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The Flying Dutchman: Fausto is on his way to London!
Reported by taktikal london
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Submitted 16-09-05 16:00
One thing immediately strikes you about Fausto Talone. He is immensely positive about life. In an almost infectious way, simply being in his presence can turn your half empty glass into a half full one instantly. He seems to have been gifted with an eternally optimistic and fun loving character, which is more than apparent when he takes to the decks like the proverbial duck to water.
Born of a Dutch Mother and an Italian Father, the larger than life DJ is one of the corner stones of the European hard dance scene. From his home in Amsterdam his musical abilities have pulled him across the world, from South America to Miami, from London to Australia and beyond. Like all hugely respected DJs, Fausto has the cocktail of abilities that make him stand out from the rest. An exceptional ear for music (not just hard dance but any genre of dance music), a blindly bright character and above all a pair of hands which can produce some of the most breathtakingly seamless shot-gun of sound mixes in the business.
Soon to be arriving in London for his 2hr Past, Present, Future showcase, the Dance Valley resident is full or praise for the British capital and its diverse and party-loving citizens. With just 3 weeks to go till the main event he talks to us about his love for London, why Tiesto wears make up and his opinion of the infamous Hardstyle...
Fausto Talone is one of the most unique names in the harddance circuit. You’re half-Dutch and half-Italian; is the name more Dutch or Italian?
Fausto: Haha well, my name is a hundred percent Italian, that’s for sure. My father is Italian and my mother is from Holland, so I’m kind of a mixture between these two cultures. I was raised partially in Italy and partially in Holland; we used to travel a lot between these two countries. The education my parents gave me was both Dutch and Italian. They had a great influence in how my personality is nowadays, they also really gave me a very good childhood and I’m extremely grateful for them being the best parents I could have ever wished for.
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FAUSTO
Do people sometimes mistake it as an alias like your countryman Tiësto?
Fausto: They certainly do, you have no idea how often it happens that someone comes up to me and asks me what my real name is. When I tell them that Fausto is in fact my real name, they find it very hard to believe that it’s not just my stage name. Having this Mediterranean name, it wasn’t hard to think of a good DJ-name; I’m not the kind of person who comes up with stage-titles such as “DJ Jacky Stardust” or so. I like to keep it simple, so just the name Fausto hopefully tells the party people everything they need to know.
Speaking of the man himself, do you know him and does he really wear make up?
Fausto: I don’t know him personally, but the thing about him wearing make up… it wouldn’t surprise me at all haha! No just kidding, I know that his girlfriend is a supermodel and maybe she advises him to wear stuff that makes him look better on pictures or in video clips or something, that’s the most reasonable explanation I could think of. But I’ll be sure to ask him about it if I ever get the honour to meet him.
We digress. Fausto you’re finally back in London. It’s been a while since you were last seen heading up the line-ups for Pendragon and Co. Looking forward to coming back?
Fausto: I sure am, whenever I have a gig in the U.K., I’m always looking forward to it like a student looks forward to his holidays. It’s always such a pleasure to cross the water for a gig in England and I consider myself very lucky to get to play over there a couple of times every year. The last time I visited London, was last year for the Pendragon party called Imagine in the SE One club. It was absolutely fabulous, I had a blast! I consider London a little bit as my second home, I’ve been playing at parties over there for over ten years now and this immense city always gives me a wonderful feeling. It’s just like my hometown Amsterdam, only a bit bigger but just as beautiful.
Tom Harding assists Fausto with crowd location.
What is special about London and England in general for you?
Fausto: The fact that the people are so kind, the whole atmosphere that’s present in the city; I can’t really explain why it affects me so much. It’s just very special to be in London and it’s even more special when I get to do a gig over there. The crowd never lets you down, they’re always up for it and I think that a DJ like myself fits into London’s party scene quite well. People just want to have a good time, that’s also one of my philosophies. When I go to a party I want to hear the best of the best tunes and I don’t want to see a DJ who would rather be sitting at home watching TV at that moment. Adrenaline, banging tunes, atmosphere, that’s what a good party is all about in my opinion. The crowd over here in London is one of a kind, they give such good feedback and they make all my London gigs so special for me. Besides that, I got some good friends who live in the city of the Big Ben, Mark Sinclair for instance. He gave me the opportunity to establish my name in the scene by letting me play at one of the Pendragon parties over a decennium ago, I’ve been a resident at Pendragon ever since.
England, and especially London, opened my eyes regarding UK hard house. I used to play pure German and Dutch hard trance, but I wasn’t familiar with the UK sound. My record bag was filled with some UK stompers soon after that and to be honest, it kind of stole my heart.
Other major experiences in the UK were closing down the Saturday night of Tidy Summer Camp 2004, my performance at the Eclipse festival organised by Mark Sinclair, great nights at the Brixton Academy and the Fridge of course… those happenings had a great impact on me. You know, I’m just a regular guy who comes from a regular family, I’m very grateful to experience such great things, it’s still amazing and sometimes I still can’t believe that it’s all happening to me.
You’re probably most famous for your on-stage charisma and crowd interaction. Some DJs plan what they are going to do and others just act on impulse when it comes to ‘playing up’. Which is it for you?
Fausto: I have to say that for me it’s a bit of both actually. I don’t prepare an entire set before every gig I have, but I do think of some particular records that I want to play out that night. I tend to try and create a flow throughout every set; I try to be as up building as possible by making a good connection between different styles of music.
The crowd interaction is something that is different at every single party so it is impossible to ‘practice’ such a thing. It’s something that happens during a performance, at those moments I’m so hyped up by the music that it almost puts me into a trance. In all this euphoria, I just have to give the crowd a little extra boost sometimes to make it that little bit more special. Small things like clapping your hands or climbing up the stage to encourage the crowd can do so much to create the right vibe. Like I said: looking at a DJ who looks all grumpy and moody is not fun for a crowd, and to be honest — I just cannot stand still whilst playing my favourite tunes.
Dance Valley, Fausto comes face-to-face with his arch nemesis: The Water Bottle.
It’s a rare thing these days but you have been involved in some superstar back to back performances with the likes of Yoji Biomehanika and Tom Harding. Both have very unique styles, was it something they had to adapt for you or did you have to adapt to them?
Fausto: I like almost all kinds of dance music, that’s one of the reasons why my record collection is so enormously big. Because of my broad taste of music, I can adapt to almost every DJ within the scene, whether he/she plays progressive house or all the way UK harddance. My style ranges from old school house to hard trance to hard house to continental hard dance, so it doesn’t make that much of a difference for me. The set I did with Yoji was completely different from the one I did with Tom. Yoji and I were teamed up to close down HQ XL 2003 with a very powerful back to back set and I heard people say that we almost literally blew off the roof with the most pounding hard trance that was available at that time. The HQ XL 2004 back to back sessions made Tom and me meet for an exclusive UK hard house set which was very groovy yet uplifting. So each and every one of those back to back sets was one big challenge for me and I experienced them all being important exams. I’m very glad to have passed these exams, according to the several crowds.
Fausto & Yoji Biomehanika
Aside from your multiple worldwide residencies, your pride has to be the Dance Valley, Impulz & HQ residencies on your home ground of Amsterdam, Holland. How did you manage to bag a residency at three of the world’s most renowned events?
Fausto: Radio 100 was a legendary Dutch radio station and has broadcast over ten years. DJ Dano heard me play at a party once and offered me the chance to play some sets during his shows at Radio 100. My name started becoming more renowned in the scene after every set I did, which was a dream come true of course. Within the Amsterdam dance scene I met DJ JP regularly at parties and gigs. One day, he contacted me to ask me if I was interested to become a member of the Grooveconnection Recordstore team and so soon I was employed by the biggest hard dance selling recordstore of the country. Not long after that, the HQ crew tracked me down and asked me to play a set at one of the famous HQ parties. I was used to playing in front of English crowds, so it was very exciting to finally be able to play in front of my ‘own’ crowd: Dutch hard house lovers! Everything went fantastic, I’ve been a resident ever since.
HQ is part of the big UDC Company that founded both Dance Valley and Impulz, so the HQ crew has always been represented at both festivals and I’m just so damn lucky to be a member of this big family. After my first set at HQ, they booked me immediately for the following Impulz Indoor. So there I was, only a few months after my HQ-debut, in the Brabanthallen in Den Bosch. As I looked into the room knowing I was up next, I saw over 10,000 people going wild on the beats layed down by Chris C... when it was my turn, I did one of my best sets ever and the place went mental! Still having goosebumps every time I tell this story by the way.
