Miguel Ramirez
“I’ve never been a ‘DJ’, I’ve always been an artist playing live since 2002” the musical genius told The Trance Project in a recent interview.
Known for his spectacular skills performing tracks live on stage, Giuseppe Ottaviani will return to our shores this weekend for the Aussie launch of his ‘Live 2.0’ concept at the highly anticipated trance event, Atlantis.
The ‘Live 2.0’ concept is an evolution of his previous ‘Live 1.0’ performance concept wherein he recreated his original productions using live instruments onstage.
We caught up with legend in an in-depth phone interview that took place in our Sydney office and fired away with questions on the ‘live 2.0’ concept, his career and shared more details on his upcoming sets throughout the Atlantis tour this weekend.
We’re extremely thrilled of your return to Australia for Atlantis 2016 – how excited are you for your return to Australia?
I get very excited each time i come down, it’ll be the first time I’ll be playing at Atlantis. This will be the official Australia launch for my live 2.0 concept, bringing something new on stage, so I’m very excited!
What do you love most about Australia’s trance scene?
I’ve been playing in Australia since 2004 pretty much every year, I use to play a lot for Stereosonic, many club tours and it’s always great to be there. Australia has such a great crowd, especially in Sydney and Melbourne as they always have the bigger shows, but it’s fun to play everywhere in Australia.
You will be bringing your LIVE 2.0 concept to Atlantis. How and when did you actually come up with LIVE 2.0 concept and can you tell us a bit about it?
I’ve never been a ‘DJ’, I’ve always been an artist playing live since 2002, which was my first show. After so many years I wanted to bring my live show to the next level. So far, I’ve been performing my music on stage, now with the live 2.0 concept, I’m reaching that next level and creating music live instead.
The new set up allows me to play my tracks, my productions and mixes, but there’s another section of the set that allows me to record any melody that comes to mind whilst on stage.
Whenever I play in front of a crowd, that’s usually the moment where I find inspiration to create tracks. Usually when I go back to the hotel after a gig, that’s the moment I create music.
So instead of waiting, I’ll be using the inspiration from the night to create something special straight away on stage.
I’m not planning anything, it’s just all happening live. So some tracks might be better than others, It’ll just happen naturally. It will be a unique experience for every show.
When will the productions you create on stage be released?
It depends on the reaction and how good the production is. Its simple stuff, I’m not making a final track on stage, it’s going to be raw material, but good enough for people to say ‘oh what’s that ID he’s playing’.
I did a test with my new concept at Dreamstate last November and I came up with this melody when I was there, the reaction was incredible, so I saved that melody and now it’s going to be released on March 14th titled ‘Musica’. That’s my first track that has come from my live 2.0 concept. It’s not going to happen to every single track I create on stage, but if I get something great then why not?
What else can fans expect from your upcoming sets? Will you be playing any new material?
Oh yes, absolutely! There are two different kinds of new material I’ll be playing, the new material I’ve been working in the studio the last few weeks and also the new material I’ll be creating on stage, plus all my latest productions and remixes that people want to hear.
When did your love for trance music start? What does trance mean to you?
Back in 1996/1997. I knew nothing about trance music because I come from a classical music background. I use to listen to all types of music, from rock music to even early German techno, then I heard William Orbit’s ‘Adagio For Strings’ and I thought ‘oh, I love this.’ It was the perfect mix between classical music and a dance beat. After doing some research I realised it was trance. Since then, I’ve been into trance music, but mainly into the beautiful melodies.
What’s your all-time favourite trance song?
Well I have many, but as I said that ‘Adagio For Strings’ was the first trance track I’ve heard, so it’s my favourite one with so many memories and its definitely the track that bought me here.
What has been the most life-changing moment in your career to this day?
I was part of a duo before called ‘Nu NRG’, from 1998 – 2005, we were doing really well back then but at some point for reasons that I’m not going to explain now, we had to split up and I had to start my career again as a solo artist, which was quite hard but at the same time I had all the connections to do so, I’ve been lucky.
You’re a hero to many fans across Australia and young producers out there. Who are your heroes — which artists inspire you these days?
Quite a few but lately I’ve become a fan of Deadmau5 for some reason, I’m not into every single track he does, his melodic stuff is more my thing. But I’m really into how he makes music, because I’ve never been a software guy, I’ve always been a hardware guy, and he is an inspiration on that side of things. I’m also into Eric Prydz’ music a lot.
What’s the next move for you production-wise? Do you have any plans on releasing a new album soon?
I’m going to release the track ‘Musica’ on March 14th, that will be my next single. I’m doing great big remixes right now and I’m almost done with my new artist album. I have a few tracks left before I can finalise my new artist album which will be out this year!
Do you have any last words to all your Aussie fans?
I can’t wait to show what I have in store for you Australia!
Atlantis 2016 complete lineup:
Aly & Fila
David Gravell
Ferry Corsten presents Gouryella (World Premiere)
Giuseppe Ottaviani Live 2.0
MaRLo
Orjan NIlsen
Atlantis 2016 tour dates & cities:
Sydney: Friday March 11 – All Phones Arena
Perth (Club Atlantis): Saturday March 12 – Metro City
Melbourne: Sunday March 13 – Hisense Arena
Atlantis 2016 tickets:
General on-sale: www.ticketek.com.au/Atlantis.
