RIVA STARR >> Feature on DataTransmission.co.uk

THE UNPREDICTABLE WORLD OF RIVA STARR
Written By: BenGomori

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From one release to the next, it’s pretty much impossible to predict what Italian producer Riva Starr is going to sound like. From the sexy, sleazy house chunks of early effort Thizzle to the salsafied flavours of Maria to the weighty fidget twanging of Vouxhall and through to tasters from his forthcoming debut album like the oompah and Balkan leanings of Black Cat, White Cat and I Was Drunk with French pissheads Nôze, this Italian misfit is one of the most gifted and joyously unpredictable producers in the realms of house music and thereabouts.

“I don’t know, I don’t like to get stuck in one sound style or genre” he says when probed on his seeming musical schizophrenia. “Everything cool-sounding has room in my studio. There’s obviously my taste to link all the styles together. In my album you will hear from tech house to old skool Chicago to ‘80s electro and hyphy” More on that album later – let’s set the story first. Born Stefano Miele in Naples, he describes his dance music upbringing in the polluted city as “amazing”. After cutting his teeth on the underground party scene in the ‘80s and ‘90s, he served his DJing apprenticeship at a club called Velvet Zone, bang in the middle of the city’s historic centre. He played for 7 hours at a time on Saturday nights, which helped to shape his diverse, eclectic, versatile ways. The local house and techno scene played an important part in the larger national scheme of things, and of all the places to grow up in Italy, it was a pretty productive one for a dance music fiend to come up in. “I feel quite lucky as my musical background got a big benefit from that city” But it was with nu skool breaks that he was to make his name as a producer – back in 2003 when he emerged under the alias Madox on the Italian Mantra Vibes / Mantra Breaks label. His recent signing to Fatboy Slim’s Southern Fried Records, it turns out, brings his story full circle – as he was to blame for his breakbeat enthusiasm in the first place. “I have big respect for Norman Cook” he beams proudly. “He’s been the one that inspired me back in the days in my hip-hop / breakbeat moment. I used to love every project he released so it has been an important stone of my career to release for his label and make two remixes for him too” After a few years of making solid headway as one of the rising stars of breakbeat, Miele launched a new alias to cater for his love of housier grooves; thus Riva Starr was born. In his own words, he created his Riva Starr guise “to save the world”, and claims that Madox is now Riva’s personal chef – “whenever you need a nouvelle cuisine delicatessen just give him a shout!” So far, so bugged out.

With a new guise inevitably came new challenges, potential new fans and new critics. It was all unchartered territory for Miele as a producer, and so instead of instantly whoring his wares out to record labels, he dived into the wide world of blogs, giving away music for free and testing the reaction of these tastemakers. So fervent was the reception he received from these sites that before long, scene-leaders Claude VonStroke and Jesse Rose had both taken notice and signed EPs for their respective labels Dirtybird and Front Room Recordings. He couldn’t have hoped for a better start. “[The blogs were]very important, it’s the quickest word of mouth promotion you can get nowadays. I like the internet ‘cause I think it’s very democratic. It’s still a place where everyone can express himself and gain his own solid fanbase.” Since then, he’s signed to Southern Fried as a regular contributor, created remixes and productions for Kindisch, Armand Van Helden, Audio Bullys, Gossip, Institubes, Exploited, Perspex Recordings, and he’s been asked back by his early supporters on a regular basis. All this, and without sticking to any particular style, He represents the new, vital wave of house music lovers – with a healthy nod to their heritage combined with production expertise and a magpie-like attitude to sampling the most disparate of musics to incorporate into their work. Call it the globloglisation effect, if you can bare something so cumbersome. Miele himself calls his style “Snatch!” – as in snatching bits of music from anywhere and everywhere. It’s also the name of his forthcoming new label, which will feature some top secret collaborations.

His taster EP from forthcoming debut Riva Starr album When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade is a prime example – fusing skippy house beats to Nôze’s oompah cheekiness and manic, whirling Balkan gypsy violins. “It’s groovy” he says of his love for Eastern European stylings. “I’m a big fan of world music in general, as you can see from my past tunes like La Conga or Maria, so Balkan sounds are just a quick travel into another area of world music for me. I’m not a Balkan DJ just to be clear. But I like all the comments about this refreshed Balkan scene coming back.” The Nôze collaboration, I Was Drunk (a bit like Amy Winehouse doing a song called I Was On Crack) began life at their Paris studio, and was completed with a little of the old back-and-forth on the internet thereafter. “MAN if they look crazy to you just because of the records then you should see them live!” he chuckles about their eccentric contribution. Their celebration of hedonism, Bacchanalian excess and merriment typifies Miele’s approach to the album, with a focus on fun and not on serious artist album restrictions. “I didn’t want to produce a concept album. I’m a DJ and my plan was to release something like a party album. You are at home with friends…some booze…a CD player…just put my CD on and have fun. Isn’t dance music supposed to be a kinda fun thing?” He’s got a point. As for the title, he says he’s trying to point producers away from the copycat model – and perhaps to get inspired by his seemingly random, impossible-to-pin-down attitude. “I think everyone should stop looking at who’s big, famous and successful and try to imitate or copy their style. Everyone should have a more original sound and make the most of the skills that life gave them!” Indeed when pushed for production advice for any aspiring Riva-wannabes out there, he reiterates: “don’t try to make music that may please everyone, you will never manage to do that and the result will be poor.”

Now relocated to London, Naples’ loss is very much our gain. He’s frequently playing at clubs in the capital and around the country, making it easy for us lucky lot to catch one of his raucous sets. In Italy, he says that still “there are a lot of forward thinking promoters that try to push new sounds forward” – but let’s hope that’s no reason to tempt him back home. Like a much-loved, repatriated footballer who is allowed to play for England after an allotted time as a permanent resident, we’re more than happy to keep Riva as one of our own. Someone phone Border Control immediately and ensure he never escapes. One of the names of 2009, without a doubt.