Hugo (2)

Italy’s Hugo is a classically trained jazz musician who fell in love with electronic music in the 90s. So it’s fitting that you can hear whispers of Funkadelic and Herbie Hancock behind the curtain, although Hugo’s latest productions go beyond superficial influences, conceived through profound emotion and awareness of non-ordinary mental spaces. Following the tradition of his spiritual fathers, Hugo has embarked on a journey into finding his own style – sexy, loose, riff-oriented and danceable – and is constantly improving his ability to amalgamate distinct sounds into a cohesive whole. Despite this conceptual framework, Hugo never takes himself too seriously, always maintaining a sense of humor in his production work.

In order to satisfy his thirst for new sounds, Hugo founded the netlabel Tonimusic in 2006. On a wider scale, Hugo has released tracks and 12”s on some of the most interesting techno/house labels worldwide: TuningSpork, Floppy Funk, Hartchef Discos and Claque Musique. His brassy hit single “The Sloop” was heard in clubs throughout Europe in summer 2008, and his international profile has increased since performing in some of the best clubs worldwide: Fabric (London), Watergate (Berlin) and Goa Club (Rome), plus festivals Elettrowave (Florence) and Panorama (Naples). In his live PA set, Hugo blends together the artificial and the organic (e.g. electro-funk, Latin percussion) and uses tension and pacing for a powerful effect on the dancefloor. He considers his productions and performance not as a break with the electronic music of the past, but as a reinvention of the music of today.