Born in Italy and living in Berlin, Luca Albano aka Weg started his musical journey with the release of his first EP on vinyl in 2006. Since then he has been DJing in clubs and parties in his native Rome, gradually spreading all across Europe. In 2010, after releasing another record on Dj Ralf’s legendary Italian label LaTerra, he moved to Berlin, following the footsteps of the liberal city and the electronic music scene. By 2012 he launched a live set project together with Flora Päär, adding depth to his sound and mixing melodies with live vocals on minimal grooves. Together with the Serialism crew Cesare vs Disorder, Quenum, San Proper, Konrad Black, Dj Ralf, Carola Pisaturo, Loquace, and Salvo Castelli, he got inspired by the new environment and prepared his first EP for the label under the new alias Weg which in German means the way or path. Currently, he is working with Italian DJ/Producer Marco Effe on a party and concept called Impress at Watergate Club, Berlin. We wanted to find out more about Luca’s musical Weg.
So Luca, when did you start making music? Do you play an instrument?
My music roots started early when I was a kid as my mum played piano and my father the guitar. They made me listen to classical music, rock,70/80/90’s, and growing up I had many dance music influences, especially in early 2000. I learned piano from my mum and then self-learning practices until today and that’s the reason why I like to collaborate with musicians from classical music, like Francesco Caroneto just to mention one.
My music roots started early when I was a kid as my mum played piano and my father the guitar. They made me listen to classical music, rock,70/80/90’s, and growing up I had many dance music influences, especially in early 2000. I learned piano from my mum and then self-learning practices until today and that’s the reason why I like to collaborate with musicians from classical music, like Francesco Caroneto just to mention one.
And which dance music influences are you talking about?
Dance music from 1995 to 2001 had a big impact on my childhood and exploring how electronic music was made with synths. Names like Corona, Gigi D’Agostino, Eiffel 65, Prezioso, Molella, Planet Funk, Billy More, and more were played in my old music cassette or CD player all day long. From there my exploration then arrived at French and American house music and in 2006 discovered the German sound with minimal and techno.
Dance music from 1995 to 2001 had a big impact on my childhood and exploring how electronic music was made with synths. Names like Corona, Gigi D’Agostino, Eiffel 65, Prezioso, Molella, Planet Funk, Billy More, and more were played in my old music cassette or CD player all day long. From there my exploration then arrived at French and American house music and in 2006 discovered the German sound with minimal and techno.
When did you move to Berlin and why?
I traveled a lot in Italy and Europe from 2006 following my first vinyl release and I found myself in Berlin in 2009 where I then decided to move in 2010. The reason was pretty simple. I wanted to explore the scene more and gain the feelings of the club culture. I was fascinated by all the connections you could make and the collaborative network by the artists involved and I felt that it was necessary to develop my music career.
How is the scene in Italy compared to Berlin or other countries in Europe?
After many years traveling around Europe and the world, I can say that there are different points of view for every country, especially due to different cultures and roots. I don’t feel like comparing different scenes, it’s more about experiences. Sometimes I felt like I was in Germany even though I was at a party on the other side of the world. Italy as many other countries sometimes is not giving priority and importance to the club culture and for the artist scene, which has more impact in Germany, Netherlands, or Russia to mention a few countries. In the last 5 years I’ve seen good signs of clubs and music collectives growing up in Italy and also other countries, so let’s hope after this break in the music business we will see new parties and artists.
After many years traveling around Europe and the world, I can say that there are different points of view for every country, especially due to different cultures and roots. I don’t feel like comparing different scenes, it’s more about experiences. Sometimes I felt like I was in Germany even though I was at a party on the other side of the world. Italy as many other countries sometimes is not giving priority and importance to the club culture and for the artist scene, which has more impact in Germany, Netherlands, or Russia to mention a few countries. In the last 5 years I’ve seen good signs of clubs and music collectives growing up in Italy and also other countries, so let’s hope after this break in the music business we will see new parties and artists.
So can you tell us a bit more about your musical projects like Serialism? What is the idea behind it?
