Rino Cerrone

Rilis, Unrilis, Loose (Label Boss) / Zenit / Phobiq

R.I.P. September 2024.

Rino Cerrone was born in Naples in 1972. His spirit of adventure already brought him at a young age to take part to the national motorcycle competitions, getting good results. But evidently his objectives went beyond that of motorcycling, and his passion for music immediately grew up. It was in fact at the end of the ’80s that Rino started to get in touch with musical reality that contributed to the formation of his actual style. In adolescent age, he participated in the punk and rock concerts around Italy, and he started to draw near to the underground scene of squatters and illegal parties. He was fascinated then by new sonorities proposed by groups such as Orb and Future Sound of London, whose dreamy and chilled out atmospheres immediately captured his attention, and they increased his curiosity toward electronic music.

From Psychic Warriors of Gaia to Zoom records, from Autechre to Richie Hawtin, Rino lived the early ’00s in their best mystical-creative fervour. Naples showed itself careful to the new international ferments. Paul Daley, Darren Emerson, Derrick May, Dave Clarke, and lots of others, already played at least one time in his city. A chasing thirst of rhythmical weavings and sonorical daps became inevitable. Rino lived the pioneering parties by Ivan & Susy, and frequented the afterhours from Space Race, soon becoming resident DJ.

Intrigued in the productive element of dance music, he purchased a second hand Juno 106 in 1995, starting the construction of what is actually his recording studio. A significant experience in the Q-Men group created his debut in 1997, with the publication of the first record X phase up, on Marco Carola’s Design Music. Soon after, Speaker Attack, Phont Music, Relentless and Primate followed. In 1999 he registered his own label Rilis records, and the first two numbers made it one of the most prestigious labels in the world techno panorama.

In 2001 he released excellent EPs such qs ‘Back To The Basics’ (Genetic);
‘Convert Filter’ (Terminal M); ‘Reset’ (SAW Recordings), ‘Symmetric’ (Zenit).

Between 2002 and 2004 tracks were published on Orion, Markantonio’s AnalyticTrail, Sketch, The Advent’s Kombination Research.

He also had many remixes: First Step (Isoghi) Subtractive Synthesis VI Remixes (Synewave), Recreations (Kombinatoin Research), Contact (Funktion Records), Club System 2005 (Sony BGM Music Entertainment) to mention some.

There are also appearances on several compilations and collections: ‘DE 9 Closer to the Edit’ (Minus), which contains together with other works by Rino, the famous “Optical Way,” also present on “Relentless Beats” vol. 1 and 2, on “Vision,” for “Combined Forces,” and on Cristian Varela and Tony Verdi’s compilation ‘Salon de Mezclas’ for Serial Killer Vinyl. Moreover: Yul Records; Eukatech, XXX Records, Music Man Records, Clubstar, ZYX, Subliminal, Intec, Mixmag, Ovum.

From 1999 to 2003 Rilis produced 10 high quality releases, which soon made it a cult label, with represses and an impressive amount of sales. In 2004, the Special Edition project was born, a collection of the very best minimal techno tracks, with his unmistakable style. Plus the new Rilis RMX project, born in 2005, where international artists remixed the last 7 years Rilis hits. The same year a brand new label project: Loose Records. The label has the goal to produce and promote young talents.

Rino Cerrone has spun records since 2000 at the world best festivals and clubs. He has played in big events such as: I Love Techno, Innercity, Awakenings. Form Japan to South America, his schedule is always busy. His dark-funky style and his excellent DJ sets, have made him gain consent all over the world.