A background consisting of a fusion of styles where the common thread is the true, unconditional, and consistent passion towards electronic music and its evolution. This is the foundation of the artistic career of Graziano Raffa, the Italian born DJ and Producer, and label manager of the Sudbeat imprint.
His musical roots are fully represented in highly moving sets characterised by a very dynamic flow constantly crossing the boundaries between Progressive, Techno and House. His extensive gig portfolio can show appearances in top clubs sharing the booth with dance music legends like Hernan Cattaneo, Danny Howells, Henry Saiz, and Nick Warren just to name a few…
Aside to DJ’ing his own productions have received support from a range of top artists and also released on major labels across the underground scene.
These premises together with an outstanding dedication to his craft assure that you will definitely hear much more from Graziano Raffa in the future.
Balance Selections 204: Graziano Raffa
Tracklisting:
01. A-Tweed – Easels Ripped My Flesh (Original Mix) // Feines Tier
02. John Tejada – Whip Hand (Original Mix) // Palette Recordings
03. Facu Bausset – The Beats (Original Mix) // Outsiders Records
04. Paul Sparkes – Floating (Original Mix) // Seta Label
05. E-dward! – Empty Club (Original Mix) // Introspection Recordings
06. Dachshund – Only (Original Mix) // Poker Flat Recordings
07. Desert Dwellers – The Elephants March (Uones Fear & Loathing Remix) // Dreaming Awake
08. Ryan Murgatroyd – Something Said (Ian Pooley Remix) // Variety Music
09. Jimpster, Mavhungu, Funkky – Mitodzi (Jimpster Instrumental Remix) // Foliage Records
10. Steal Tapes – Mood (Original Mix) // Brobot
11. Mancini – Gemini (Casey Spillman remix) // hedZup rec
12. Abyss (Giuseppe Morabito) – Blue (Original Mix) // Piston Recordings
13. Frasseck & Freitag – Lunacy (Original Mix) // Traum
14. Tevatron – Synchrotron (Deetroy Mix) // Metrohm
15. Michael Hooker – Skreeching Corruptor (Original Mix) // Sprout
16. Saliva Commandos – Feijao (Extended Mix) // Stealth Records
17. Reset Robot – Only Light Escapes (Original Mix) // Whistleblower
18. Kasey Taylor & Karl Pilbrow – In the Zone (Original Mix) // Sudbeat Music
19. Jamie Stevens & Garance – Heavy Hearts (Original Mix) // Balance Music
20. Vooz Brothers – I Am The Future (Original Mix) // Connected
21. Agustin Giri & Folgar – Wrong Place (Original Mix) // CDR
22. B-Vision – What Have You Got (Original Mix) // Sudbeat Music
23. Melissa Santa Maria – Oracion (Original Mix) // Savia Park
24. Tom Zeta feat. Berenice Van Leer – Personal Space (Original Mix) // You Plus One
25. Saison – Feel The Push (Dub Mix) // Future Disco
26. Greg Gow – The bridge (Late Night Grand River Mix) // Transmat
27. Satoshi Fumi – The Trail of Light (Original Mix) // UNKNOWNseason
Balance Selections Q+A
Name: Graziano Raffa
Location: Buenos Aires / Barcelona
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Alias/Producer name: Graziano Raffa
Labels affiliated with: Sudbeat
My last 3 releases:
Graziano Raffa & Nick Varon – Cal Cirera (Original Mix)
Graziano Raffa – Tricoma EP
Francesco Farfa, Sandro S – Purple Break (Hernan Cattaneo & Graziano Raffa Remix)
What music did you listen to as a child?
I’m thankful for having a father that loves music! He plays guitar and keyboard and made me listen to music heroes like Pink Floyd, Genesis and Phil Collins, Paul McCartney, Deep Purple, Elton John, Santana or some Italian legends like Pino Daniele, Zucchero, Franco Battiato or his favourite band, Pooh. He also had a turntable and I loved to listen to his vinyls, enjoying the artworks and the packagings and caring them as precious items as he always taught me to do. I was mostly under his influence until 8-9 years then he bought me a Walkman with FM Radio that allowed me to record stuff on cassettes and so the journey began!
When was the first time that you realised that you liked electronic music?
