Alessandro Boni and Rick Vayo didn’t know each other when they both circled London’s underground music scene in the early 2010s. But a mutual friend saw how Vayo—a metal drummer with a blossoming interest in electronics—and Boni—a DJ beginning to dabble in club work and cross-genre production—were suited for each other.
Since meeting, they have lived together, started artist residencies together, released music together as Tapefeed, and started their own label, Inveterate, which launched its first in a series of full-pelt, genre-defying dance floor EPs.
The duo sat down with KEYI Magazine to talk about their newest EP on Inveterate, Revolving Door, and how they’re re-injecting politics and the spirit of resistance onto dance floors.
AlessandroBoni和Rick Vayo在伦敦的地下音乐圈中盘旋时不认识。但是一个共同的朋友看到了Vayo（一个对电子产品的关注的金属鼓手）和Boni （一个开始涉足俱乐部工作和跨流派的 DJ）是彼此相互融合的。见面以来，他们就在一起，开始艺术家驻留，一起以Tapefeed的形式发布音乐，并创立了自己的品牌Inveterate，品牌推出了中全毛皮、反流派舞池EP的第一张。闯入与KEYI杂志坐下来拍照他们关于Inveterate、Revolving Door的最新EP，以及他们如何将政治和心理和精神重注入舞池。
Do you mind briefly introducing yourselves for readers who might not be familiar with your project? When and how did you start working together?
Alessandro Boni (AB): We’re a duo from Italy. We’ve been working together now for five years. We met in London. We were introduced by a common friend who said that we really needed to meet each other because we have a lot of shared passion for music, even though we come from different music backgrounds. Rick Vayo (RV): I come from live music. I moved to London to start getting into production with electronic music, but Ale had already been into DJing for a while. He taught me a lot, but he also had a lot to discover and to learn from London and from the underground. So our careers really grew together.
AB: I started to work at Village Underground, and they gave me the chance to work with all the artists I love. It really gave me a lot of experience and knowledge in terms of how the music industry works. And, you know, when you listen and you see how things work in a club and on the dance floor, it gives you a lot of inspiration to try to be a better artist and DJ.
RV: Village Underground was really key for us to learn and understand. AB: We started our own party back in the day “Tales Collective,” which led to our first record label. We started promoting parties in London. That shaped us—we were playing a lot, and it gave us the inspiration to get into production.
您介意向可能不熟悉您的项目的读者简要介绍一下自己吗？你们是何时以及如何开始合作的?
Alessandro Boni (AB)：我们是来自意大利的二人组。我们已经合作了五年。我们是在伦敦认识的。我们是由一位共同的朋友介绍的，他说我们真的需要见面，因为我们对音乐有很多共同的热情，尽管我们来自不同的音乐背景。
Rick Vayo (RV)：我来自现场音乐。我搬到伦敦开始制作电子音乐，但 Ale 已经从事 DJ 工作一段时间了。他教了我很多东西，但他也有很多东西要从伦敦和地下探索和学习。所以我们的事业真的一起成长了。
AB：我开始在Village Underground 工作，他们给了我与所有我喜欢的艺术家合作的机会。在音乐行业的运作方式方面，它确实给了我很多经验和知识。而且，您知道，当您聆听并看到俱乐部和舞池中的运作方式时，它会给您很多灵感，让您尝试成为更好的艺术家和 DJ。
RV：VillageUnderground是我们学习和理解的关键。
AB：我们在“TalesCollective”那天开始了我们自己的派对，这导致了我们的第一个唱片公司。我们开始在伦敦宣传派对。这塑造了我们——我们玩了很多，它给了我们进入制作的灵感。
What kind of live music background are you coming from, Rick?
RV: I was a drummer. I started really early. I was into metal and got really obsessed with it. This is where I was when I was 15. I was forcing myself to play at least four hours a day and to study different music genres. That’s what I wanted to do until I started going to recording studios and getting in touch with electronic music. Alive 2007 from Daft Punk really blew my mind.
