Name: Cristo
Location: Venice (Italy)
SC: https://soundcloud.com/cristohousemusic
BC: https://cristohousemusic.bandcamp.com
About: I’m Antonio. I started producing music as “Cristo” in 2016.
Favourite Tracks
Not my absolute favourite, but some of them…
Q&A
What first sparked your interest in electronic music?
SF-UR, the radio station from GTA: San Andreas. Man, what a selection.
Which artists do you listen to the most for inspiration or enjoyment?
Theo Parrish, Larry Heard and Jeff Mills are three personalities that I consider very strong. Mills, in particular, has a really transversal vision of music. However, I still feel that I can get a lot from non-electronic music, for example from music by Cocteau Twins or the Bark Psychosis.
What is the music scene like in Italy at the moment?
I live in Veneto, a region of Italy with a strong resistance to change. The “underground” electronic music scene is still stuck at basic techno, people are happy with some loud bass and heavy kicks. On one side I like this, people continue to appreciate the music to dance to as an end in itself, as it should be.
How did you start to produce?
I started producing relatively late when I was 18. I started off studying piano at the conservatory and at the same time I was playing the bass in an alternative rock band. I began producing when it came to diversifying the arrangements of studio recorded albums for the band. On my own, I produced some “Italo disco” tracks, which were never released. I published the first tracks as a producer when I created the hip-hop project “Auter” with a dear friend.
Where does your name come from?
When I was in high school I gave one of my schoolmates the nickname “Cristo dei Topi” (translated Christ of the Mice), meaning he was an idol for the irrelevant people. I picked that nickname again as my pseudonym, only keeping Cristo for the project. I felt it was more immediate.
What was the first album that really meant something to you?
The album Untrue, by Burial. I only discovered it in 2009, 2 years after the release date. The infinite delays and the imprecise rhythmics drove me wild. With time I understood that he managed to bring together 15 years of British electronic culture, setting a sort of funeral for it. Crazy.