LVLSRVRYHI-061: Petit Singe | The Levels Are Very High
Hey! How's it going? I usually start with the introductions so, for anyone who doesn’t know, who are you / where are you from?
I’m Hazina, 32 years old from Italy.
What are some of your early musical memories?
When I was in secondary school, I was always the only one person used to bring portable music player at the parties.
Your work as Petit Singe is distinctly personal, with your own experiences at the forefront of each track and release. Is the process of making music one of conscious self-reflection or introspection for you, or is that something that develops more organically?
My tracks reflect me at 100% even I did it with a long reasoning behind or more impulsively. I haven't got a standard process on making tracks, but each one of them reflect me of course.
The music you release, as well as the projects you're involved in, consistently feel like they are evolving and mutating, from your releases on Haunter Records to this year's In Death's Dream Kingdom compilation with Houndstooth (by way of your Tiziano Ferro bootleg and Amnesia Scanner piano cover). Has developing a multifaceted and varied output been an intentional aim of yours?
Yes, absolutely. Ok, I’m aware of being part of an underground movement. My labels, parties I enjoy, artists I follow… we are all part of something similar, we got many things in common, music and experiences to share each others, but despite this I totally fell free to experiment new stuff out of “my range”. If I consider a proposal to be good, I accept it. If I feel of doing a remix or a bootleg, I do it.
Ideas of hybridization and multiplicity that are present in your productions are also apparent in your live performances, where you choose to mix with Ableton over using CDJs. Are you drawn towards a more involved approach in these performances than would necessarily be possible with a standard DJ set?
I used to play with Ableton even for my djset only because I’ve never considered myself a real DJ, I mean, I started my project Petit Singe with the idea of producing music. Anyway, nowadays I use both!
You recently collaborated with 111X on a project called Authority, the themes of which deal with the expansion of modern surveillance states and the current political climate in Europe. How did the project come about? Did you discuss these topics before collaborating?
I asked to him a featuring cause I’m in love with his sound. So, cinematographic, deep, dirty. It was a “ping pong” collaboration. We didn’t talk about many things before starting doing that, we’ve just discuss about the sounds in the specific.
In the press release for your Tregua EP with Haunter Records, the Petit Singe moniker is referred to as your avatar and your second release - Akash Ganga - is said to be composed of 'fragments from the history of digital experiences'. What are the relationships between the importance of technology to your work and the elements of your practice that lie outside the digital, such as when you perform or the first stages of creating music?
The digital is very important for me. It's important on making tracks, cause I only work on digital. And for sharing too. When you have a new project to push we become a product of the web. I assume importance if my tracks played on the web as well as I'm gonna to play live. They are two different mechanisms. Making live is as important sharing your music online, a video clip or recording a mixtape. It's the same artist who goes across different ways of being.
Did you set out with a specific idea for this mix? Where and how did you record it?
Honestly, I never think too much about a specific mood. I’m continuously looking for new stuff, new artists and situation that could inspire me. I use to into my mix some tracks I love the most, and some new discovered in a recenter period, mostly when I’m going to record a remotely mix and a not a party djset. That’s different. I’ve recorded this mix in my hometown, Forli in my bedroom of course.
What do you have planned for the year?
I’m carrying on my new project MILANOROVINA with Tommaso and Giuliano. It’s really important for me, we’re trying to bring to Italy all collectives, people and music we love the most. This is our first year, we were born in September 2017, but we’re already working hard to doing something in our city, Milan. Next I’m going to visit Europe for some gigs. I’ll be in Amsterdam at Progress Bar, Zurich, Berlin and London. I’m also working on a new featuring with Swan Meat, but it will take some time for that.
If you had to pick something for people to listen to immediately after this mix what would it be?
