RTIK is an Italian DJ/Producer who is constantly evolving in the studio with a variety on different music styles. With his recent release ‘In A State’ just out on Ear Porn Music, we caught up with him to find out what got him into electronic music, and how the recent release came to be…

WWD: Hey RTIK, How has summer been for you so far?

Hey y’all (yes I picked that up from my years living in South Carolina)! Summer has been great so far, spending it in Italy at the seaside. For me it’s always a time to disconnect completely from work and just dive deeper into unfinished projects, clear my head and spend time with family and friends. I usually find these weeks off useful to grow fresh ideas for new projects, as I can really take my time to reflect on how I want to move forward and experience things that could translate into new building blocks for upcoming tracks.

WWD: When, why and how did you first get into electronic music? What gave you the bug?

I got into music production at a pretty late age compared to most people, right after I graduated from college, so when I was about 22 years old. Music has always played a big part in my life. Since I was a kid I was surrounded by countless records at home, with my parents introducing me to so many different genres (jazz, hip hop, electronic..) from my earliest days.
I did play the guitar for many years but never focused too much on it and eventually dropped it to pursue my sporting dreams which ended with me running track (100m and 200m) in the United States at a D1 college. It was only after I stopped running that I decided to focus on my creative side.

I had always been fascinated by electronic music, wondering how some sounds could be achieved. By that time I had also gone through so many genres and phases but electronic music was the one that connected with me on a deeper level. My brain was always overanalyzing music to discover each song’s hidden secrets and sounds. It was only right to give it a shot, so in 2015 I downloaded Logic (I use Ableton now), bought a MIDI controller, and never looked back.

WWD: What is your signature sound and style – what makes your music unique?

This is always a tricky question for me as I like to experiment with a variety of different genres and styles. I would define my sonic palette as a combination of downtempo electronics, ambient soundscapes and haunting melodies tied together by more club-driven tempos and rhythms. I do not have one specific formula when making tracks and I try to push my sound into new territories quite often. Some music friends have also told me they can recognize my music by the arrangements, the style of melodies and the kind of percussions I use and the way I mix them in contrast to the rest of the elements. For example, I tend to keep my rhythmic elements very dry and in front of the mix. I’m a perfectionist and try to integrate within my tracks a lot of interesting details that you may discover after a few listens. Also, when it comes to the arrangement I often adopt an A/B approach, meaning that in the second half of the track I introduce a new melody/theme that builds off the first one in synergy and takes the tune into a new direction, keeping it interesting for the listener.

WWD: Does being Italian lend your music a certain characteristic?

I don’t think that’s the case, but more so the fact that I have lived and traveled in many different parts of the world, opening my mind from an early age to multiple cultures and sounds. This for sure has played a huge role in defining my sound and musical direction. I love the fact I can use any sound from literally any culture or instrument and I often find inspiration during my travels.

WWD: What is the scene like there? Is it healthy and vibrant?

Unfortunately, as Italians, I feel like we lack a bit of culture when it comes to electronic music. People love to go clubbing but most of the time it’s not because they want to hear a certain DJ but more for the fun. Speaking with friends and people you realize most of them only know a handful of names in the scene and they are usually the big names. There is a lack the interest and curiosity to go that extra step to listen to or book new artists. I understand music is a passion and we all have diverse interests, but I have personally felt this in my home country compared to other places I’ve visited where there is more of a culture for electronic music (Netherlands, UK, Germany, Spain, and the list goes on..). Nonetheless, there are good festivals and events throughout the year so we can’t complain, you just need to know where to look.

WWD: Tell us about your new ‘In A State’ EP on Ear Porn Music – what inspired it or influenced it?

These two tracks are probably the most club-oriented productions I’ve made up to date. Both ideas originated soon after I had been to London at Printworks for the Afterlife event. During the night I remember KAS:ST playing Layton Giordani’s “New Generation” which has a constant beeping “ping” sound that goes from beginning to end. I told myself I wanted to create something that had as a foundation an element of repetitiveness while the rest of the track constantly evolved around it. You can hear that both “In A State” and “Cracked Code” have a sort of rim/tonal snare that almost never disappears throughout the tracks. On top of this, I wanted the lead melodies to also have a sort of hypnotic and repetitive nature. Around that time I had also revisited UNKLES’s album “Never, Never, Land” which features one of my favorite tracks “In A State”. I have always loved how this track blends acoustic instruments with a techno arrangement. When listening to it I easily lose track of time and enter a state of musical trance and I wanted to give my EP the same feeling (hence why I wanted to pay tribute to this track by borrowing the same name). Also, the way the guitar is sampled in this record gave me the idea to open up the first track with some heavily processed piano samples that became the foundation of “In A State (How It Ends)”. In this track, I challenged myself to use a type of sound that normally I would never approach and pick, which ended up being the acid 303 synth-line which I thought complemented really well the bassline in giving the track an extra level of energy and grit.

WWD: What gear did you write it on?

I mostly write music in the box on my laptop with Ableton but I also have a few hardware synths in my studio. The main lead melody on “Cracked Code” came from a session with the Behringer Crave (which is basically a clone of the Moog Mother-32). I hooked up the Korg SQ-1 sequencer to it to find a nice melody and then improvised quite a bit and recorded many different variations. I resampled and processed all the interesting parts directly in Ableton while arranging the track. On “In A State (How It Ends)” I used my Minilogue XD for the arpeggiated synth you hear complementing the main melody. I also created some pads with it to fill up the frequency range in the build. The metallic/gritty synth you hear after the build into the drop is from my Korg MS-20. That’s also resampled and processed heavily.

All bassline layers were done with Monark while I used Serum for other lead layers. I do all my drums and percussions directly into Ableton with samples. I work with audio and place everything manually for control (I like to see where every sound is in my session, with MIDI I don’t have the same control).

WWD: What else have you got coming up/are you working on?

For the moment there’s a remix and an original which are planned for the near future and I’m currently working on a live performance. The plan is to create a hybrid DJ set, integrating a few synths and controllers to reinterpret my music and improvise on the spot. I have been wanting to do this for a while as this is also a way to showcase some of my more experimental/downtempo tracks that are not suitable for a normal DJ set.

WWD: What was the last record you heard that made you go wow and why?

I’m a big fan of Alex Banks and his latest album “Projections” is another beauty in my collection. The attention to detail in his productions is second to none and he’s a huge inspiration for me. It’s one of those albums that you can go back and find something interesting and new with each new listen. I’ve already run through it a few times and I still have the urge to go back and study it some more. It gives me the same satisfaction as when I revisit Jon Hopkins albums as I never get tired of listening to them. Indian Wells new album “No One Really Listens to Oscillators” is another masterpiece that just came out, and makes me proud to say he’s a fellow Italian 🙂

RTIK’s “In A State” is out now on Ear Porn Music. Buy HERE