你来自什么样的现场音乐背景，瑞克？
RV：我是一名鼓手。我很早就开始了。我很喜欢金属，并且非常着迷。这就是我 15 岁时所在的地方。我强迫自己每天至少弹奏四个小时并学习不同的音乐类型。这就是我想做的事情，直到我开始去录音室并接触电子音乐。来自 Daft Punk 的 Alive 2007 真的让我大吃一惊
I understand you’re going to be residents at Fabric this year. How did that come about?
AB: That is true and we are really excited and honored for this, being chosen from one of the biggest institutions in electronic music to represent their Saturday night is something incredible. Especially now after 16 months of break that gives us a lot of motivation. We are really looking forward to playing for the 42 h reopening party on the 24/25th of July. It will probably be one of the most legendary parties we’ll ever experience.
RV: It’s definitely a great platform to be a part of, and we really thank them for giving us the chance to be their resident.
AB: The idea is that I’ll travel from Berlin, where I live, to London about once a month, so I can also spend some time with Rick and work on music together. I love London, but life in Berlin is way more sustainable.
我知道你今年将成为 Fabric 的居民。这是怎么来的？
AB：这是真的，我们为此感到非常兴奋和荣幸，从电子音乐界最大的机构之一被选中代表他们的周六晚上是一件令人难以置信的事情。尤其是在休息了 16 个月之后，这给了我们很大的动力。我们真的很期待为 7 月 24/25 日的 42 小时重开派对而战。这可能是我们经历过的最具传奇色彩的派对之一。
RV：这绝对是一个很棒的平台，我们非常感谢他们让我们有机会成为他们的居民。
AB：我的想法是大约每个月从我居住的柏林到伦敦旅行一次，这样我也可以花一些时间和 Rick 一起做音乐。我爱伦敦，但柏林的生活更可持续。
Inveterate is a conceptual techno label grounded in the desire to protest against elitism and corruption. What compelled you to conceive of this idea?
AB: Tapefeed has always been a conceptual project. We always like to conceptualize our releases. The real inception of Inveterate came a bit earlier with another release—Ruled by the Blondes—which came out on Metempsychosis Records just at the beginning of the pandemic. It was dedicated to Trump and Boris Johnson. We always like putting some politics and some world issues in our work, just as a background piece. Music is a bit of a translation of what we believe and who we are and what we get from the outside.
The music from Revolving Door came from a moment when we were really obsessed by what was happening in the world. We had Brexit in the UK, and nationalism was just booming around the world. There were all of these world leaders pushing to divide people rather than bring them together. The pandemic really highlighted all of this. We were really busy people before this; our lives in London were very hectic, and we didn’t have much time to focus on what was happening around the world. So we wanted to put some messages behind what we were doing. It came up pretty organically.
RV: We came up with names we wanted to use, and we started to collect samples and vocal bits from speeches that have messages related to this stuff, even though they’re not recognizable in the tracks.
Inveterate 是一个概念性的技术标签，其基础是抗议精英主义和腐败的愿望。是什么促使你想到这个想法？
AB：Tapefeed 一直是一个概念性项目。我们总是喜欢将我们的版本概念化。 Inveterate 的真正开始出现在另一个版本 – 由金发女郎统治 – 在大流行开始时出现在 Metempsychosis Records 上。它是献给特朗普和鲍里斯约翰逊的。我们总是喜欢在我们的工作中加入一些政治和一些世界问题，作为背景作品。音乐是对我们的信仰、我们是谁以及我们从外面得到的东西的一种翻译。
旋转门的音乐来自于我们真正沉迷于世界上正在发生的事情的那一刻。我们在英国脱欧，民族主义在世界各地蓬勃发展。所有这些世界领导人都在推动人们分裂而不是将他们团结在一起。大流行确实突出了这一切。在此之前，我们真的很忙；我们在伦敦的生活非常忙碌，我们没有太多时间关注世界各地正在发生的事情。所以我们想把一些信息放在我们正在做的事情后面。它很自然地出现了。
RV：我们想出了我们想要使用的名字，然后我们开始从包含与这些内容相关的信息的演讲中收集样本和声音片段，即使它们在曲目中无法识别。
What kinds of elitism—in society at large, but in the music industry specifically—do you want your audience to begin critically engaging with?
