Bar.ba - Interview
Bar.ba Interview by
Riley Reinhold
Riley Reinhold
The italian artist Bar.ba is still a good kept secret in the dance scene.
Due also to himself who has kept under the radar obsessed with writing music rather then keeping up with the social network world, he is being known only to a little community till now.
His 5 track with Traum called "Primavera" might be regarded as step forward from his single track contributions on Brise records, Monaberry and Ritter Butzke and Eps on smaller labels. Driven by a freeminded and forward thinking spirit his music is connected to the genre of house music but thats as far as the genre is concerned because his sound and the flow defys the genre and keeps a much more organic and liberating side.
Listen to his tracks: "Silene" and "Primavera" which had a nice support coming on Instagram and real FM radio stations from Canada by RADIO CJSW90.9 FM and Los Angeles Radio station Dublab etc.
Motivation also comes from the isolation of the small town he lives in. Historically remote towns can be responsible for the upbringing of some very fine artists but as we all can imagine it can be quite exhausting learning it the hard way.
"Unfortunately, there is no person who supports me in Italy. I live in a small town far from the city and I'm trying to get to do something with music. I believe that trying to improve myself every day is the only way to get somewhere. How do they say? "To make your passion successful, it must become your obsession"
His open mindedness was triggered by the fascination for the late 90ies progressive techno but it was the releases of Trentemöller which introduced him to another world, but the album that changed his life was the cd "Chromophobia" by Gui Boratto on Kompakt.
The period that "contaminated" him the most was the one from 2005 to 2010 including also the music by Minilogue, Dominik Eulberg, Extrawelt. “In Bergamo at that time there was the historic Fluid Club where on one of my first evenings I heard a DJ set by Tiefschwarz. I didn't know him but I immediately fell in love with him. In Northern Italy then there were the Alter Ego Club in Verona, Il Mazoom (Le Plaisir) in Brescia which are the clubs I loved most." Meanwhile he caught on with his DJ career in Bergamo..
"At 20 I played for the first time. I opened the evening to a friend of mine in a small club on the outskirts of Bergamo. The club was called "Milleluci" but it was a club that usually did commercial stuff. We had organized the evening and convinced the owner to call a famous Italian historical vocalist "Franchino". I called myself "Dj Maybe" and my friend "Dj Mat Lombardi". From that day on we became "Maybe & Mat Lombardi" for a couple of years. We tried to spread techno culture a bit in our suburbs, but we couldn't. For a short time we played at the "Juice Club" in Bergamo, some evenings in Milan but we couldn't get started. At that time I met a friend I hadn't seen for a long time and who is now like a brother: "Gabry". He had been DJing for quite some time and was starting to play with "Logic". We started trying to do something from scratch. Soon after I switched to "Cubase" and started practicing." His first success djing came with project 2Dave.
"In 2013 we founded 2Dave. 2Dave because we are both called "Davide". We mostly did Minimal, that's what we liked. 2Dave were 2 friends who shared the same passion for electronic music. In 2015 we also released a track on Traum with Massimo Cassini and Arg.o entitled "Self Made". At that time we had some dates on Milan and some dates on Bergamo in small ralta 'which were committed to creating a scene in the city. The evening we will never forget was the one in Paris organized by OTTO10 Events.The line-up was incredible: Ada (Live), Justus Kohncke (Live), Soulphiction, Isolee (Live) and 2Dave! It was incredible for us to be with such important artists. We played before Isolee and with more than 2000 people in front it was beautiful.
"Then comes the 2020 lockdown. After 4 years of hiatus he opened Cubase and a few weeks later Bar.ba was born. “Barba” in English means "Beard" and “Bar.ba” has a “beard” right?" :)
• Our last question for him; "How do you produce?
"I don't have a proper setup when I make music. Each track is a story in itself. Maybe because I love both techno and house music or maybe because I haven't found an identity yet? Perhaps, quite simply, THIS is my identity."
Bar.ba
Primavera EP
Traum V256
Available at:
