Who are you?
We are Alessandro a.k.a Ali Selecta and Claudio a.k.a King P; two Italian guys who live in the north of the country in a region called Veneto, very close to Venice. We just produce what makes us feel good and makes us dance.
What would you say are the most popular beats you’ve created?
The best known is definitely ‘Blocka (Ackeejuice Rockers remix)’ by Pusha T, Popcaan & Travis Scott, released by Universal Music. Another is ‘Guilt Trip’, the track we co-produced with Kanye West for his ‘Yeezus’ album. These two tracks are linked because ‘Guilt Trip’ contains samples and cuts that we worked on from ‘Blocka Remix’.
What is your favourite song you’ve worked on and why?
We have more than one actually, but a track that got us excited was ‘Wade in the Water’, a gospel/moombahton track we produced a few years ago that Mad Decent supported straight away. It was the first time we worked on that tempo and we didn’t know that kind of music already had a name. It was there that we first met moombahton music.
Do you think that production software becoming more accessible to just anyone is a good or bad thing for music? Why is that?
Well, we think that the difference is made by how an artist is able to communicate to the people. Naturally, knowing how to use the software and the machines can speed up the producing process but it can’t make the soul of the tracks. You must find that thing within you long before you turn on a machine.
What influences you as a producer?
Diplo is the artist who most influenced us from the beginning, not for his productions but for his futuristic music idea and his ability to discover and push new producers. Thanks to him and Mad Decent, a lot of artists and friends of ours have risen from the ranks in the dance, tropical and bass music world. Not to mention in the hip hop and reggae/dancehall game. In the end, we haven’t got any specific references because we’re versatile and unable to stay in a single musical genre.
This is an extract from the Autumn/Winter14 Issue of Viper Magazine. Read more from the magazine here. Buy physical and digital copies here.
Photo by Verena Stefanie Grotto