AB: Elitism in our scene will always be there. But I think it’s part of an ecosystem. I got into electronic music because of some elite DJs, like people who are really at the top of the pyramid. But they inspired me to dig deeper into other genres, and I wouldn’t be where I am today without them. I don’t think this can be compared to the music we want to put out in our music, which is more about elitism in society at large.
RV: There are obviously certain dynamics [in our scene] that can be criticized, but I think it’s still a fair environment on the whole. Underground music still has quite a pure vibe.
您希望您的观众开始批判性地参与哪些类型的精英主义——在整个社会中，但特别是在音乐行业？
AB：我们场景中的精英主义将永远存在。但我认为这是生态系统的一部分。我进入电子音乐是因为一些精英 DJ，比如真正处于金字塔顶端的人。但它们激励我深入挖掘其他类型，没有它们就没有我的今天。我不认为这可以与我们想要在我们的音乐中推出的音乐相比，这更多地是关于整个社会的精英主义。
RV：[在我们的场景中]显然存在某些可以批评的动态，但我认为总体上仍然是一个公平的环境。地下音乐仍然具有相当纯粹的氛围。
What are some other ways you’re hoping to get your political message across musically? What tenor, mood, and compositional style embody the “spirit of resistance” to you?
RV: We’re trying to be punk, in a way, and break the rules.
AB: We don’t classify ourselves as fully techno artists. We try to include a lot of different elements into our sets. We try to include the spirit of resistance in the way we present our music, too, and by thinking outside of the box and refusing to classify ourselves. We also really want to push everyone we release to produce something new and fresh.
RV: We’re living in a moment where loads of music genres are kind of “done.” There’s no freshness anymore. Things are trying to get a bit repetitive, and I think this can evolve by experimenting more with merging different genres together.
您希望通过音乐方式传达政治信息的其他方式是什么？什么样的基调、情绪和作曲风格体现了你的“反抗精神”？
RV：在某种程度上，我们试图成为朋克，并打破规则。
AB：我们不会将自己归类为完全技术艺术家。我们尝试在我们的集合中包含许多不同的元素。我们也尝试在我们呈现音乐的方式中包含抵抗精神，并通过跳出框框思考并拒绝对自己进行分类。我们也真的想推动我们发布的每个人都制作出新鲜的东西。
RV：我们生活在一个音乐流派已经“完成”的时代。已经没有新鲜感了。事情正试图变得有点重复，我认为这可以通过尝试更多地将不同类型合并在一起来发展。
How did the actual EP come together? What is your production process like?
RV: I’m the technical guy—I have most of the gear and hardware. Normally, when we start an EP, we try to create any sound from scratch, even the drums. We also also sample a lot from records that we like from artists that we used to listen to when we were teenagers, like Deftones or Rage Against the Machine.
Then we have some modular stuff, although in the end we use a mix of digital and analog. That’s how we find that sounds that we really like. We’ll start producing tracks with the sounds we collect from previous tracks so that each track on the EP relates to each other. Sometimes you start producing different tracks and you might end up with 10 tracks, but they all have different vibes and different sounds.
When we can be together, we throw in as many ideas as possible, then I might go ahead with the arrangement, and when we’re in different places we’ll send each other parts of the project or different ideas we have and give each other feedback. This is how we keep it rolling while living separately. Thanks to technology and Zoom, you can do sessions where you just share the screen.
AB: We also shared a room for a number of years. We were doing everything together! We’re like one mind in two different bodies. We know what the other person is going to do next.