Dance Valley puts everything else in the shade effectively. It’s a worldwide brand that has almost reached a mythical status. Is it still special for you or have you done the event so many times that it’s become just a normal day out?
Fausto: Waking up in the morning knowing that I will play Dance Valley that day will never ever be something I will get used to. It’s the holy grail of all dancefestivals, there’s nothing like it. It’s literally a dream come true to have Dance Valley on my resumé and I hope to add one edition every year from now on. I already played at three ‘regular’ Dance Valleys (I got to close down the HQ-stage this year’s Friday edition) and I closed down both the Indoor Edition (2004) and the Miami Winter conference Edition (2003). It’s the most amazing feeling a DJ can ever have in my opinion, playing at Dance Valley is the ultimate!
Basic presents THE FAUSTO SHOWCASE
Lets talk about what we’re really here for. You’re in town to play a two hour ‘Past, Present & Future Showcase’. How did this come about and what have you got in store for us?
Fausto: Dickon Laws was interviewed by Harderfaster a while ago, when he was still working at Most Wanted Agency. He named me in his all-time favourite DJ list, which really came as both a surprise and a big honour to me. I sent him an email just to say thanks and from that moment on, we kept in touch every now and then. Just two or three months ago, he contacted me with the message that he had started his own DJ Agency called Taktikal, and that he wanted to sign me on an exclusive U.K.-basis. Hard to refuse an offer like that of course, so the deal was closed quite quickly. A gig at Basic was the instant result, as he immediately arranged a spot on the line-up for me.
The two hour showcase will be one with some good old tunes, some of today’s best dance tracks and of course the best of the best forthcoming tunes which have not been released yet.
You’ve been described by your UK management as being a blend of Ed Real, Scot Project, Proteus, Andy Farley and K90. There are some pure UK hard trance DJs in there and some that play a more European flavour. Can we expect a bit of everything in your showcase then?
Fausto: Definitely. I combine all styles into one energetic mix of pumping hard house, euphoric hardtrance and some quality harddance. I think that that’s my biggest strength: diversity. I’m not afraid to play an uplifting hard trance tune followed by a massive UK hard house stomper with some heavy hoovers in it. But if you really want to know what Fausto-style is about, then come and party with us on the 14th of October in The Fridge, London!
Why do you think there will always be such a split between the UK hard trance sound and the European sound that artists such as yourself, JP and Scot Project play?
Fausto: Well I don’t know really, if there still is such a big gap between the U.K. and the rest of Europe. When you compare the U.K. hard trance of a few years ago to the sound it has nowadays, you will hear a very big difference. Producers like Gaz West and Alf Bamford made lots of crossovers, tracks like Gaz’s ‘Blackout’ and Alf’s remix of ‘Silence’ are examples of how the U.K. sound and the European sound are being merged. I think that the split is closing a bit at the moment; Europe gets influenced by the U.K. more and more whilst the U.K. now also starts liking the German and Dutch kinds of hard dance. Again, Gaz West managed to do that, have a listen at his remix of Avaline — ‘Never Sever’.
Tommy Pulse is one of the upcoming Dutch producers who is doing very well in the U.K. at the moment. His productions ‘The Answer’ and ‘Ghosttown’ were very well received by lots of U.K. based DJs and of course I’ve been playing them out for a long time now.
Holland was the stronghold for hardstyle for many years and still is. Your fellow UDC stars such as JP and Tom Harding have always said it’s not something they would ever play and have been actively critical of it. Are you of the same mind?
Fausto: Tom played some early hardstyle during 2002, 2003. After that, the Dutch hardstyle sound rapidly transformed into a totally different kind of sound. Lots of old hardcore tracks were remixed into hardstyle versions and that effected the Dutch market completely. The basslines became more monotonous, the melodies disappeared out of the genre and for me the fun was over when it came to hardstyle. But I think that the old hardstyle sound transformed into hard dance as we know it at this moment. I think there’s a big difference between hard dance and hardstyle now, even though almost everyone in Holland thinks that those two styles are one of a kind. For me, hard dance is a unique, untouchable sound. Cruz & The White — ‘Technology’ is one of the tracks that reflect my opinion about how hard dance is at its best, though a track like this would have been called “hardstyle” a few years ago. Hard kicks, pounding basses, good vocals and melodic sounds mixed into one devastating product really still do the trick for me.
