Berny first came into the public domain with his smash hit ‘Shplatten’ back in 2010 on Luca Ricci’s label Aenaria Recordings. The track rocked all clubs and festivals around the world thanks to the support of Richie Hawtin and Marco Carola and give the artist a well deserved international reputation together with a long permanence on the Beatport chart.
Berny is an artist truly absorbed with the range of sonic possibilities. A producer not content with existing within the realms of house and techno but one that is determined to further stretch its limits with his characteristic deep, disco, and jacking signature sound. In the last 6 years Berny remixed and produced with artists like Kruse&Nuernberg, Marshall Jefferson, Robert Owens, Giorgia Angiuli, Cosmic Cowboys, Moodymanc and Funk D’Void continuing to forge his own path into the future, with no need to follow the latest musical fads, fired by his passion and strength of will to reach his goals and realise his dreams.
Living between Italy and Berlin where he regularly plays in clubs like Sisyphos, Chalet, Ipse, Suicide Circus and Ritter Butzke, Berny’s global touring schedule continues to broaden with India & Asia Tours in 2014/2016/2018/2019, touching clubs like Womb in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Seoul, Singapore, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur and parties like Jungle Experience in Thailand in 2016 where he played in front of 5000 people and his recent debuts in 2018 in fabric and Ministry Of Sound in London together with amazing Sula Festival in India and Macki Festival in Paris. Berny’s inner strength and self-belief have shaped his engaging personality and helped him grow into the DJ and producer that he is today, releasing and playing exceptional music purely for lovers and people who dance and wanna celebrate life!
We caught up with Berny to talk about his latest musical projects.
Electronic Groove: Hi, Berny, we hope you well during these challenging times. Where are you right now and what can you tell us about your last weeks? How has it affected you and what’s your take on the whole situation?
Berny: Hi everyone and thank you for this chat! I live between Berlin and Italy, to be precise in Padua, 30 km from Venice. I spent the lockdown here, my last gig was in Ritter Butzke in Berlin on February 14th, after which all my dates have been canceled at the beginning of March. I have to be honest, I didn’t panic and as soon as I realized that all clubs would close for a while I clearly understood that I had to take advantage of this period and turn it into an occasion, so I started various new projects such as my series of podcasts ‘In Dark We Trust’, and other musical collaborations and studio work.
EG: Thanks for the recent mix you recorded for Electronic Groove. Can you let us know where it was recorded and what was the inspiration?
Berny: I recorded the mix live in my studio in Padova using my console Pioneer XDJ-RR and my Nord Lead 4 for small solos and fx, I love to play over the mixes I record adding elements like tribal shots, risers effects and spoken vocals previously sampled, I apologize for some technical errors but I assure the mix is rude and genuine and recorded with love!
EG: What is Dark Disco? Can you explain more about this genre?
Berny: Well, like my friend Claudio Capo from tanzgemeinschaft.com wrote introducing my new podcasts series, In Dark We Trust, Dark Disco it’s a genre that is too dystopian to be called disco, too melancholic for house and too musical to be techno. It’s also usually slower than the original disco, loosely ranging from around 80 to 125 bpm. But importantly it always remains very danceable. It’s music for strobe lights and smoke machines rather than mirror balls and lasers.
EG: So recently you are focusing all your energies on this genre? Can you name other artist’s references that you respect?
Berny: For me, the godfathers are Damon Jee and Curses, but so much respect for Darlyn Vlys, Rigopolar, Pete Herbert, Simple Symmetry, Jennifer Cardini, Moderna, Skelesys, and Local Suicide from Berlin, Red Axes, Eliezer and Niv Ast from Israel, all the french crew from La Dame Noir in Marseille, Phred Noir, Relatif Yann, Did Virgo, and others like Badknife, Cornelius Doctor, and Nathan Joy from France and of course, the Mexican school with maestro Theus Mago, Thomass Jackson, Inigo Vontier, Zombies In Miami, Rodion, Tyu, Colossio, Mufti, Mijo and the best DJ girl I know, Mystery Affair.
EG: Just before the COVID-19 break you started an ‘Electric Monday’ residency at Kit Kat. What is the idea behind that party?
Berny: Yes I started early this year my residency at the infamous ‘Electric Monday’ party in Kit Kat in Berlin thanks to the respect and support of one of the founder DJs, Frankie Flowerz, (together with his partner Ricardo Rodriguez), the nicest and honest person I know in this business. He is doing ‘Electric Monday’ since 6 years in Kit Kat, it’s a truly eclectic party with no dress code policy, a very unique blend of people from at least 40 nationalities and sexual orientations. ‘Electric Monday’ it’s a party where people let themselves go but without the excesses that many think, music is always at the center of everything, every DJ is free to play his style.
EG: What about your new releases? Any recent one or about to go out that you would like to mention?
Berny: I recently completed an EP with Funk D’Void on Moonlight Records, and working now on a remix for Adolpho&Frankie for their new label Folklor Nation. I will start new original tracks this summer, dark disco oriented, of course.
“I didn’t panic, and as soon as I realized that all clubs would close for a while I clearly understood that I had to take advantage of this period and turn it into an occasion”
EG: Also, you have started your own podcast series ‘In Dark We Trust’. What are you looking to achieve with this new project?
Berny: This series is an intuition that I had when I started thinking about how to not waste my time once I had the certainty that the lockdown of the clubs was confirmed and would last at least all summer. Discussing with people in my business and other DJs, I was telling them how good I felt during my last gigs playing the tracks of this or that artist that is producing dark disco, but very few understood who and what I was talking about, so I understood that I had to create something to bring together what I think are the most representative artists of this genre, I had to write a ‘book’ that people could ‘study’ about. I am receiving so many good feedbacks from this project and I am happy to introduce it on EG also!
EG: What are your thoughts about the current club/venue situation in Germany? Do you think people is ready to go out as before?
Berny: The first city to get out of this stall will be Berlin which with ‘United We Stream’ project is already saving a good number of clubs and keeping the movement united in the effort to overcome this situation. Most of all in Berlin clubs and electronic music are considered cultural heritage and let’s not forget that it is a sector that gives work to many people. I am convinced that people will return to dance in the clubs as soon as this is allowed, but the clubs will also have to be good at proposing something new, especially on a musical level. I am worried more about situations like in Italy where I, being Italian, live half of my time; there is no help and consideration from the State, the only people who fight with strength and energy are historical DJs like my friend Claudio Coccoluto. I invite you to follow his Total Volume project, streamings from the most beautiful luxury hotels in our country, a way to combine and relaunch music, tourism and culture.
EG: So your thoughts are that they do, are you willing to continue with your gig calendar as was planned before this break?
Berny: I will be back in Berlin in July for some streamings, the Electric Monday one in Kit Kat, Bordel Des Arts, one for my friend Marcus Schroeder, one of the best and craziest promoters in Berlin. I am sure to recover some gigs but also sure to have lost some others but never complain, always look forward.
EG: What’s your advice message to artists and musicians from around the world?
Berny: Time is one of the most precious things we have and it shouldn’t be wasted but you have to adapt to it, possibly in a creative way… Many things will change and those who can adapt artistically will survive and re-emerge, who will reason in the old way and will propose the old things will no longer be an attraction for anyone, the choice is yours.
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