Generazioni Underground: Alex Neri - The Wizard (Club Mix) (1992)
Our ‘Generazioni Underground’ series comes to a conclusion with a last recollection from Alex Neri, the producer behind the marvellous ‘The Wizard’
‘Ciao Italia, Generazioni Underground’ Album Cover
This is the final feature of a series of recollection articles to celebrate the release of a huge project: ‘Ciao Italia, Generazioni Underground’ is a special compilation in double vinyl being released today, June 12th 2021, on Rebirth Records. It includes a series of tracks produced in Italy in the early 90s. It’s a tribute to artists who wrote the history of an electronic music style which can be identified as Dream House, Italo House, Piano House, or simply ‘Underground’. You can read more about it in our first feature.
We hope you enjoyed the journey and that reading about these memories gave you at least a tasting of the magic of those times. For the final piece we hear from Alex Neri, who worked on the original track ‘The Wizard’, a groovy, dreamy track in the signature italo-house underground style of the early 90s.
Scorrere in basso per la versione in Italiano.
“The time when the track was produced was a very lively musical era, constantly evolving, and who was like me lucky enough to live through it knows very well what I’m talking about. The inspiration was within us. For who, like me, lived in a small town in the suburbs, making music allowed to dream and removed us from the desolation that was the surroundings. It was from this kind of dreaming that I found my inspiration.
At the time , me and my partner Marco Baroni lived in our small studio in Liguria (Sarzana to be precise). With the little money we could save we bought the minimum needed to have the conditions to make club music. It was a very underground studio with obviously only analogue gear. I had available a sampler Akai s950, with which I could record only 2 seconds in stereo mode. If you think about what’s available today it seems like a joke. It was the beginning of everything and I remember I used to spend whole days and nights in the studio. Sometimes in the studio we had real after hour sessions until the morning with a few friends and this genre of music that we basically invented was born specifically for the afterparty mornings. My track “The Wizard” was born after one of these nights: inspired by the morning I invented this very soothing flute trip combined with a nice, summery rhythmic part… I remember with pride the moment I heard it played by Ralf at Titilla (Cocoricò), and that was also the way I met him. At the time he was my idol and I followed him everywhere - for me, in my early 20s, listening my idol playing my new track was a final goal. I would have never guessed that shortly after I would have found myself playing with him in some of the most important clubs of Italy and Europe, other than developing a fantastic friendship.
I am really happy about the re-discovery of the young crowds for this genre. If you listen closely, the italo/deep/house is relaxing, yes danceable, but relaxing, and this is precisely because after a night in a club the purpose was to decompress through this type of music… I think the most important lesson to take from this era is the spirit with which we faced life and things in general. No overthinking, having fun making music and being together, no fear of making mistakes and with that pinch of madness that led us to achieve great things.”
Versione in Italiano:
“Quello in cui è stata prodotta la traccia era un periodo musicalmente molto vivo, in continua evoluzione, e chi come me ha avuto la fortuna di vivere quel periodo sa bene di cosa sto parlando. L’ispirazione la si trovava molto dentro di noi. Per chi come me viveva in una piccola cittadina di periferia fare musica faceva sognare e allontanava dalla desolazione che ci circondava. E’ proprio da questo modo di sognare che ho trovato l’ispirazione.
Ai tempi io e il mio socio Marco Baroni vivevamo nel nostro piccolo studio in Liguria, a Sarzana. Con i pochi soldi che riuscivamo a mettere da parte compravamo il minimo necessario che ci potesse mettere in condizioni di poter fare musica da club. Era davvero molto underground con strumentazione ovviamente solo analogica. Io avevo a disposizione un campionatore Akai s950 con il quale campionavo solo 2 secondi stereo. Se si pensa a ciò che si ha a disposizione oggi sembra una barzelletta. Era l’inizio di tutto e mi ricordo che passavo giorno e notte in studio. A volte partivano dei veri e propri after con pochi amici che duravano fino al mattino e questo genere di musica che ci siamo praticamente inventati era nato appositamente per gli after. La mia traccia “The Wizard” è nata proprio dopo una di queste notti: ispirata alla mattina mi inventai questo viaggio di flauto molto dolce accompagnato da una bella ritmica estiva… Ricordo con grande soddisfazione di averla sentita la prima volta suonare da Ralf al Titilla (Cocoricò), e mi ricordo che fu proprio questo il pretesto per conoscerlo. Al tempo era un mio idolo e lo seguivo ovunque - per me, ventenne, sentire il mio idolo che suonava una mia nuova traccia era davvero un punto di arrivo. Non avrei mai detto che a breve mi sarei ritrovato insieme a Ralf a suonare in tutti i club più importanti d’Italia e d’Europa, e a coltivare con lui una splendida amicizia.
Sono davvero felice della riscoperta dei giovani per questo genere. Se si ascolta bene, l’italo/deep/house è rilassante, ballabile si, ma rilassante, e questo proprio perché dopo la serata in discoteca al mattino lo scopo era quello di decomprimere attraverso questo genere di musica... Credo che l’esempio da prendere da questo periodo sia lo spirito con il quale si affrontavano le cose e la vita. Pensando poco e divertendosi nel fare musica e nello stare insieme, senza paura di sbagliare e con quel pizzico di follia che ci ha portato a fare grandi cose.”
All the tracks of these feature series are included in the ‘Ciao Italia, Generazioni Underground’ compilation
‘Ciao Italia, Generazioni Underground’ is out now. Head over to Rebirth’s channels to buy the release:
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