glauco di mambro
The State of Flux line-ups always have a very precise identity wi- thout ever
being predictable.
When you book an artist, do you look for someone who resembles you or someone who challenges you? Will you keep a similar line for the label releases?
First of all, thank you for the compliment: having a recognisa- ble identity without being predic- table is one of the nicest things you could say to me. And thank you also for the question, very focused: actually I’m looking for exactly something that surprises me, and therefore challenges me, but that can always be traced back to the sonic aesthetic of State of Flux.
I look for music rich in sugges- tions, with a strong energetic and emotional charge, but that never goes too dark. I look for music that is certainly sophisticated and elegant, but not too abstruse so as not to be understood by the audience. I’m absolutely not inte- rested in genre, and for that rea- son all those artists who are not easily pigeonholed into a genre, but who know how to move fluidly within the ranges of an electronic music that is never banal or pre- dictable, are more than welcome in State of Flux. And this applies both to the line-ups of the par- ties and to the label. Absolutely, party and label are closely con- nected, they are communicating vessels: the moment we invite an artist to perform at a State of Flux event, and to the radio show, for us they become part of the family. It means we share the same musical vision, the same mood and the same philosophy, inside and outside the dance- floor. So far we have done about 20 “main events” of State Of Flux, and many satellite ones, inviting around 60 international artists: well, these artists were the first I contacted to inform them about the label and to invite them to send their music. This gives you an idea of how connected label and event are for me!
If I were looking for someone who resembles me, I’d be doing an exercise in narcissism, not cura- tion.
What I look for in an artist for STATE OF FLUX is the “offset”, that unexpected spark that for- ces me to look at the dancefloor from an angle I hadn’t considered. I like the idea of programming ta- lents who have the same mental attitude as me — that hunger for independence and research — but who express a sonic lan- guage capable of challenging me. And above all of challenging the dancefloor too: today I belie- ve predictability is the first step towards decline. The audience is too musically knowledgeable to settle for a human algorithm; they want to be surprised, they want to feel the risk.
For the label, the line will be exactly this, but with an even more visceral attention to narra- tive. I’m not interested in printing “functional” tracks that only ser- ve to fill DJ sets. I look for tracks that have a backbone, that take that acid, minimal or indie dance soul into unexplored territories.
STATE OF FLUX releases must be a mirror of what we experience at the Sanctuary and at our parties: a continuous movement whe- re identity is granite, but form is liquid. I want those who listen to one of our releases to say: “I didn’t expect it, but it’s deeply them.”
In the studio as at the console, my mission is to create a com- munity of contrasts. If an artist challenges me, it means they’re bringing something real. And it’s exactly that “creative conflict” that turns a night or a record into an unforgettable moment.
And speaking of releases, “Ipo- tetica Salsa” was described as a rebellious anthem. Do you think rebellion on the dancefloor sti- ll exists today or has it become more of a narrative concept?
I really like this definition, and it’s exactly the feeling I wanted to evoke with “Ipotetica Salsa”. The term “rebellious anthem” came about because the track disre- garded conventions. In a world of tracks built algorithmically to work in the first 30 seconds of a reel, proposing a sound that
slows down, plays with irony and a hypnotic structure, is an act of rupture. Rebellion still exists if there is the courage to say no. No to the usual cliques that decide who should play, no to pre-pac- kaged playlists, no to algorithms that decide our lives. “Ipotetica Salsa” is my way of saying we can also dance to the unexpected, that we can be profound without being boring and light without being trivial.
I believe that today more than ever rebellion exists on the dan- cefloor: it’s just that it manifests in different ways. Rebellion means not conforming to common rules, to pre-established codes: in this sense, the “No Phone Policy” dan- cefloor is an expression of it, for example.
Especially for the younger gene- ration, rebellion today is turning off your phone and reclaiming physical space.
This summer I had the fortune to play twice in the Secret Apart- ment at UNVRS Ibiza, on Satur- days when ElRow is in the main room: there the “No Phone Policy” is really strict, it’s not just a slo- gan. If you don’t leave your phone outside the Apartment, you can’t enter: everyone, no exceptions. Including DJ, bartender, security. And in the Apartment I saw one of the dancefloors with the most re- bellious attitude I’ve come across last summer. Even one of the key concepts behind “soft clubbing”, that of taking the dancefloor out of its pre-established context, is a rebellious act: sometimes it gets distorted and used as a pretext, but at its base there is a desire to change things, to do them di- fferently from how they’ve been done so far. I will always be on the side of those who rebel, indeed I want to be the instigator of an- yone who wants to go against the current, and that’s exactly the feeling I want to convey with my DJ sets, especially in the State Of Flux context.
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