Gonzalo Espona & Nicolas Marino vibrate ease and clarity as we chat on the latest, and arguably most important, project of their career: Rummel. After multiple releases on some of the most revered labels in the melodic techno space, such as Stil Vor Talent and Radikon, it’s time for the two artists to create their own output. The debut release on the label, ‘Malabres’ is the freshest of a long line of collaboration between their respective aliases, Gespona & Djolee. The tune has been lighting clubs up worldwide for close to a year now, being played by references such as Dixon, Trikk, Mind Against and Âme to name a few. The track, out Friday October 27th 2023, perfectly marries industrial, raw sounds with the producers’ latin grooves. The odd, sparse synth line puts the vital harmonic touch to the track.
The project’s inception is closely linked to the Argentinian connection in Barcelona. ‘My first contact with this crew of Argentinians was through Amadori, who lives in Barcelona and is a resident DJ in the same club as me, NOM’, spells out Gespona. ‘Then Agustin Giri. I contacted him 3 years ago through Instagram as I liked his music and wanted to work with him. We ended up working on a lot of music together and met personally when he travelled to Europe. Same thing with Abuk. Finally, I met Nico [Djolee] through them in 2022 as he was moving to Spain.’
‘It’s crucial to bond with the adequate people that are on the same tune’, agrees Nico, also citing his other project, Amancay, a Buenos Aires-based sound collective formed by 13 Argentinian producers. ‘The objective with Rummel is to create a community where people recognize the music we are doing. To have our own space to express ourselves fully without any barriers’, states Gonzalo.
The German term giving its name to the label can be used to describe a carnival, to ‘denote a state of fuss and disorder‘, or even in old German to describe ‘a tumultuous event with a lot of people, noise and revelry’. ‘The combination of these 3 made sense in our idea for the music of the label and the showcases we are planning’, explains Gonzalo. ‘Apart from the etymology, it’s a word that I used for one of my first tracks, I’ve always liked it somehow.’
Leading a full show production has been an integral idea for the project since its inception. ‘It’s been 5 to 10 years that I’ve been wanting to do a party with a good lineup, good sound, where you have space to dance and don’t have to queue for bathrooms and getting a drink’, says Gonzalo, referring to the label’s sold-out debut showcase at The Garage of the Bass Valley on September 10th 2023. The show featured CIOZ, Gespona, Amadori, Agustin Giri and Martin Cozar.
Leading a full showcase production in the tourist-heavy city that is Barcelona can pose its challenges. ‘I would not say Barcelona is a reference in Europe’, claims Gonzalo. ‘It’s a city where it’s difficult to find a slot to play frequently and get payed properly. Some clubs have this mentality of not investing in speakers or anything because a hundred tourists who don’t give a fuck are gonna come in and drink tequila anyway.’
Despite those obvious challenges, the lads name a few initiatives which are helping the local scene grow. ‘NOM is the only club that brings melodic sounds every single weekend. Then you have Apollo, Input, Brunch in the Park, La Terraza and La Macarena that do it sometimes’, analyzes Gonzalo. Another notable scene member is former F1 driver Jaime Alguersuari. ‘We recently bonded with Jaime that has his own label ‘Anims’ where we released our EP ‘Better Stay Away’ last June. He has a cool vision regarding music and business, so it was nice to work with him’.
Enriched by their encounters with labels from the artist standpoint, the Rummel co-founders have a very relevant perspective on the music business. ‘We’ve had bad experiences with labels failing in key points such as communication and marketing, the absence of contracts and royalties payment, or even basic stuff such as respect.’ decries Gonzalo. Nico adds; ‘Aside from music production, I was an industrial engineer 10 years ago. Gonza studied business administration. We both know how to manage medium or big size projects. We have established best practices we don’t want to fail at with Rummel. It’ll be one of the key factor of us making it as a label…’
It is on the Friday night of Amsterdam Dance Event that Gonzalo and I next cross path, in Club Maïa just before his headlining performance at the Sounds of Khemit showcase. Meanwhile, Djolee is busy serving bangers on the Amancay Mexico tour. A bit hungover from the amount of Vodka he had the night before, Gonzalo observes as label boss Nhii and his b2b partner Raw Main light up the party with their energetic organic house. Gespona slowly approaches the booth, passes by the light technician and plugs his USBs. He’s in the zone. In his short 1 hour performance which goes by oh so quickly, he serves the crowd with percussion-heavy melodic techno which sets the club on fire. Mission accomplished.
Stay tuned for Rummel’s next release, by Agustin Giri & Djolee – ‘Caminos de Fuego feat. Apo Lucia’. Out November 17th on Rummel, with early support by the likes of Trikk and Adriatique, who you can see rocking the club with the track below.
Buy/Stream Malabres: rummel.fanlink.to/Malabares
Connect with Rummel:
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/rummel-music
Beatport: https://www.beatport.com/label/rummel/115146
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rummel_music/