I
was born in Parma, I grew up and was weaned to the sound of music (my father
was an excellent 'swing' singer in the 60s) and I have always had the good
fortune of being surrounded by that strange, magical and unusual atmosphere
which is the World of Art, seen, lived, loved and shared in all its forms
and expressions by the whole family. The desire to do something in the music
field has always been in my chromosomes and to make it come out all that was
needed was at first to see, then follow and finally to emulate from when I
was a boy, my brother Giampaolo's work, at his time a valued DJ, that introduced
me to the night-clubbing world, getting me to know it in all its details,
at the roots, and making me appreciate it in all its beauty, in all its energy.
What can I say about myself? I'm a wanderer and a traveller, as soon as I
can I take off to discover new places in the world to get to know their secrets,
their customs and the culture; I'm also utterly inseparable from my endurance
motorbike, my faithful companion over many years and I love sport, even if
at the moment due to lack of time and an injury too many I've had to abandon
almost everything, in any case as soon as I have a moments break, I take refuge
in the gym to do a little body building and spinning, even if judging by the
results I should begin applying myself much, much more ……..
I began playing
at the Parma Bogey Club in 1982 (I was only a boy) and after a couple of years
I went onto the Odissea 2001. My musical preferences have always been orientated
towards electronic music and avant-garde music; I have always admired and
followed 'historical' groups which experimented with synthetized sounds like
the Tangerine Dream the Kraftwerk, the first Simple Minds, Ultravox, Depeche
Mode, and others like Brian Eno, Alan Parson, Jean Michel Jarre, Mike Oldfield.
As soon as I had the possibility I immediately tried to present this kind
of music in the discos. I have been doing this wonderful job as a profession
(maybe the right word is 'fun') since 1986, in my 'sets' at that time, I was
playing afro-funky music, tribal and electro-beat, learning almost everything
from the djs of Cosmic Daniele Baldelli e Claudio TBC, with whom I grew up
and above all worked with for a long time.
When electronic dance was not yet known and was the true and only alternative
from the usual disco music, we were already presenting it in the clubs.
In 1993 I discovered techno by chance and I fell in love with it immediately!!
Thanks to the possibility given to me by the clubs namely Amnesia e Kaos and
above all to the meeting with Stefano Bratti, one of the historical djs of
the techno movement in Italy, I began playing and appreciating this kind of
music even more, trying to present it in its multiple facets and sounds. Through
the years I have had the pleasure and the honour of playing in some of the
most important and prestigious Italian Techno-Clubs like Plasmaphobia, Koo
Club, Prince, Illiria, Cellophane, Mirage, Phoenix, Matis, Vibe, Alexander,
Imperiale, Red Zone, White House, Fabula, Alibi and others as well as some
of the best Italian Afterhours like Halley, Progresso World Convention, Gallè,
Sysma, Atlantide, Syncopate, Notte dei Ricordi.
For many years I have been working with Clubs and events that take place abroad
(Austria, Switzerland, the Cech. Rep., Slovenia, England); playing abroad
gives a unique occasion to compare oneself on an artistic and an audience
level, that even without the great enthusiasm and warmth of an Italian one,
is definitely older in age than ours but is above all a superior 'club culture'
and because of this even for us djs is even more stimulating to present more
varied and unusual 'sets' with a journey sound that starts with Electro, travels
through from tech-house and ends with pulled and hypnotic rhythms from techno
and trance.
I have made and produced over 80 records on various Italian labels. From beginnings
on VOODOO RECORDS under the nick 'Mo.na.ba.' (1996), I went to SIGMA with
which I made various records amongst which I remember the hit 'THE KING &
THE NURSERY '(1997) with affection and satisfaction which I made and came
out under the nick 'Terzo Millennio' and again 'THE MIRACLE, THE ORACLE, THE
MAGICIAN…..', ACID SIMPHONY I e II' , 'ICSOS ', 'MICROMEGA' . In the
same year I finally released my first record 'only': GIGI MONTANINI 'NATURAL
ENERGIZER ' on the METROPOLE label.
Having finished the experience with SIGMA I then went to 'ITAYE ' for GREENFORCE
a good single much appreciated in Germany and released under the pseudo 4
BADS.
In the year 2000 I became part of GAS RECORDS where I spent three incredible
years, through good and bad times, in joy and in pain, with tears, blood and
sweat during which I widened my experience of producer and remixer, making
not only techno products but also house, trance and hardstyle. At the end
of 2002 my collaboration with the group GAS ended: I come out head held high,
pleased and proud of having discovered and produced so many new Italian artists
and foreigners who will definitely make themselves appreciated in future by
everyone and with the personal satisfaction of having produced several hit
singles (IN&OUT , EMMA II , THE MESSAGE) and above all I have produced
the hit E.M.M.A. ep which not only is dedicated to my daughter, but has received
a world licence with WEA and has been released in Spain on TIEMPO, on LEADED
worldwide and has been in all the best DJs charts.
In 2003, I founded
my personal Company MTN VINYL RESEARCH and new labels because with this project
I want to return to bet on young talents that don't have the possibility to
produce records but have the ideas and are willing to work.
Therefore I have created this new 'team' of young and talented producers and
remixers that I want to guide with my experience in A&R and I am sure
we will achieve great results in a short time.
The philosophy of the new labels is that of a constant commitment in the research
and experimentation of new sounds and that wants to truly make the labels
become a real point of reference for Techno music lovers.
People often
ask me 'what future is there for techno music' and I always answer that no
one can ever know what new and interesting music there will be to dance to
in the future, what sounds they will have and with what names they will become
known and appreciated.
The important thing is that to survive it will always have to play an integral
part of the youths world and way of living and thinking today and tomorrow.
The same is true for me and if I am not certain what my future could be as
a DJ or Producer, even if I am sure that I will always remain faithfully and
sincerely in love with music and when in many, many years to come I will not
be able to play it, I will always continue to treat it with maximum respect.
You do it too, always …..respect is an expression of civility and freedom
of which one should always be proud!