Has the Italian house music scene ever been in better shape? Maybe that’s an argument for another time, but what’s absolutely not for debate right now is the staggering amount of good music currently emitting from the country. One man who personifies Italy – and his city’s – love for eclectic 4/4 is DJ Cream. The owner of the Smile & Stay High label, Cream is exactly the sort of individual to give us some insight into the goings on in his native city.
What’s more, he’s an expert musician in his own right, as anyone who’s sampled (sampling incidentally, is something he’s quite good at) his own body of fantastic work. A producer who seems destined for big things, we decided to put some Qs to him recently. Here’s what he had to say:
Let’s begin by chatting about your alias, DJ Cream. Where does that come from? Is it a Wu-Tang Clan reference?
Hello guys! That’s funny; I really love the Wu-Tang Clan but this is a coincidence as my alias comes from my surname, “Cremonini”.
Your work seems quite indebted to hip-hop sounds and samples. What sort of hip-hope producers did you grow up listening to? And did you always understand the words or did it help you learn English also?
Yes I sample a lot from hip hop, RnB, funk etc. I love black music in general, because that warm sound makes me feel good. I grew up listening to Bad Boys Records, in particular The Notorious B.I.G.
In my opinion he’s the greatest of all time. Mase is another of my favorites but let’s talk about beat makers; Pete Rock and J Dilla are my favorites without any doubt. This is a really interesting question because I learned English mainly with music as I wanted to understand what rappers were saying.
And what was it about electronic music that really appealed to you when you first discovered it?
I love house music – that’s part of my DNA. I love the positive vibes, I love people that smile, I love happiness and that’s my idea of house music.
Are you a real MPC sort of guy then? What other hardware do you use a lot?
Yes, I am. The MPC is the heart of my sound and 90% of my works are made with that. I really love samplers and drum machines too. I’ve got two MPCs (2500 and 3000), two Rolands (TR-909 and TB-303) and just
now Ibought something really special that will put some heavy weights on my beats – the Emu SP-1200.
Definitely a beast!
You also started your own label recently, Smile & Stay High. What’s the idea behind the label and what motivated it to start your own?
Ok, so the idea behind it is simple house music. Everything started from the 320kb label, where myself, Dumbo Beat, Jackie and Dj P!sta work together for some time. Consequently I wanted to have my own project.
That was a real challenge for me, I have a lot of works that I want to release! I’ve already released the first EP, “MPC Trips” and the second one will be out around April, the “Hustiln’” EP, which features Alo, a super Italian singer. I hope that my music will let people smile and stay high around the world!
The artwork is really cool. Did you design this yourself and what was the inspiration behind it?
I love the artwork, It’s a small recap of what we do every day. I’ve studied it with Dumbo Beat, one of the members of the crew who has a special talent for these things!
Here’s a little secret: hoodies and tees are coming soon on our blog at 320kbmusic.shop with many other cool stuff! So watch out for that!
The tracks are really funky and dancefloor focused. Is most of the music you make like this or does it all depend on your mood?
I love dancefloor grooves, I’m a huge fan of my friends Dungeon Meat who are making big tunes at the moment. And I’m really inspired by them! That’s more or less always my mood right now, but I’m also
working on a lot of new things that you will like for sure.
You grew up and still live in Bologna, a city that seems to be making a name for itself in the electronic music scene. How does your local scene compare to other cities in Italy and around the world? What’s good about it? And what’s bad?
I love my city! Thank you for your kind words, there are a lot of friends here that are making cool things, also all over Italy we got a new generation that is growing up strong with music.
The cool thing here in Bologna is that I have the possibility to do music with a lot of artists, like the project “BoloRepresent” alongside Jackie, Nudge and Bassa Clan (Fabrizio Maurizi and Dino Angioletti two bad
boys that I respect a lot!)
Regarding the bad things, there’s something that I really miss compared to the other big cities: a reference point club, but there are guys like Grapevibe crew and Blow crew that are making really nice parties in
town!
You’re also tight with a lot of other Bologna producers. In terms of up-and- coming DJs and producers, who else would you suggest we check out?
Of course all my 320kb crew!
And the Homequest crew that you’re a part of; what is it like to be part of this crew? Who does what at Homequest? What is yourresponsibility and how do you help one another out?
The Homequest crew is like a big family; we’ve know each other for a lot of time and there are a lot of different artists like writers , producers, DJs, MCs. We meet at our headquarter and we make music together.
That’s almost all Homequest is about.
In terms of your own music career, is there one person who has really mentored and helped you throughout the years?
There’s a guy that really inspired me and helped me with a lot of advices: Phil Weeks. He told me how to approach the MPC, and he believed in my music. I’m really happy to have an upcoming EP on his label.
And what advice would you give to people starting out in electronic music today?
I’m pretty young to give this kind of advice, but honestly the only important thing is love what you are doing, in this case love music.
It won’t be easy at all!
DJ Cream’s Hustlin EP is out soon on Smile & Stay High. Be sure to check out 320kbmusic.shop for more information on DJ Cream’s releases, news, merchandise etc
