Starting From The Bottom: A Chat With Outcast And Paolo Macrì Ahead Of Outcast’s Label First Release
The Italian event organisation announces its label ‘Outcast Planet’, dropping the first release ‘Yoga For Beginners’ By Paolo Macrì. We have a chat with one of the label founders and Paolo about the origins of Outcast and this first explosive record.
In what we can optimistically consider a new era of electronic music and clubbing (denominations such as pre-covid and post-covid might become common expressions soon), many organisations, artists and labels some taking different actions to face the twisted situation. Some have been taking a break from the spotlights to reflect and gather their energies, some seem to be investing in promoting their own social media persona even further, while others are reinventing themselves by doing something new. This last one might be the case of Outcast, an Italian event organisation based in Turin throwing parties since January 2013.
Michele, Salvatore and Dario threw more than 100 parties, hosting basically every single one of their dance-floor heroes (recent events had seen Craig Richards, Binh, Francesco Del Garda, Sonja Moonear, Evan Baggs on the decks, as well as an endless list of other talents). They had showcases at CDV in Berlin, but also in London, Barcelona, Parigi and Ibiza, and participated in many international festivals. In their path as a whole, it feels like Outcast made it in what any underground collective aspires to: coming from the bottom and creating an authentic network with real recognition through time. And they had strikingly good results in doing so - especially considering the type of music and partying they promoted was barely considered within the clubbing environment of Turin at the time they started.
“We are a group of ‘outcasts’, living as they like and doing what they love without caring much about conforming.”
- Michele, one of the Founders of Outcast
This year the path of Outcast took a new turn, with the announcement of their own label ‘Outcast Planet’. The organisation did not operate as a label for its 8 years of activity - we wanted to have a chat with them to get more insights on this move, on the new label and first release, but also on Outcast’s history and core motivations. The first release ‘Yoga For Beginners’ is produced by Outcast resident’s Paolo Macrì, who also joins in the second part of the interview. He has been releasing neat house and techno music with an acid taste to it for a few years now, both with his solo project as well as with Mamosato, a collaboration with Cristian Sardellino and Emanuele Montalto. With releases on Rutilance, LowMoneyMusicLove, as well as his own label Squeeze the Lemon, he is definitely one to watch - this killer EP with Outcast Planet release proving his talent once again.
Hello! Thank you for your time, I have been a fan of your parties for quite a long time and always enjoyed the music and atmosphere so much! It’s a pleasure to host you on Guerrilla Bizarre. I’d like to start with some questions to Michele (label owner) and move on to some queries on the release for Paolo.
So Michele, with Outcast you have been running successful events since 2013, and are just launching your label ‘Outcast Planet’ with a first release by Paolo Macrì. Is the idea of starting a label something you had in mind for a long time or was the development in this moment related to the pandemic?
My peers and I always discussed the possibility of opening a label, but we always faced a harsh reality. We had little experience on how to do it and there was nothing “of our own” that we could offer. In short, either we would have picked artists close to our parties to whom we could have requested music, and plan release after release like this, or we could have waited for the artists playing at our parties to start producing valuable music - of high quality and conveying proper emotion. We took the second path. The pandemic allowed us (forcefully) to stop for the first time, to confront each other and to listen to hours and hours of music. We then realised our residents were ready to become protagonists of our first official label. When I talk about our residents I mean Paolo Macrí, but also Munir Nadir, Alex Dima, Bakked, Cristian Sarde, Lorenzo Aribone, Grano, Ema Montalto, Simone Faye. A crew of artists with many projects under their belts, such as Squeeze the lemon (label of Paolo and Dario of Outcast), Mamosato (Paolo + Cristian + Ema), Samo (Cristian + Ema), Coordinate (label of Bakked, Alex and Denaila), Outban (label of Bakked), Sick advisor (Faye’s record shop) etc…
Why start off the label with a release from Paolo? What’s his relationship with Outcast?
