DT:Interview | Yari Greco

Yari Greco is a Naples based producer and label owner who has released on The Advent’s Kombination Research, Ricardo Garduno’s Illegal Alien, A.Paul’s Naked Lunch and Submerge’s Impact Mechanics.

Scena_731 is a vinyl and digital label he co-founded that has featured music by Noneoftheabove, Ryuji Takeuchi and Endlec.

The newest 12-track VA is titled Contaminated Culture - Part III welcomes new and returning artists to contribute to the imprint who have collectively released on labels such as SNTS’ Sacred Court to Exos’ Planet X.

> Hi Yari, I hope you are keeping well? How have things been and what have you been focusing on in recent months / years in life and music?
Lately I feel very inspired and focused on my artistic evolution and career goals. The birth of my son Leo has helped me in these months to better develop my paths for music.

I’m working on two new albums, the first one is almost complete and is titled “From Different Storms” already supported and played by the maestro Aphex Twin in Berlin. It will be a different album from the usual works expressed for the dance floor. You will hear soundtracks with spatial sonorities, electronic frequencies and sounds, atoms and drones revolving around the axis of space and in some tracks, distortions of electric guitars accompanied by dark sound depths.

The second album, on the other hand, is still being worked on and reflects the techno of the ’90s that had a decisive influence on my adolescence.
 

> What gives you the motivation to keep creating music, are there many tracks left on the cutting room floor so to speak?
Music like any other form of art is culture, you never stop learning and studying every day and in life. This is where I think I can best express myself. It’s like a challenge, I feel I can always do better both for my personal productions or as a recording role for my label and for live events.

Fortunately I have found a home for all my songs written to date, which includes more than 100 tracks and I will continue to do so.
 

> Can you talk us through your studio set-up and what hardware/software you are fond of using?
I’ve always been a lover of analogue in general and everything you can touch with your own hands. Tools are like people, they have a soul and a well-defined capacity. Before knowing them for their functions, you always have to learn how to play a synthesiser, which means studying it and this fascinates me a lot.

So by choice and personal culture, over the years I have built a studio based mainly on analogue instruments and it doesn’t matter to me to have the best, for example such as: Moog, Prophet or Korg, the Eurorack and many more, that are somewhat like a Ferrari, but rather, I prefer to first know what you really want in the studio and then arm yourself with tools that meet your needs.

Software is just as important for production too, it is the new era for all artists. They help you a lot and above all, allow you to achieve results easily and immediately, such as plug-ins for synths. That’s how I started too, starting with programs like Reason, Pro-Tools and Ableton Live that I currently use.

I believe that today it is essential to have a strong knowledge of both eras in the studio, having experience in analogue and digital formats is only a good thing.
 

> Your latest VA for Scena_731 is titled Contaminated Culture Part III, what makes this one different from the first and second entries?
The third part of Contaminated Culture is simply the continuation of the first and second edition released on limited-edition vinyl. All artists have their own culture and baggage full of personal experiences. The concept is to feel free to express yourself.

Obviously, the first edition is different due to artistic choice. We expressed classic techno, deeper sounds and more, for example including music by the master and fellow techno music veteran Paul Birken, who has a unique and unmistakable style. It included all musical styles that I love and respect very much and I was born from classic techno, schranz, hard-groove, acid. Then today, I am into the industrial sound that I chose in the second edition and then also continue into the third too.
 

> The techno styles on the compilation are heavy and industrial, what drew you to these types of sounds, can you remember a particular event that started this conscious choice?
I am a percussionist and a lover of music especially for electronic in particular, giving more preference to techno music. In the 2010s I made my debut on the Portuguese label Naked Lunch ran by master A.Paul with my first EP titled Industrial Force.

Soon after, I was already projected to my second release called The Way of the Industrial with Kombination Research run by legend The Advent that continued the industrial segment. The Advent or rather Cisco Ferreira, influenced my life a lot and I have followed him everywhere at many events in Naples since 2006. I studied his historical albums of the ’90s right up to the project and duo of The Advent & Industrialyzer. When the Portuguese maestro launched his new project and played in Naples in 2009 at one of the most wonderful places we have in Campania called the Old River Park. He brought a totally exclusive set and already demonstrated his artistic and techno evolution in those years. Their set was phenomenal, totally industrial sounds, lightning fast grooves and percussions. Reflecting a fusion of old style with new school they totally overwhelmed me listening to this live. It was then that I understood that this new genre was my calling and what I was already producing in my albums led me to the path that I currently practice.
 

> What other non techno genres of music and artists inspire you?
Being a music lover in general, I have always listened to different genres and artists like: Pino Daniele, Aphex Twin, Massive Attack, Kraftwerk, Depeche Mode, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Moderat, Moby, Apparat, Craig Armstrong, Carlos Santana and many other heroes.
 

> What can we expect to see from yourself and Scena_731 releases wise for the rest of this year, have you a schedule lined up or have some ideas in place?
At the moment I have two new albums of mine in progress. Surely I can announce that the next album will be From Different Storms as I said before and it’s a collection of different songs than what I’ve expressed so far. The second is still incomplete, but for my label Scena_731, we have a fairly defined program with great artists and new talents, but I’ll reveal it from time to time.
 

> We wish you all the best in your future endeavours, is there anything you would like to mention or champion before we bring this chat to a close?
I want to thank you enormously for this wonderful chat we had together, I feel honoured to have spoken with you about music and to have briefly explained an important part of my life. I hope I will be able to hear from you soon and with news updates. Thank you!