#MusicInTheAir Podcast hosts this week :
SIMONE GLAD

For this week’s #MusicInTheAir Podcast by Villahangar welcomes a new artist: Simone Glad, from Italy and currently based in San Diego.

Born in Noventa Vicentina, a small village in the province of Vicenza, that’s where he spent the first 26 years of his life. Then at the beginning of 2017 he moved to south California.

He has always been fascinated by turntables, mixers and vinyls: his dad used to co-own a music venue. He tells: “One time, I was sneaking into it when the doors were still closed.  I was begging the staff to let me practice while they were setting up. And begging them even more to not tell my dad about it. Looking back at it, I’m very grateful of that empty dance floor.  It gave me the opportunity to practice on a big sound system. My first real show happened around when I turned 18 years old. I remember my hands were shaking and sweating, I was nervous and excited at the same time”.

Where he was born and raised influenced him a lot from a musical point of view. He explains: “Growing up in Vicenza, I was often going to “il Muretto” in Jesolo, where some of the best and most established international artists were performing every weekend. I didn’t quite appreciate the scene until I moved honestly. You know, I thought that was just the way it was. In Italy we have some of the finest artists in the world, and some of the most iconic parties as well. Even in a small town like Vicenza (150,000 people) We had some great collectives that pulled off incredible parties. I remember in 2016 “Wake Music” brought Nic Fanciulli and Joris Voorn on a soldout dance club “NordEst”. Or the HUND bringing Sven Väth at “Fiera del Soco”. Most people had to travel to Ibiza or elsewhere to see those legends. So, I feel extremely lucky to have experience le that in my early life and something will stay in background forever”.

His initial approach to electronic music in the early stages of his career was more fast paced and techno focused, and it’s still his background, which he loves and enjoys. Even if today his musical style is definitely more melodic than in the past, with a lot of percussive and organic elements: most recently he has been influenced more by afro house, organic house, melodic house / techno.

Recently he had the pleasure to release music on many labels he admires such as Harabe, The Purr and Open Bar Music. He has some more tracks coming out in 2022, one of those will be released on Michael Hooker’s Label “Re:Sound Music”.

How do you live now and how have you experienced in the recent past this particular moment for humanity of epidemic? How did you make up for the lack of being able to travel for your inspirations?

This pandemic hasn’t been easy for anybody. Not being able to visit home and family definitely made me sad, but being stuck at home for months gave me the opportunity to craft my art more and working on my production skills more. It also made me more aware about overall health and made me closer to nature. Living in San Diego isn’t bad at all, I live right on the ocean, also the desert is right there, lakes, mountains everything is very close… there is plenty to do even without traveling allowed.

What do you think about of the Californian music scene? What do you think are the differences with Europe?

The music scene in Southern California is very diverse, there are a lot of influences coming from the South America for sure, but the overall music scene, in San Diego especially, has been growing exponentially in the past few years. The DJ community here is like a big family, very tight. It’s definitely a city to keep an eye on. I’m sure the artist I am today is also thanks to the place I’ve been living in these past years. I remember seeing and hearing local artists like Oscar P performing live, I was like “wow! His music is so different”.

What evolution do you think electronic music is experiencing on the international scene?

The music scene is always changing and evolving. With the world being shut down for a while and clubs along with it, I saw a comeback of underground events, which I personally always liked. I had some of the greatest experiences in the underground world and I hope this will continue.

I also see many more local talent and showcases being booked and having great success. That makes me happy.

How were the months of July and August for you? Have you had any DJ sets? Restrictions permitting, but now the clubs are gradually resuming business, do you have dj sets planned at the moment for the future?

They were great. I had a great summer overall. I played several shows, a couple of amazing boat parties, an amazing and more intimate burning man experience at La Playa in the Black Rock desert, which has always been a dream of mine. I’m back at djing on a regular basis and the 2022 horizon is looking good.

Given the difficulties of the pandemic of the past year, how do you deal with the issue and in what direction do you think the music world should move to overcome the impossibility of live events?

I believe that before being djs, producers, dancers or anything else, we are humans. One of our strengths as humans is the capability of adapting. This is what I see is key in this pandemic. I don’t see this being erased anytime soon, we all should adapt. I see more and more labels and artists moving to more melodic horizons.

Rethink venues. Clubs are fun and great, but we can’t rely only on those. What if they shut down again? There is a whole world out there, we should use it. Also mentioned before, giving more opportunities to local talents. Before looking on the other side of the world for an artist, promoters should look closely. Then the “not so famous” artist you have in your hometown today could be the “dope headliner” of tomorrow.

Take some risks, be bold, launch him.