First up in a new series of Music From Memory mixtapes is Austria based Giuseppe Leonardi (@giuseppe-leonardi) with this contribution suitably named Universal Choreography. Q&A here below.

www.musicfrommemory.com

MFM: Hi Giuseppe! So, first please could you tell a bit about your background and about how you got into making music?

GL: I grew up living in Vienna where my mother is from, and my father is from Bari, southern Italy, hence the name. My family has always been very musical and after my first experiences playing drums in a gospel church, I soon also started playing guitar in a punk rock band at age 14 with my Korean friend, who significantly opened my musical horizon. I consider myself an autodidact and besides having studied sound engineering, I taught myself to play drums, guitar, bass, keys and any other instruments I can get my hands on. This past year, besides playing as a dj, I´ve had my first live experiences and preparing for a live set for a festival this spring. So it´s an exciting transition time regarding my musical development. 

MFM: We think your sound is very unique, the sort of genre bending and transcending kind, made with a lot of feeling. What and who do you regard as your influences? And how would you describe the process of making your music, is there a specific kind of Giuseppe workflow or are there any favorite instruments you can't do without?

GL: Thanks. One person that immediately comes to mind in terms of who influenced me, not only musically, is Frank Zappa. He has inspired me a lot, with his way to surprise with the unexpected. I try to expose myself to different genres that cannot be weird enough in order to get fresh new ideas. I record at my home studio where I overdub all instruments using analog gear mostly from the 80s like the ’79 Pearl Syncussion drummachine and more recently the MAM vocoder built in Bavaria. I don’t have a specific workflow - Just drawing from inspiration, life and making sure I always eat my veggies.  

MFM: Do you remember how you came up with the ideas for writing the tracks that ended up on the Second Circle release? Would you say it has a typical Giuseppe Leonardi signature sound?

GL: The ambiant ones where recorded a few years ago while working on a job in Venice, where I had to boom operate interviews with some actors. In my spare time, I went to the sea using the equipment recording the waves of the ocean. Kannibalentanz and Orpheus were actually inspired by Maloya (music from La Reunion) and was created a few days before the final selection was defined. People often say that they can recognize a particular signature sound in my music, but its not my intention.
Its difficult for me to describe my music  but I was happy to see it being called: “heady and pleasingly melodious, that actually gets better with each successive listen.”... thanks Juno. 

MFM: So, thanks a lot for making the very first contribution to our new mix series! Maybe you could tell a bit more about the mix, what inspired you, how and where you recorded it, how you came to this selection? 

GL: I am of course excited to be the first to release a mix compilation and did spend some time putting it together. My musical influences and inspirations are very broad, which I tried to transmit. I consider my mix a collaboration with all the great people that I have gotten to know, learned from, and shared music with over the years. These include people like: dj Nomad, Julian Horn, Lauren Hansom, dj Sofa, Nu Guinea, Jan Schulte, Goldcut Crates, Phaserboys, Bayete, Sebastião de los Miedos, Tingel Tangel, Walter Daniel, Noel Dinse, Marie, of course the big god-papa, Mike Burns and many more. Ultimately, the tracks that I assembled, also reflect my own creations. I hope you enoy it!

MFM Mix 001: Giuseppe Leonardi

PLEASE DON'T SEND DEMOS

www.musicfrommemory.com

Amsterdam based record label releasing visionary electronic music from both past and present.

Sublabel: @secondcircle