Believe it or not but from the movies, everytime there was a synthesizer sounding, for example in Blade Runner, Beverly Hills Cop or Rocky soundtracks, I was feeling a buzz with those digital warm sounds that were so revolutionary and catchy. I believe that the 80’s are particularly important for electronic music. It was the decade when the technology was consolidating its role and position in our society on a deeper level. Along with bigger TVs, microwave ovens and mobile phones, the synthesizers got their place into the popular culture and this breakdown was a fundamental piece for the rise of house, techno or even for the evolution of rap and black music, along with the creative boost provided that brought to the creation of genres like drum ‘n bass, trip hop, trance, ambient and so on. I think there will never be so many genres invented as over the 80’s and the 90’s and I tried to explore many of them.
At that time in Italy we had an explosion of the euro dance with names like DJ Dado, 49ers, Cappella, Da Blitz, Datura, Ti.Pi.Cal. to name a few. And at the same time the incredible rise of house and techno movement that I discovered right after (when I was around 16-17 years old) and where I could learn from the vision of Italian masters like Mauro Picotto, Francesco Farfa, Ricky Montanari, Joy Kitikonti, Rino Cerrone, Bini & Martini or the legend Claudio Coccoluto who unfortunately is not with us anymore. So, since when I was very young I was exposed to dance music and I soon felt insanely attracted to the DJ lifestyle and as a teenager I already wanted for this culture to be a big part of my life.
When was the first time you saw a DJ in a club?
The first time was in a club called Taitù in the beautiful Giardini Naxos, a little town below Taormina. One of the best spots in Sicily and the core of the island house movement over the 90’s. I went there in one of the school parties called matineè that were happening from 4pm to 10pm to allow younger people to experience house music in a club with music selected mostly by local artists. I was 14 years old and it was the first time I was enjoying a proper soundsystem. Crazy feeling!! Since then I kept clubbing as much as I could and had many big “first times” in Sicily, from Carl Cox to Steve Bug, Danny Tenaglia to Marshall Jefferson, Francois Kevorkian to John Digweed and many others. Even with Hernan we met each other in Sicily, around 2009, in a club where he came to play called Marabù. Lovely memories from glorious times that I always take with me and remind with pleasure and gratitude.
Which producers/artists/acts inspire you?
Probably due to the fact that I listened loads of rap music in the 90s I feel very inspired by the so called black music. I am fascinated by the way the Afro Americans communities, unjustified victims of shameful racism and segregation, have used for decades their creativity and sense of belonging to express their pain and sorrow, as well as their rich culture and history, trough the music. Rather than weapons they used words and sounds to fight back the evil of the men. Their approach should be an example in a world where we incredibly still have wars, slavery and so much pain going on.
Soul, Blues or Jazz have been incredibly influential for hip hop beat makers but are also the genitors of Disco and then House and Techno, so I think it makes sense that I feel big love for music from the likes of Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis, Aretha Franklin, Curtis Mayfield, Gil Scott-Heron, The Temptations, Isaac Hayes or the incredible Quincy Jones. It’s a long list but I swear I tried to keep it as short as I could.
In the modern age, and more specifically in dance music area, Laurent Garnier is the one who better represents the idea I have about the essence of a real DJ. He’s like a living encyclopedia of the electronic sound and he’s perfectly able to show a lot of his taste, culture and personality in 5-6 hours set, creating that kind of journey that every DJ should aspire to give to the fans at some point in his career. You can see it in his face, while he’s playing, that he’s driven by pure passion for the music and I think it’s admirable to have such an example in a scene that these days is unfortunately ruled more and more by marketing and social media.
What was the last album that you downloaded/bought?
Last LP I got is from Reset Robot on his label Whistleblower and it’s called ‘Only Light Escapes’. I received the promo some week ago and I felt in love with it so my advice is to check it out if you like quality club music.
What is your current production and DJ set up like?
In studio I work with Ableton Live and run my Synths trough an RME Fireface 400. It’s an old soundcard but still very reliable in terms of sound, functionality and building materials. For monitoring I have the Mackie MR624 and I also use UAD effects processed trough a Satellite DUO Dsp. Then on the Synth side I am working with Access Virus Ti2, Korg Minilogue, Korga Volca Nu Bass, amazing for acid basslines, a JU-06 from the Roland Boutique Series, great emulation of the Juno 106, and then the Elektron Digitone, which is an absolute beast of a machine! I have some plugins I like particularly, like the U-HE Diva or the Ana 2 from Sonic Academy but I have to recon that I’m more and more into recording takes with the synths as it’s super fun and, even most important, it gives to the music a human touch that is harder to achieve just with plugins.