After 4 years in Berlin, I had my first creative expression and the culture gave me a lot especially meeting many artists and DJs. Indeed, in 2014 I founded Impress (music label and party series in Watergate) with Marco Effe and I met Cesare vs Disorder who invited me to join the Serialism crew where I’m now a partner and A&R. The main idea was basically to develop a new alias “Weg” to advance my musical paths and explore more into any direction, from jazz to minimal, from classical to techno. The goal has always been to grow my career into music and recently I started to work as a sound designer and film score for few companies, so as I said, not only club music for me.
After 4 years in Berlin, I had my first creative expression and the culture gave me a lot especially meeting many artists and DJs. Indeed, in 2014 I founded Impress (music label and party series in Watergate) with Marco Effe and I met Cesare vs Disorder who invited me to join the Serialism crew where I’m now a partner and A&R. The main idea was basically to develop a new alias “Weg” to advance my musical paths and explore more into any direction, from jazz to minimal, from classical to techno. The goal has always been to grow my career into music and recently I started to work as a sound designer and film score for few companies, so as I said, not only club music for me.
Sounds very interesting. How does it differ from making electronic music? Where do you get your inspiration from?
Sound Designer has always been one of my dreams since I was a kid watching movies because my father has brought the passion for Hi-FI and home theater systems to me and from it, I started to understand how music has been created. Watching documentaries on how “The Gladiator” was made by Hans Zimmer and similar kinds of stuff made me wanna learn more about it. This got me to a point where I realized how much work there is behind a movie or a simple 2 minutes Advertising video and how sounds and music can affect the people watching it. Sometimes when I watch a movie or video with good music my skin fills up with goosebumps and that’s the main reason why I wanted to explore this field.
Sound Designer has always been one of my dreams since I was a kid watching movies because my father has brought the passion for Hi-FI and home theater systems to me and from it, I started to understand how music has been created. Watching documentaries on how “The Gladiator” was made by Hans Zimmer and similar kinds of stuff made me wanna learn more about it. This got me to a point where I realized how much work there is behind a movie or a simple 2 minutes Advertising video and how sounds and music can affect the people watching it. Sometimes when I watch a movie or video with good music my skin fills up with goosebumps and that’s the main reason why I wanted to explore this field.
This must be an amazing experience for sure! And how did the Piano release idea on Impress develop?
Impress has been made not only for club music, but it’s also a dynamic art & music project and we like to involve more style in it. Our first date in Watergate was with a live piano set from Francesco Carone and since then, piano music has been always part of the project on many dates and music we released. We decided to do a PIANO DAY release to give a message and celebrate music because it has such a unique feeling and can gather people together.
Impress has been made not only for club music, but it’s also a dynamic art & music project and we like to involve more style in it. Our first date in Watergate was with a live piano set from Francesco Carone and since then, piano music has been always part of the project on many dates and music we released. We decided to do a PIANO DAY release to give a message and celebrate music because it has such a unique feeling and can gather people together.
I really really love that! Keep up this amazing work. So what are your next projects?
I am working on my first solo EP for Impress Music and releases are ready to go out soon on Serialism Records, Ouyayebu Records, and a few remixes.
I am working on my first solo EP for Impress Music and releases are ready to go out soon on Serialism Records, Ouyayebu Records, and a few remixes.
How have you been dealing with the pandemic? Were you less creative?
During the pandemic, I had the chance to improve my music production skills and studio workflow. Bought more analog gears and improved the soundproofing of my room because I wanted to bring it to the next level for my mixdowns or sound designer jobs. There was a moment at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020 where I felt a bit stuck but then thanks to the music and the people around me, my creativity came back again and found the inspiration to create new paths in my music life and explore more as I always did in my past.
And last but not least: What does music/art mean to you?
Music is an experience that connects people together. It doesn’t matter the style the importance is to feel the feelings that create a path to develop new emotions and give the people the memory of a moment that could be love, friendships, or simply having a good time. Personally, I always try to play and produce tracks that give me goosebumps and let the people get or not the message I wanna send.
