JP Lantieri, Andrew Consoli and Flemcy Music are three names that have been making huge noises in the Dance music scene of late. JP and Andrew have been producing some of the industry’s biggest Techno infused Progressive House records and recently released their latest collaborative project ‘Brewhouse EP’ via JP’s very own label Flemcy Music.
The three parties teamed up once again to host a launch party for ‘Brewhouse EP’. Located in central London, this event brought together 3 communities of DJ’s, producers and creative minds, as well as hosting an exclusive Flemcy Music demodrop, aimed at giving up talents a chance to get signed to the label. JP and Andrew were joined by DJs Anthony Francis, Mystik Vybe and Ornery in providing the music for the night.
We caught up with JP and Andrew to chat about the launch party and ’Brewhouse EP’.
Hi guys, thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to have a chat with us. To get things started, how long have you two known each other and how did you first meet?
JP: We’ve known each other for a bit more than a year now. I met Andrew at BeatCamp, one of the first events I’ve attended after moving to London. Since then, we’ve found ourselves Djing together at a few events, and in particular at the Laurent Schark Selection live radio show broadcasted to almost 3 millions listeners.
Andrew: Indeed, we first met at BeatCamp at the end of 2014, since then we’ve been DJing together in a few gigs and radio broadcasts. We both became habitué at Laurent Schark Selection Live radio show, performing for more than 3 millions listeners per night.
How did the idea of collaborating come about?
Andrew: Gig after gig in 2015 we started buzzing about a music collaboration. It felt pretty natural as we both share a lifelong passion for electronic music and good food!
Did you find working together a natural process and how did you go about producing the EP? Did you work in the studio together?
Andrew: The outcome of a collaboration is always difficult to predict, especially when you work with someone for the first time. Working with other artists is so important so I co-founded a startup (BeatCamp) to encourage producers at all levels to open their music worlds and collaborate. We worked in my studio and it was very easy going, we were very flexible and honest in giving feedbacks, no ego involved in the process.
JP: Yeah it went quite easily. We had the rule that if one of us brought an idea and if the other one did not really like it, we would simply ditch it. We worked in Andrew’s studio together, during two long sessions. It took us all together around 25 hours (including Andrew’s excellent Italian cooking).
What were the reasons for each of you remixing ‘Brewhouse’?
JP: The idea of each of us doing a remix was to expand the track to new flavours, and to present a full 3-track EP instead of a simple single.
Andrew: We really liked the original and agreed on giving our personal spin to it. This was also a good chance to present a solid 3 tracks release.
What made you guys want to produce a dark, Progressive record with techno influences?
Andrew: Again it was a pretty natural process, we are deeply influenced by our musical roots and ‘Brewhouse’ is a blend of JP’s Techno background with a touch of Progressive uplifting vibes from myself.
JP: Dark? I don’t find it that dark… in fact it went quite naturally, it came with the flow. It’s not a track that one of us would have come with alone, but our respective influences have been poured in here.
Were there any particular artists or things that inspired you when making the EP?
Andrew: We had been talking about different moods that we wanted to included in Brewhouse. JP is a seasoned DJ like me, we both think about the dancefloor when producing. Each track section responds to a feeling we wanted to transmit to a dancing crowd.
JP: It’s always difficult to name a specific influence when making a track, as it’s usually a whole background that comes into consideration.
What equipment did you use to produce the EP?
JP: We had to decide in which studio we’d do it, Andrew’s or mine. We eventually settled for Andrew’s one. We started with compiling a small collection of samples, which then triggered our inspiration.
Andrew: I work in the box with an extensive collection of soft synths and plugins, Yamaha’s HS80 Speakers, Focusrite DSP24 Soundcard, Cubase as a main DAW in an acoustic treated room with IK Multimedia ARC 2 correction. We used my workstation for arrangement and mixing, and JP’s laptop with Ableton Live for sound design and samples selection. Looking back, this was a very effective workflow because we could both work on different bits at the same time.
Why did you decide to release the EP on Flemcy Music?
JP: The main reason was to be free and do whatever we wanted with the EP without having to rely on another label. We wanted to have free hands and as I am the founder of Flemcy Music, we decide to use my label. It paid off very well, the EP charted in 3 Beatport sales charts reaching the top 10.
To mark the release of ‘Brewhouse EP’, there was a launch party in central London. Why did you guys and the label feel it was appropriate to hold the event?
JP: That was Andrew’s idea hahaha! In fact, he pushed me – I’d rather say that his enthusiasm pushed me – to celebrate our EP release with a fun concept party, which was a good opportunity for Flemcy to host its first label night. I know how hard working Andrew is, I said yes and we built the event concept together.
As well as yourselves, DJ’s Ornery, Mystik Vybe and Anthony Francis performed at the event. Why did you choose them to perform?
JP: Ornery and Mystik Vybe are part of the Flemcy family, it was natural to propose them the first label night. Anthony Francis is the man behind Darkest Before Dawn, a fast rising collective of DJs in London rapidly spreading its wings in the UK and beyond.
Visual art was also showcased at the event. How did this idea come about and do you feel there are important relationships between visual art and music?
JP: Music and visual art have always been going well together. Look at the lighting and the visual projections at many concerts, they are part of the experience. We have explored several ideas to make our event original and to include a new visual element into it, and the one we retained was a painting exhibition.
Andrew: Absolutely, we all know how important the way our music and artist persona looks.
It’s more than a style exercise, it’s part of the message we want to convey. I strongly believe that visual design (artworks, branding, venue projections, mapping etc.) are part of that message, especially in today visual-centric society. We decided to work with a videographer / designer to create custom videos to be projected during the DJ sets. It was all branded with Flemcy Music designs to communicate coherence and attention to details.
The highly experienced A&R staff at Flemcy Music were involved in launch night’s Flemcy Music Demodrop Box. Did you find any gems from upcoming producers and were any record deals signed that night?
JP: We found a few good tracks in the Demodrop Box. Some of them are new potential artists for Flemcy. We have indeed signed Petar Pavlov whose track will be in one of our coming releases.
How important is it to support upcoming talents and give them a platform to releases their music?
JP: It’s fundamental. It’s part of the cycle of life or of karma: we’ve all got help when we were lower in our careers, so it’s quite natural to lend a hand to promising talents if they share the same values. We’re doing that at Flemcy. Ornery is a good example, his work had never been released before, and since we signed him at Flemcy he has successfully released his first EP and entered the Beatport charts.
How successful were both the launch party and the EP?
JP: The launch event was a success, lots of old friends and new faces attended and we’ve seen collaborations and partnerships kicking off during the night!
Andrew: We’ve been quite surprised when we saw our Brewhouse EP charting at #11 in the Progressive House top 100 Releases, #7 in the Electro House top 100 Releases and entering the Electro House top 100 tracks, definitely a success on all fronts!
Thanks for taking time to chat to us!
It’s been a pleasure!
JP Lantieri Online
www.jplantieri.com
www.facebook.com/jplantieri
www.soundcloud.com/jplantieri
Andrew Consoli Online
www.andrewconsoli.com
www.facebook.com/djandrewconsoli
www.twitter.com/djandrewconsoli
www.soundcloud.com/djandrewconsoli
Flemcy Music Online
www.flemcymusic.com
www.facebook.com/flemcymusic
www.twitter.com/flemcymusic
www.soundcloud.com/flemcymusic