I also use quite a lot Native Instruments Machine for drum programming and the RMX-1000 both in studio and in my dj setup. Along with the RMX I mix with a typical Pioneer setup of 3/4 CDJs and DJM 900 Nexus 2 although this one is leaving its place to the DJM V10 that is a really fascinating mixer and most likely the one I’ll use the most in the next years. For me using a computer to mix records in a club or festival is too absorbing whereas with CDJs I have much more eye contact with the crowd and I am more relaxed as I don’t feel so worried about CPU freezes, system failures or drinks thrown on my laptop!!
What releases do you have on the horizon?
I have been working on new tracks for my next EP on Sudbeat that will be out after summer. There is also a nice collaboration in the making with Emiliano Folgar, top notch producer and very good friend from Buenos Aires. We are mixing our taste in a very nice way and I can’t wait to have those projects ready! Along with that I have more music that I have been testing in my last gigs that I need to finalize and send out to other labels. It sounds like a paradox but with my role at Sudbeat I spend hours everyday to discover and listen new music and to run the label. So when it’s time to send my own stuff I’m probably too saturated and I’m not so efficient as I try to be as label manager. I often make music that I play in my sets and then stays on my hard disk for a few months before I start sending them over but well… It’s the way it is and I don’t feel any pressure. I’m happy with releasing 2/3 times per year leaving enough room and energy to the DJ career as well as for the label of course, and try to keep a balance that I consider fundamental to be efficient in all my music related activities.
Where can we hear you perform?
Thanks to the pandemic issue being sort of under control now and with clubs reactivating I had some good months in South America with some very nice gigs in Brasil and Argentina. As I’m writing I’m getting ready for my last one in Buenos Aires before leaving to the Music Week in Miami and then Europe with gigs in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Malta, and Messina, my hometown in Sicily. Around the end of May I’ll return to Buenos Aires, where I now spend most of the year, and will get back to action in this side of the world with plans in the making for Mexico and other countries in South America.
On my Soundcloud and Mixcloud pages you can find some of my favourite recordings of DJ sets around the world in my Southside series. I started it years ago as a monthly radioshow but then I slowly transformed it in a way that’s inspired in the old-school, when you had to buy mixtapes on the way out of the clubs. It was a way to get in touch with the DJs who were often selling them directly to the fans and most of the times were live recordings that were impossible to find somewhere else. With so many mixes and podcasts released nowadays I thought it was cool to make something different than the usual 60/90 mins studio mix where you play sort of easy listening stuff.
So I decided to release mixes with the heat and rawness of the live situation. I think it gives a different soul to the sets I share and offers a totally realistic idea of who I am as a DJ.
Tell us more about the podcast you made for Balance?
It’s a 2 hour mix where I’m showing the vibe that you can expect to find in the parties where I play. There’s a bit of everything I like, the glamour of House, the soul of Detroit Techno and the hypnotism of Progressive House blended together. I selected some of the hottest stuff I got in the last months plus some unreleased Sudbeat choons and other goodies received from fellow producers.
My Recommendations
The top track in my DJ wallet currently is:
Can’t get tired of playing Vince Watson – Holographic (Carl Craig’s Ride or Die Anthem) released on Everysoul label. It’s a beautiful journey from the iconic Detroit legend that is Mr. Craig .
If I could recommend only one of my tracks for you to listen to it would be:
Hard to say, I feel it’s like I had to pick a favourite between your kids and that’s something impossible! Every track means something to me otherwise it wouldn’t be out.
If I could recommend only one track for you to listen to it would be:
Marvin Gaye ‘What’s Going On’ it’s the track I listened more than any other following my Spotify stats, so I’ll go with it!
The last movie I watched that I really liked:
Unfortunately I don’t like most of the movies that are going out these days. I feel there’s an abuse of superheroes and apocalypses on big screens so I always end up watching some classics or documentaries. So to say, my fave movie ever is Rocky, and the last thing I watched that I really really liked is The Last Dance documentary with Michael Jordan. Although it’s more like a sport documentary and not a movie, I believe MJ’s legacy is so huge that can easily fit anywhere we want.
My favourite TV show:
Breaking Bad is one of the first series I ever watched and probably is the reason why it came to my mind first when I read your question. It’s a top notch story with incredible acting, and screenplay!
In these days I’m also watching The Sopranos (finally !!!)! Some dear friends were pushing me because they couldn’t accept that a Sicilian didn’t know the series and now that I’m into that I can totally understand why.
