Italy has long been a place where the superstar DJ is trumped up like few other places on the planet, but it’s also a country that’s given us more than its fair share of house, deep house and – of course – Italo house heroes. The latest such artist to come on our radar in this vein is the duo, Alaia & Gallo. When it comes to house, these guys quite simply, know what’s up – much as a discography that already boasts credits for the likes of DFTD, Defected, Armada Music and Flashmob would have you believe. With their latest arriving via Nhan Solo’s always on-point Mother Recordings and also featuring the wonderful vocals of Pablo:Rita, theirs is a relationship that’s clearly yielding rich dividends. Here’s what happened when we caught up with them over email recently…

WWD: How are you? What’s good, what’s bad in your world?

Hi there! Considering these weird times, we’re pretty good actually.

WWD: How did you guys meet? Did you immediately hit it off?

When we were younger we both worked for a little radio station in our city and each week prepared a one hour mix alongside other Djs. We loved one another’s work (we were the ones to play only house music) and lots of times we used to sit in the office and talk about music. After that period we each took our own paths, developing individual careers in the clubs of the city. We met again by accident a few years later and immediately decided to join forces.

WWD: Tell us a bit about how you decided to become a duo? And what was the first music you started making together?

Basically, we decided to join forces because we’ve always had the same musical tastes and we both suffered of what we call the “70% syndrome”.

It’s that moment when a producer gets stuck in his creative process and experiences troubles. Working with a partner finally allowed us to overcome this kind of problem and develop a quicker work flow. Our productions focused since the first moment on the musical genre we grew up with and loved: house!

WWD: Did it take you a while to feel confident enough to release music together? And do you work better together? Or are you capable of working individually also?

Since the first moment we’ve always been really confident releasing music together: our work in the studio as a duo has been really satisfactory from the very beginning, even though it took us a little bit of time to develop our trademark sound and build our contacts. Each one of us is capable of working individually, but now we think as a duo and we’re used to having a strong interaction in the creative process.

WWD: What do you think is the best thing about working as a duo? And the worst?

As discussed before, one of the best things about working as a duo is the interaction in the creative process and the fact that each one of us has became a specialist in doing something: for example, Alaia is the best with drums programming, while Gallo is the best on basslines, even though we can both do both. The worst thing is that sometimes we don’t agree on some aspects, but it’s the natural part of the interaction and, at the end, we always reach a compromise.

WWD: What have been the highlights of your career?

One of the most important moments of our career has been our Beatport number 1 back in 2013 with the track “Beat Of The Drum”. Nowadays we don’t care about the charts, but in that period it was a great result because it opened us a lot of doors for us after just one year of work, and everyone knows how hard it is to enter the market for a newcomer. After this, we had a lot of moments to remember, such as releasing on key labels (Defected, ElRow Music, Armada, etc.), as well being named Tech House Artists of the Year on Traxsource, or playing gigs in each corner of the world, from Miami to Tokyo, across Ibiza and at several festivals.

WWD: What keeps you motivated, what keeps you going?

The love for the music. We really love what we do and, differently from other people, we are Djs and produce music not because it’s in fashion.

WWD: What have you most missed during the year during the pandemic?

The contact with the people. And we’re not talking not only about the connection in a club, but, more simply, the chance of meeting new people and talking with them without worrying about an unknown virus.

WWD: I wanted to ask about your release on Mother “Get Down” — what was the vibe you were going for with that one?

Just like other our own productions, the idea behind “Get Down” started from the groove. We were looking to create something more “bouncy” than our usual tracks. At the same time we wanted to have a warm vibe inside and that’s why we used an organ and played our bassline with an external Moog Sub37. Finally, Pablo:Rita brought the magic with their vocals… that’s what we were looking for!

WWD: Is Nhan Solo someone you really look up to musically? What does it mean to find a home on that label?

We’ve always been great fans of Nhan’s work and Mother Recordings’ releases! We think that Mother is one of the most respected labels in the house music industry right now: you look at all the big names who have released their music here and say “wow”! Being part of this roster is really exciting!

WWD: Will you change your routine once things are back to normal based on anything you have discovered or heart about yourself this year?

We can’t wait to get back to our old lifestyle, but we’ll do it with a renewed awareness. In this period we re-discovered some values we were losing and first of all we put families and friends first. Our frantic way of living before the pandemic made every single day a rush. We’ll try to lead a more relaxed lifestyle (as far as possible) when things will be normal.

WWD: Where do you find inspiration? Do you listen to other music or watch certain films?

We find a lot of our inspirations from the music of the past: we’ve always been great listeners of soul music and the original Rhythm’n Blues, but, at the same time, we love the electronic mood of the 80s, recently re-discovered in dance music.

WWD: What else are you working on or what projects do you have in the pipeline?

We have 3/4 club smashers ready, safely locked in our hard disks, waiting for the club re-openings. At the same time, we’re working on some tracks more oriented to the mainstream due to this particular moment. We have a new collaboration with Dj Rae on vocal duties of which we’re really proud! Ah, and a very important remix of a great hit of the past coming out next summer (top secret for now, we can only say that it was a number 1 track in the UK)!

WWD: What is the music you have listened to most this year?

As we said before, we listened mainly to music from the past: from soul music to the disco, from the hip-hop of the beginnings to the synth-infused pop of the 80s. Talking about contemporary music, we have focused on Indie Dance and Nu Disco. At this moment there are a lot of amazing artists in this genre!

WWD: Can you recommend three Alaia & Gallo tracks for our viewers?

Yes: “Call Your Name” ft. Lov on Armada Subjekt, “Free 2 Be Me” feat. Michelle Weeks on Dvine Sounds, and, last but not least, our remix of “So Much Joy” by Ann Nesby on DFTD, one of our productions we’re mostly proud of.

Keep up with Alaia & Gallo on Facebook HERE.

Alaia & Gallo ft. Pablo:Rita’s ‘Get Down’ is out 12th February via Mother Recordings.