实际的EP是如何合成的？你们的生产过程是怎样的？
RV：我是技术人员——我拥有大部分装备和硬件。通常，当我们开始制作 EP 时，我们会尝试从头开始创作任何声音，甚至是鼓声。我们还从我们喜欢的艺术家的唱片中采样了很多我们在青少年时期曾经听过的唱片，比如 Deftones 或 Rage Against the Machine。
然后我们有一些模块化的东西，虽然最后我们使用数字和模拟的混合。这就是我们如何找到我们真正喜欢的声音。我们将开始使用我们从以前的曲目中收集的声音制作曲目，以便 EP 上的每首曲目相互关联。有时您开始制作不同的曲目，最终可能会制作 10 首曲目，但它们都有不同的氛围和不同的声音。
当我们可以在一起时，我们会尽可能多地提出想法，然后我可能会继续安排，当我们在不同的地方时，我们会将项目的部分或不同的想法发送给彼此，并给予每个人其他反馈。这就是我们在分开生活时保持滚动的方式。借助技术和 Zoom，您可以在只共享屏幕的情况下进行会话。
AB：我们也共用一个房间很多年了。我们一起做所有事情！我们就像两个不同身体中的一个头脑。我们知道对方接下来要做什么。
Does the same process apply to your B2B DJ sets? Do you usually communicate beforehand what you’re hoping to do, or do you know each other so well that you don’t have to prepare in advance?
AB: We always like to prepare our sets and know where the story will go. I’m a perfectionist. I like to make sure everything evolves precisely. It’s more of a challenge when it’s two people—it’s the same for production. So we have to keep things flexible up to a certain point so we can change direction.
RV: We play different ways for different purposes, but usually we already know each other’s playlists and we know each other so well that we can anticipate where it’s going. That’s what’s made it work so far.
相同的过程是否适用于您的 B2B DJ 组？您通常会事先沟通您希望做什么，还是彼此非常了解以至于无需提前准备？
AB：我们总是喜欢准备我们的布景并知道故事会走向何方。我是一个完美主义者。我喜欢确保一切都精确地发展。如果是两个人，那就更难了——生产也是一样。所以我们必须在一定程度上保持灵活性，这样我们才能改变方向。
RV：为了不同的目的，我们以不同的方式演奏，但通常我们已经知道彼此的播放列表，而且我们彼此非常了解，以至于我们可以预测它的发展方向。到目前为止，这就是让它发挥作用的原因。
Revolving Door seems to marry many disparate musical influences, including bass, industrial, and even dub. Where does your inspiration come from?
RV: You can’t get rid of the industrial influence! That’s always in our music.
AB: UK and London definitely shaped our sound. We were surrounded by so many different influences, like soundsystem culture, jungle, drum n’ bass, grime. I like to go back and forth between these genres. That’s the way we want to be. I think weaving all these different things together can be revolutionary.
RV: One of the reasons why we decided to do the label is that we had this tendency to release less dance floor-friendly tracks, like less straight, or structures that made the tracks more difficult to play. Loads of labels would say, “We like it, but it doesn’t fit our vibe,” or they’d tell us we should change things. It wasn’t natural for us to follow certain sounds. We’re starting to try harder so we can release on other labels, but we’ve always wanted to do something different. Why not do a label where we just establish our view and our sound, and collect like-minded people who can shape the sound of the label?
旋转门似乎融合了许多不同的音乐影响，包括贝斯、工业甚至配音。你的灵感来自哪里？
RV：你无法摆脱工业影响！这一直在我们的音乐中。
AB：英国和伦敦无疑塑造了我们的声音。我们被许多不同的影响所包围，比如音响系统文化、丛林、鼓和贝斯、污垢。我喜欢在这些流派之间来回穿梭。这就是我们想要的方式。我认为将所有这些不同的东西编织在一起可以是革命性的。
RV：我们决定做这个厂牌的原因之一是我们倾向于发布不太适合舞池的曲目，比如不那么直，或者让曲目更难播放的结构。很多标签会说，“我们喜欢它，但它不适合我们的氛围”，或者他们会告诉我们应该改变一些东西。我们不自然地跟随某些声音。我们开始更加努力，以便我们可以在其他标签上发行，但我们一直想做一些不同的事情。为什么不做一个标签，我们只是建立我们的观点和我们的声音，并收集可以塑造标签声音的志同道合的人？
Do either of you have solo projects?
RV: I do. This is going to be the next Inveterate release—it will be digital. It all happened during lockdown when I felt the need to put down different ideas that were outside of the techno sphere. It’s a mix of different stuff. It’ll be out soon.
