Yes, I was running Abattoir in London for five to six years I think. Those years were wild! I have a crazy amount of good memories from then. I started DJ’ing at my own nights to save money for the main act, because it was all personally funded. Things slowly evolved from there, from my first NTS radio shows to the busy touring schedule that followed. Something I didn’t realise until recently is that while running Abattoir, I facilitated and supported some of the people involved to come out as queer and non-binary. It came up in a late night chat during my most recent stay in London - it filled me with joy!

Whatever my current obsessions are! I feel like this has shifted a bit over the past year and a half when the weekly chances to test my latest discoveries in front of a crowd were on hold. But now things are starting to reopen, the engine is running again!

Everywhere! Although the starting point is often an experience or memory. Bandcamp is always a good source, together with some mailing lists from record shops and labels I follow and a fair amount of promos from friends and fellow DJs.

Yes, I like to add as much real life contact as possible to virtual connections and sometimes they unfold in unexpected wonderful ways.

The label very much reflects what I like, without preconceptions or limitations in terms of geographic area, era, or genre. Through the label, I’m hoping to shed some light on some artists that might be otherwise overlooked, with a complete zero wannabe attitude.

Yes, to do 100% what feels right is the motto of the label! So far I have released material covering quite different genres, but another important aspect for me was to turn on its head the idea of a record label, proposing different objects that implement the pleasures of music in different ways. For instance, I am now talking with an artist that makes bespoke flutes.

I’m glad you mentioned this release! Hoshina Anniversary was one of the first artists in touch with me at the time Osàre launched. We had the chance to meet in person during my last trip to Tokyo when I played at Vent. He is an unstoppable, talented and multifaceted producer. Back then I already had a solid amount of material from him, and  meeting in person only fortified my idea of the direction the release should have taken. He’s a real outsider and we bonded immediately. I knew I wanted something less club-oriented for this whilst maintaining some catchiness! I also really focussed on the LP listening experience, choosing each track’s positioning carefully, really paying attention to the energy and flow of every track. I hope the efforts translated well into the final result. 

Many different ones, to be honest. Towards the end of 2019 I had some offers to curate line-ups and to be involved more conceptually into the planning of nights and festival stages, rather than simply turning up and playing - which I still really enjoy - but this direction feels like a natural evolution to me; not just shaping the sound of my two-or-so hours, but of the entire program. I like to be more involved in the whole process!

Yes!

I see a pretty strong connection between raving and music! So yeah, the collaboration with Senscommon was a super-natural one. Laura and I met a few times at parties - we both like to dance for hours - and shared the frustration with the quality and production methods behind most merchandise, their disposable approach. So we took advantage of the extra time we had last year to fully dive into the research of both the best shape and materials to create a modular bag that was truly clubbing and life-proof: small, light but also capacious, resistant to water and easy to wear in multiple ways. I have little interest in creating a cheap T-shirt or tote bag with a logo-print, to be honest. So, I’m happy that the first wearable item to be released on Osàre was this.