Paolo is certainly the most eclectic one of the artists in our circle. He was born with Outcast, grew up with us and was one of our residents since 2016. The reason we chose him for the first release it’s simply because at the moment we decided to launch the label he had more music reflecting the philosophy which was intended to guide our discographic project. We always wanted to do what we liked without forgetting that we are a party-oriented project that does not want to be limited to pure self-referentiality. Technique can be a lethal weapon if it’s used to produce quality music that is an end in itself. We want to release quality music but with an objective: setting the dance-floor on fire.
‘Yoga For Beginners’ is as good as it is varied. Do you have a precise vision for Outcast Planet? What would you like for it to become in the future?
The only vision we have with Outcast Planet today is the one I mentioned - releasing music from our crew only, only our peers, trying to put together variegated releases that are not a simple way to show how we can compete with others, but that are more of a connection between our different tastes and the concept of fun we want to deliver to our public. For what concerns the more formal aspects, we’d like to launch every release inspired by a precise theme, as we did with ‘yoga’ on the first one. The artwork, the merch and the promotion of a release should all be inspired by that theme.
We usually like to ask what’s at the core of a particular organisation or label. ‘Outcast’ is such a strong name and concept for your endeavours, where is this name from? What’s at the foundation of the project?
The project was born randomly from a chance that was given to Salvatore and I 8 years ago, to throw a party at Club Gamma in Turin. In barely ten days we managed to create a strong project, followed and with a notable identity. We were a close-knit bunch of youngsters who loved to party together. Nothing more than a group of friends, not so organised but with an unmatched enthusiasm. We involved all our friends and relatives - everyone in the city on that 18th of January was rooting for us, we were an absolute novelty. The first party was a hurricane of emotions other than an incredible success, and then… Everything that happened in the last 8 years happened. We never share why we chose the name “Outcast”, even though we were literally outcasts and we still are.
What can we expect from Outcast and Outcast Planet’s future plans?
Unfortunately we can’t say anything sure regarding this. The uncertainty we are living in is not allowing us to do any planning, either short or long term. In June we should have our festival Outcastle but it’s more and more likely that it’s going to be postponed. Who knows, maybe in the future we’ll plan another festival, maybe we’ll get a residency in some (survived) Turin club, only time will tell. These are long-shot hypothesis. For now the only certain thing is that after OTP01 there will be OTP02… for the rest, Hakuna Matata.
We’d also like to ask a few questions to Paolo regarding the release. We loved his style for a while now, both in terms of original productions and DJing.
Hi Paolo! The style of your music lands in a tasteful underground in-between of different genres, house, breakbeat, acid and much more. It’s pretty much what we look for in underground dance-floor music nowadays: unstandardised grooves that keep it interesting! Would you define your style in any particular way? What are the artists or sound you feel most affiliated with, currently?
There’s not a particular artist that inspires me. In my tracks I try to leave space to different shades that characterised my artistic path through years, as I started by getting familiar with house music, and followed in later discovering and listening to more acid and electro material.
‘Yoga For Beginners’ is a perfect representation of your style - from the funky breakbeats of ‘Breath In’ to the brain-melting synth patterns of ‘Outdoor’, it lingers between iconic basslines and more experimental inputs for an exceptional result. What was the process of production of the EP? Were all the tracks produced recently or were they the result of a long process?
Some tracks, specifically ‘The Kickers’ e ‘Control Q’ were produced in a period previous to the others. You can notice how they are more similar to the other tracks I released, while the other 3 tracks are more of a fresh product, where you can really perceive the synthesis of the various music influences that are majorly related to my current production.
What’s your current set up looking like? What’s the piece of gear you used the most for producing this record?
My setup in the studio is very essential. I have few machines, from which I manage to get the sound I search for. The instrument I used the most to produce this EP is the Roland JP 8000, a machine that really well-reflects the sound that I try to imprint in my tracks right now, which is not limited to a set of sounds or a particular genre.
We can’t wait for the record to be released! What else can we expect of you in 2021? Either from your personal projects or ones you are part of.
Soon it will be announced a new EP for a label I already worked with in the past and obviously I will proceed with the label Squeeze The Lemon, which I started with my peer Dario Zappavigna. The Mamosato project is also not at its end, and who knows what other collaborations will pop up in the future.
Thank you again so much guys, it's been a pleasure chatting with you. All the best for the release and the rest of 2021!
