RETROHANDZ
1) We like to start off by getting you to tell us something about yourselves that your fans may not know about you. What might that be?
A: We’re really reserved guys so we try to separate private life from work, but one thing that maybe fans don’t know is that our girlfriends are sisters so we’re Best friends from almost 15 years, we’re roommate and brothers-in-law so we spent lots of time together also when we’re in Vacation. Lol
2) We love the mustaches. Have you guys always had them or is it something you both decided to do one day?
A: We always had beard, but we decided to start growing handlebar Mustache when we moved to Milan 5 years ago! We came from a little city in the south of Italy where everyone knows everyone, and when we moved to Milan where there are lots of other producers, we thought to grow a mustache to give an identity to Retrohandz’s image, but with time it became a theme that's part of our life and we really love and take care of them!
3) Being from Italy, how has it had an impact of your style of production, if any?
A: We come from a little city in the south of Italy that’s a kind of Jamaica of Europe where you can listen lots of reggae and dance hall music and this influence our music a lot, we love to use a lot of reggae/dancehall sound in our production and also work with reggae artists!
4) How did you guys come up with the name RETROHANDZ?
A: When we decide to create a producers duo we start to think to an original name that doesn’t exist at all (if you search on google) and a name that sound fresh! In 2009 we was really in love with retro style and vintage stuff so we start to link the word “RETRO” to other and we link “RETRO” referred to music and “HANDS” referred to the fact that we produce our own music with our hands so this is how “Retrohandz” born.
5) How would you guys describe your style?
A: Well, we don’t know how to describe it. We never loved to give a label to our music and produce what we love from Hip Hop to Jungle Terror and Pop to Rock! Our approach to music is to mix all the styles we love and everything we've learned throughout the years. The big thing that gives character to our tracks are the big drums for sure!
6) How did you get into producing?
A: We met at high school in 2002 and we were in love with hip hop music from dr. dre to Eminem etc. One day we decided to create a hip hop crew with our other 2 friends and we recorded our 1st hip hop tape in Valentino’s home. This is where it all started, then we produced 2 different styles - Valentino was a techno producers while Giuseppe produced hip hop and when we listen for the first time to Justice’s album, we decided to mix both styles and tried to break into dance music.
7) Which track do you believe helped you break into the dance scene?
A: We made lots of tracks but the track that for sure helped us to break into the dance scene is “Stomp That Shit.” I still remember when our manager Max called us to say that rimbu loves the track and was interested to release an Retrohandz EP! After “Stomp That Shit” lots of famous DJs started to play our tracks and we released tons of music on the most important Dance labels!
8) Which track of yours have you guys enjoyed making the most?
A: We really enjoyed making a track that maybe most of you don’t know called “Dead Girl Walking” from our 1st studio album “Primitive.” When we received the acapella from Krystal Buckley we literally had goosebumps was a really pleasure to work on this track! Also we really have fun producing our “Squad Out” remix with the homies Stereoliez , we stayed all the day long in studio and we spent very good moment and laughed a lot!
9) Being from Italy, how has it had an impact of your style of production, if any?
A: We come from a little city in the south of Italy that’s a kind of Jamaica of Europe where you can listen lots of reggae and dance hall music and this influence our music a lot, we love to use a lot of reggae/dancehall sound in our production and also work with reggae artists!
10) What are some of your go-to pump up songs before a show, if any?
A: We’re very quiet guys and before a show usually we don’t listen to music to be focused on show! We love to have a nice dinner and relaxing before the storm!
11) Where would you say the state of EDM is in 2018?
A: We think that EDM at the moment needs something fresh. We really feel that it’s still locked to 2016 and people absolutely need something fresh! It’s still a good moment for dance music as it's reached it's highest level in the last ten years.
12) If you had to pick one electronic artist and one non-electronic artist to collaborate with, who would they be?
A: As electronic artists we choose for sure Major Lazer while non electronic artist our big dream is to work with Kanye West a day!
13) What do you guys have planned for 2018 release & show wise?
A: We took a break from shows and releases in the first half of 2018 because we really feel that our music needed something fresh so we closed ourselves in studio and started to take off lots of sounds to make all the music we always dreamed to make. We want to mix hip hop influences with indie, rock and trap! We’re still working on new EP and new remixes and we’re very satisfied so far! Also for shows, we’ll be back at Ultra Europe this year hosted by Afrojack but we’re still working on other shows as well.
Follow RETROHANDZ:
Twitter: @RETROHANDZ
Facebook: @RetrohandzPage
Soundcloud: @retrohandz
Instagram: @retrohandz_official