AB: I don’t have time for another project at the moment. I’m pretty overwhelmed with Tapefeed, Inveterate, Home of Sound … but I’m happy.
你们有个人项目吗？
房车：我愿意。这将是下一个 Inveterate 版本——它将是数字版本。这一切都发生在锁定期间，当时我觉得需要放下技术领域之外的不同想法。它混合了不同的东西。它很快就会出来。
AB：我现在没有时间做另一个项目。我对Tapefeed、Inveterate、Home of Sound 感到不知所措.但我很高兴。
Are you working on anything else coming up?
AB: We have a couple of EPs coming out on pretty good labels that we really like, so that’s exciting. We’re always working on other things.
RV: We’re working on a live set now. It’s going to be hard to prepare from different cities, though.
AB: The idea to do a club live set has always been there. We’ve done some experimental live sets, but we want to go full-on for the dance floor. With Fabric we’ll have a nice platform, too.
你在做其他事情吗？
AB：我们有几张 EP 出现在我们非常喜欢的非常好的厂牌上，这很令人兴奋。我们一直在做其他事情。
RV：我们现在正在制作现场演出。不过，从不同的城市准备会很困难。
AB：做俱乐部现场演出的想法一直存在。我们已经做了一些实验性的现场演出，但我们想全力以赴地投入到舞池中。有了 Fabric，我们也将拥有一个不错的平台。
Is there anything else you want to discuss that I haven’t asked you?
AB: It’s important that we mention there were other people who helped shape the concept for Inveterate, especially the visual part. Terry, our creative director, is a really good friend of ours. She helped us visualize what we had in mind. Our logo is a smiley face with three eyes. “Inveterate” means something you can’t live without, it’s compulsive. And that’s who we are. We’re always pushing ourselves to do what we do.
For all of our releases, we’re going to put the artists’ faces in a distorted photo behind the smiley face. Tom Andrew did the photography—he’s worked with Daniel Avery, Bonobo, Giant Swan. This visual idea really fits our label, so it’s important that we thank them for this.
We also included a Facebook filter as part of our marketing campaign because we want people to feel like they’re a part of it. It has text on it that says “We are cursed,” you know? The third eye can see through you, it can see what you do. It also goes back to this idea of infinity and repetition. The record will come with an insert that explains the EP concept. For each release, we’ll talk about different issues. This time it was about corruption, but we planned other ideas for other releases, like mental health, racism. We want the label to be revolutionary and political. Music is a very powerful tool to bring people together and to raise awareness. We could have just put the music out, but we wanted to put a bit more substance behind it.
你还有什么想讨论的，我没有问过你吗？
AB：重要的是我们提到还有其他人帮助塑造了 Inveterate 的概念，尤其是视觉部分。我们的创意总监特里是我们的好朋友。她帮助我们想象出我们的想法。我们的标志是一张三只眼睛的笑脸。 “根深蒂固”意味着你不能没有的东西，它是强制性的。这就是我们。我们总是督促自己去做我们所做的。
对于我们所有的发布，我们将把艺术家的脸放在笑脸后面的扭曲照片中。 Tom Andrew 负责摄影——他与 Daniel Avery、Bonobo、Giant Swan 合作过。这个视觉创意真的很符合我们的标签，所以我们为此感谢他们很重要。
我们还在营销活动中加入了 Facebook 过滤器，因为我们希望人们觉得他们是其中的一部分。上面写着“我们被诅咒了”，你知道吗？第三只眼睛可以看穿你，它可以看到你在做什么。它也可以追溯到无限和重复的想法。该唱片将附带解释 EP 概念的插页。对于每个版本，我们将讨论不同的问题。这次是关于腐败，但我们为其他版本计划了其他想法，比如心理健康、种族主义。我们希望标签具有革命性和政治性。音乐是一种非常强大的工具，可以将人们聚集在一起并提高认识。我们本来可以把音乐放出来，但我们想在它背后加入更多的实质内容。
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Interview 作者: Chloe Lula
Translation 翻译: Emi
Photos照片: Tom Andrew
