer, that I still can't mention to this day.
but who knows it, knows "who" she is.
because she was already signed, therefore we couldn't use her as our image.
So we kept Katrin who was available and had previously done a great job.
Also because in Italy, like in most european countries, we had the habit of using a female or male image.
This is how.. basically you had 10 records sung by the same person, with 10 different faces
A bit like the guy that dubs the foreign actor in movies.
Then we learned that when you're up against the American and UK markets
eventually it would be something you'd want to stay away from..
..if they'd call you wouldn't be able to perform a live session clearly you'd be like.. i can't..
You wouldn't be taken seriously as well..
What are you doing? you make someone sing and then use someone else's image?..
Ok if your going to shoot a video.. you can do it, as long as you claim that..
Who ever is there to dance and lip sync is not the singer..
That we would've done anyway..
Eitherway it's not doable!
Infact when it was time to record the second album we got in contact with Charvoni
An amazing gospel singer!
She was available, knew that we were interested and happy to take her on board.
She signed an exclusive deal recorded the second album and promoted it with her and so on.
So now you've got..
Actually wait, before we get there.. wantet to ask you..
I'll open up a bracket.. a fun one though..
The original 12" version of Ride On Time had a..
At least I think it was that..
it had a black label.. Yes a improvised black label
and it had the original sample.. yup! Loleatta Holloway.
That sample was so good!
You know, I don't hear it anymore!
We've actually.. we've actually did one thing..
Ok so, at the time they didn't give us permission, we weren't authorised.
Then we re-sung all the vocals here in the UK..
..and published the new version.
A year later, the two record labels finally reached an agreement
and authorised us, but at that point RCA told us, people like this one better.. so for the following 20 years
we kept using the re sung version even for the ads.
Only last year when we heard through a friend from BMG UK here in London that they had bought the entire Salsoul catalogue
Therefore, if we were interested in the original sample they'd authorise us to use it.
and we were like.. hell yeah.. of course we do..
and so when we were ready to remix and prepare the material for the Superbest..
..we actually never did any Best Of's in the last 20 years up until now..
So we said let's do it with all the revised versions
we remixed the old masters that were recorded on tape
because you know magnetic tape tends to lose dynamic range in time.
All the ruined ones had been remixed all over again
So we then finally got permission from BMG
On the Superbest that we published in April 2018, you'll find the original Loleatta Holloway version.
Guys It's just outstanding!
The one with the long Organ intro.
That's been the very very first version that not so many people have..
because from that moment onwards we had the hit single and it was all about the official re-sung version.
We made the edit with a different intro, similar to the video version.
Exactly.. In fact the thing I like best the track is the Original sample, when it kick off..
It's just whoa... completely different !!
It had the Turbo on..
Yup!
Yes, practically yes, we can say it did!
But then again, you guys managed to do a great job anyway..
Guys we're gonna take a small break now, see you in a bit!
Today our guest is Daniele Davoli from Black Box
We're talking about your journey as being part of Black Box.
In terms of djing at the moment you're not really playing any gigs you were telling me?
No, I'm not really, because I made a choice
I like and prefer new music
I've embraced what I call Chill Trance
Because it has Trancey feeling but it's not really Trance.
120 bpm and it's quite chilled.
To give you an example I like Kyasmus.. Kölsch
Solomun as well.. that type of stuff.
The music that they'd want me to play..
Promoters and other so called clientele.
They want to hear me play 90's music
and to be fair with you.. I played 90s music back in the 90s..
Therefore, If I can I don't play it!
I chose to work less and when they call me, I play what I want..
Sure.. I'm with you..
Do you have any mixes online? Mixcloud or on Soundcloud..for people to hear your stuff?
I'm quite lazy when it comes to that.
Every now and then I post some tracks that I like on Instagram..
We do have our Black Box Spotify Playlist online..
There you can have an idea of what we tend sound like..
I submit it as Black Box because we have quite a good following there..
Also because when we do productions & remixes as Black Box we are very up to date with how we sound.
We don't do things that take you back to the 90s..
So if you check out our Spotify playlist you'll see which tracks I choose and play in clubs today.
You were also mentioning to me a Youtube channel?..
We have a Youtube Channel dedicated to Black Box where you'll find our productions, original videos and remixes from back in the day.
But also things we've done in the last 5 to 10 years..
For instance the remixes we done for Alt-J a well known British group.
And other artists as well.
So if there's curiosity you can go there and have a look and listen.
There are also a few new videos we did recently with our new awesome Black Box singer Celestine!
She's very good!
We split parts with Charvoni because
it was inconvenient for the fact that she lived in New Jersey
and every time we needed to rehearse try a few things out or do gigs in UK clubs..
For her, poor thing, having to fly 10 hour round trips would be exhausting.
and then all the costs on top..
promoters wouldn't be up for it as much
you would have the one big event, that would call us anyway..
On the other hand the club with 800 to 1000 people wouldn't be able to afford it.
And so we met this heaven sent talented singer.. who's young, available and really good..
We started working with her
..good good..
Already been three years.. we got new material.. and she also sings our classic repertoire.. we carry on like that.
So .. ah.. do you..
you have a rapport with new technologies..
Yeah.. even if..
You're not totally out like you were telling me before..
Yeah.. but I kinda fool around with it.. like with Ableton.
When I play in clubs I use Pioneers
A Usb stick..
Yes with the Usb stick
Yeah many people use a laptop
but I prefer the using the stick feel more secure.. didn't have a good experience with laptops.
they might switch off.. it's more secure in a way!
whilst with a Usb stick I've never been left behind..
it feels more secure..
