INTERVIEW: SEPH

Actualizado: 4 ene 2023

Born in Naples in 2000, Giuseppe Petrini began producing at the age of 15 under the name Deepeppe. In 2017 he changed his name to Seph Martin introducing new projects like "Hard", his first official release, and many others. Through the years, Seph discovered his passion for not only house music, but also disco, funk and soul genres. He began cutting and looping samples of rare tracks from the '70s and '80s and, gaining confidence in the genre, worked with Angelo Ferreri, a Jackin House pioneer, releasing the most cherished tracks in his catalogue, such as "Porno Disco" and "Magic". “These two tracks furthered his interest in the genre, making him a non-stop remixer and collector of rare disco, funky and soul tracks.

We have had the pleasure of interviewing him and this has been the result.

Can you tell us a little about your experience? Where are you from and how did you get into music? I’m from Naples, in Italy, and I get into the music since I was child. I always wanted to create something mine with music (but also other art stuff). My big brother was a DJ back in times when he was younger and I started to listen more interesting productions with a great atmosphere/mix. He introduced me to the best djs like Frankie Knuckles, Louie Vega, David Morales… and from there I began to take inspiration. Then, when I turned 15, I started learning the production process and years after years I adjusted the aim until my music became “listenable"

How do you manage to combine such disparate genres? How do you manage to give them unity and harmony? What do they have in common for you? Simple, I go beyond the genres. It’s all based on my mood, or maybe I discover something new and I just take inspiration from it. I don’t like to cage the music into a box called “genre”. I like to express the music in a natural way, without labels. This help me to combine various genres together. How would you define your sound?

My sound is defined by strong kick and stronger basses. The common thing among my productions is the feeling created by the atmosphere of the sounds.

How would you define the sound of your latest work? My last work is “Disco Universe”. It’s inspired by the 70’s disco era. With this album I wanted to recreate that glamour but raw atmosphere through electric baselines, violins and strong drums. You can feel the vibes from the first seconds of the LP. We all know that the digital revolution has affected sales, but do you think it has affected creativity? Yes and no. The creativity process is a little bit more easy to maintain alive as long as you know what you can expect from it. If you make music knowing that you’ll earn something from it you could do it with more energy and constancy. But, anyway, the digital revolution is a good deal to find new way to earn from what you do. Today you put a song on tiktok or instagram, it became viral and you became famous. That’s it. The only difference is that these businesses are full of this, so ,I think, most of them finish to be a temporary star. Can you tell us about your present and future projects? At the moment I’m releasing many songs on my Bandcamp. It’s help to support me and grow the community around my sound. My next single will be “Dance” and will be available from the end of January. Of course it’s a disco track but with a slow funk atmosphere. I created a label called “Reissue” that remark the feeling of the golden vinyl era. What do you want to transmit in this work? What is the concept behind it? The main reason the music is my favorite art is because for me it’s the most complete form of expression. It’s the first thing you can feel also before being born. So I simply express myself, my feelings, through the music. Everyone can feel the same energy listening to my works. Do you have hope for the future of music? How would you like the future of the music industry to be? I think that the AI will be the next producer (or ghost producer). So we’ll have to use it but never let us replace by it.. As for your studio, what is it currently made up of? My studio is simply minimal but with a cool atmosphere. There’s lights everywhere and, obviously, a disco ball! I keep it clean and organized so i don’t get distracted while I work. I use just a little keyboard to record some bass or chord progressions (I’m not a keyboardist, I’m still learning..). I have also a Maschine by Native Instruments but I use it just for fun. Do you have any final words of wisdom? Everything happens in our life is fruit of our mind