You’re no stranger to the production studio as well. What are you working on at the moment and what can we expect to be included in your set of your own material?
Fausto: I’m almost living 24-7 in my studio at the moment, very busy working on tons of new material. Mainly because I just started my own record label, my co-producer Junior Rodgers and I are the proud owners of XSIF Records and the first release will hit the stocks at the 26th of September, so within a couple of weeks I can add the title “label-owner” to my name. Junior and I have been working our asses off to get everything done and to make sure we can launch Junior’s production ‘Beatz and Breakz’ at that date. It’s a very funky and techtrancy track, with some latin percussion and a warm, groovy bassline. The melody is quite minimal, but combined with Junior’s vocal talents it’s one hell of a record. The flipside was produced by Tommy Pulse and that remix is one genuine harddancemonster! He managed to keep his own Pulse-sound alive using all main elements from the original mix though. Top class production to say the least!
With XSIF going out in the open, I will also be more aware of new productions and new producers. So if any of you guys and gals have some class A tracks which should be released in your opinion, send me a message through info@djfausto.nl and I will get back at you as soon as possible. Also be aware of our website: www.xsifrecords.com(will be out in the open soon) where we will start several remix competitions in the future.
After the release of ‘Beatz and Breakz’ you can expect some of my own material, like my brand new track called ‘Candy’ (a preview can be found at my own website www.djfausto.nl) and my collaboration with Tommy Pulse. ‘Pirates’ contains a retro-trance sample and a powerful acidline, after trying it out at Dance Valley I will definitely be sure to release this one on XSIF Records!
Finally, what three words would you use to describe your two hour showcase in October for Basic? (In English, Italian or Dutch… we don’t mind!)
Fausto: I’ll do them in English, Italian AND Dutch, how about that hahaha!
English: Let’s go mental!
Italian: E’ Qui la festa !
Dutch: Feestje bouwen ouwe !
Some last words:
I’m really really really looking forward to Basic, hope to see you all there! We’re going to make it one to remember!
Greetz, love and respect,
Fausto
Photos courtesy of taktikal AM, Party Flock [NL] and UDC [NL].
BASIC Presents :: FAUSTO Showcase
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On:
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Friday 14th October 2005
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At:
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The Fridge [map]
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From:
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10pm - 6am
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Cost:
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Advanced Tickets £12 + bf / M.O.T.D
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Website:
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www.basicuk.com
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Ticket Info:
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WWW.TICKETWEB.CO.UK
08700 600 100
MAD RECORDS
0207 439 0707
WWW.E-LISTLONDON.COM
0790 880 9077
CYBERDOG CAMDEN
0207 482 2842
MORE INFO:
INFO@HABITTZINC.COM
07906091769
GUEST LISTS:
GUESTLIST@HABITTZINC.COM
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Buy Online:
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Click here to buy tickets
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Holland. A Dance Music Paradise.
Just across the water from us is a place where a single DJ can sell out a football stadium concert quicker than U2. A place where Dance Music is king and Pop music is
forced to skulk in its shadow. A place where a DJ named Fausto is bigger than Westlife, Robbie Williams & Craig David combined.
Fausto Talone aka DJ Fausto is virtually a household name in the hedonistic capital of the world. Born of the same nationality of the likes of Tiesto, Ferry Corsten and many more he has risen to the lofty heights of the World Scene with a blend of unique charisma, outright enthusiasm and above all a pair of the most skilled mixing hands in the business.
Basic is once again proud to bring you another Exclusive DJ performance. For the very first time in 2005, the legendary Dance Valley, Impulz & HQ Resident will be travelling to London to perform an exclusive 2 hour showcase of Past, Present & Future international Hard Dance mayhem. With an eclectic gathering of UK supporting artists, the man himself will be taking over The Fridge for one night only. If you’re looking for that spark to re-ignite your passion for Hard Dance, and for that something that extra bit special....then you simply cannot afford to miss this extravaganza.
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The views and opinions expressed in this review are strictly those of the author only for which HarderFaster will not be held responsible or liable.
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