Let's say that, I've never gotten a puncture!
I trust them, I like them, I have fun.. All good!
How about with Social Media..??
With Socials.. I'm a bit anti-social..
No no, well we got our Instagram Facebook page.
Now I'll highlight it on screen..
Thanks for the favour.. so we get some exposure!
Thank you for being here.. taking time off and being available here for us..
My pleasure.. for this chat.
The great Daniele Davoli here in London..
Cool, so you're on social media..
You got your things together..
Not too persistent..
We post quite regularly, but only when we got something to say.
We don't have this pressure to post every other day or everyday..
posting the pic of a new pair of kicks
Or today I shaved and yesterday not..
Also because I don't shave much..
So if we have things to say we post them otherwise.. wait until we got things to say!
After all of this.. do you still have a dream?
After all you've obtained musically and artistically speaking is there a Dream you'd really want to live?
My artistic dream.. even though I know it is unachievable..
because I realise I got limits..
would be to collaborate with Tom Yorke of Radiohead.
I understand that it's only dream that will remain a Dream.. but...
You asked me, I told you.
Whereas a more feasible dream would be..
Waking up every morning with a sea view!
Open up my window and you got the sea in front of you.
in a place where when it's cold it's 18ºC .. that's my dream.
18ºC is your..
It's my minimum and acceptable standard.
I live in London, which is always better than Reggio Emilia or Modena during winter..
..but also during the Summer.. Yeah, I agree as well..
I don't like cold weather so much.. but I can't bear hot weather neither 40º no way..
I can bear 30º but 40º nope!
we get 38º in Europe every Summer easily nowadays..
In London it's alright in Summer time 'cos when it's really really hot it's 30º .. and it only lasts a week or so..
Then above all, there are no Mosquito's..
Oh man.. that's insane..Mosquitos are terrible!
Not sure about you guys.. but..
Yeah man.. I just left!
Let's conclude with a hobby.. you cultivate etc..
A hobby I got since I was a young man..well since I had a driver's licence..
are vintage cars..I started buying old Volkswagen convertible Beetle's from the 70's.
I'b buy them in the early 80s for about 1.5M Italian Liras back then..
I was already djing and had some spare time..
I'd go around auto wreckers of the time..
Today you won't find them at all!
To buy old parts and put them together..
then slowly slowly, when I was done I'd sell them and buy another .. and so on
You had your own garage..
There was a garage where I could go and work..
..and a bit at my home garage where I could do stuff..had my tools..
so, yeah.. at that time I did the Beetle's 'cos the budget was that..
Then I started making more money..
I started remaking Mercedes, Porsche's
Ferrari.. but always within limits..
Which Ferrari was it?
At the time I bought the Ferrari Dino.. 'cos it was the "cheapest" one..
Today it's the most expensive one.. but in those days not so much..
'cos it was considered an entry level.. I kept it a few years, had a good time then sold i.
Here in London you just go around by bus..or tube.
..which is still red .. so..
I lost the habit..cos here with a car..can't go anywhere..
Yeah, that's how it is here in London.
I like Arts.. so I go to exhibitions of artists I like the most.
I like concerts, so when there's an artist I like I go to their gig..
So you are able to bear today's pop music..
No not at all !!
The last gig I went to was Alt-J at the Royal Albert Hall. A month ago.
Two weeks prior I went to see RY X at Barbican that I really really admire!
Then of course Tom Yorke of Radiohead.
That's your dream..
If they play a gig here or there.. I go whenever I can.
Listen..
The previous interview Flussi Creativi I did with Dj Herbie
He gave us a healthy advice.. to drink warm lemon juice every morning.
Great stuff Herbie!!
I've adopted the same habit. Every morning a warm cup of lemon juice!
You got any advice for us?
I do it as well.. Yes every morning. Unless I don't run out of lemons..
and then I've eliminated all types of meats.. chicken, pork, red meat etc.
I eat fish, vegetables, rice I don't eat wheat..classic bread unless it's 100% rye bread.
Then again, there's always an exception .. If I'm in Argentina a bit of steak will go down well..
I'm not a proper 100% vegetarian.. but I am at 95%..
Maybe a few times a year I'll have a steak.. but it's quite rare.
Also because I feel bad for the animal and how it's treated and put down..
If I can, I'll avoid it.
I have to slip into absolute weakness in order to eat it.
Listen, it's been an absolute pleasure having you here.
I also wanted to say Hi to Mirko Limoni and Valerio Semplici.
It's been so long since the last time I saw them..
Ciao Guys!
Mirko lives in London.
If I knew it.. I would've.. But I think..he's not into interviews.
Nope, he's allergic to cameras.. when he see's a camera he dashes..
Anyways Mirko, sending you my regards!
To Valerio as well!
Valerio still lives in Italy in Correggio near fellow musician & Rocker Ligabue. He won't move from there!
Cool, cool great stuff!
Guys hope you've enjoyed it..
Actually I'm quite sure that you did enjoy this episode of Flussi Creativi with Daniele Davoli from Black Box
I will see you on my next video here on my channel.
and on the next episode of Flussi Creativi which I won't tell you who the next guest will be..
Daniele, thank you so much!
Awesome stuff!
Like you'd say in your area "Let's go to Modena" (in local dialect) you read the other way round it always means "Let's go to Modena"! ...
Here in London, you go to the supermarket you run into Mick Jagger..
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