A new series on Chaishop.com: There are these certain DJs and producers that seemed to be just everywhere a few years back but now they have gone somehow. I examined what is going on with these dudes nowadays. We kick off with the humorous Progressive master Massimo Santucci.

Around 2002, 2003 it was hard to find any sunlit festival dance floor where no Massimo Santucci or Prototyp track was played. But since then it got very quiet around you. What did you do? Please give us a summary of your musical development from then!

I never stopped producing music, but in 2003 I had somewhat like a retrieval, and I was looking for a new horizon… ;) In that year I also moved to the Ruhr area with my family and got some new inspirations here. So my productions in 2004 sounded really different as the old “Al Dente” style … the result can be heard in the production “Black Diva“ that I produced with my new homie DJ Amaze. So this was not the sound to be promoted in the Psy-Trance scene. In the same year I also start to work as co-producer and engineer for Thimo Seidel in the Opaque Music Studios, where I co-produced some big House tunes for The Mashup Kids or Tribalism projects. Later I had lot of techy and proggy releases and remixes on international labels like Armada Music, Baroque Records LTD and many more… So I’m still working all the time- Just stopped producing Psy-Trance.

What is your relation to Techno / club music? When did you get in touch with it first, when did you turn to it as a producer?

Together with Prog Trance, Techno and Progressive were my favourite electronic music styles also in 1997. I went to Techno and Progressive parties from time to time, dancing to the music of Sven Väth, Monika Kruse, Westbam, Oliver Moldan, Der Dritte Raum and all the other crazy DJs and producers. I would not say that I’m producing Techno right now, but the last production, in particularly the new Jackus & Santucci stuff, is really Techno oriented. My own productions are Progressive House with a touch of Techno and Trance in the essence.

What is it you like most about nowadays Techno scene?

Mmhhh … quite difficult to say what as the scene here in Germany is really not open minded. But I can say that in Berlin we have a really healthy techno scene with a lot of great locations and crazy peoples. 

What is it you dislike most in nowadays Techno scene?

The drugs are not so good anymore ;))) LOL!!! Seriously … I don’t like that people don’t go to the party anymore for the music, but more as a social event (meet and greet). I have nothing against meet and greet parties, but I miss the magic ;)

Are you missing anything from the “old days” in the Trance scene?

Of course! A lot of things that can’t be spelled here ;)

It seems like almost everybody in the Trance scene turns to technoid productions nowadays. You really changed the scene completely- how did that work? Was it hard, have there been prejudices because of your Psy Trance past?

Not really … I never heard something dismissive about my old scene. Ok … some people make some jokes but really harmless. I think it is important to make the sound you feel, and this will be accepted and appreciated by any crowd. Music is passion that can be manifested in any style of music.

Where do you think will the recent trend for Techno in the Progressive Trance scene go? What will the music be like at Progressive Trance parties in 2 or 3 years?

Puuhhh! Hard to say because the musical development is moving really fast at the moment. But I think we will hear more crossover tracks. Actually we heard the new word “Neo Trance”; I think we will go forward with this development and we will get some more genre hybrids like Technimal or Techprog. Or maybe Minimal Goa ;)

Last but not least: Give us some shameless self promotion!

The last hot news is the launch of the Label EMOTIO Y RATIO http://www.myspace.com/emotioyratio by Mark “Amaze” Jackus and me. We will release there a lot of new material and the first release by UGLH & Massimo Santucci will be Monday the 01st of June online in all shops.

All the other relevant info about me can be checked in the different web pages:

Beatport: https://www.beatport.com/de-DE/html/content/artist/detail/16902/Massimo%20Santucci

DjTunes: http://www.djtunes.com/artist/massimo-santucci/music

My Space: http://www.myspace.com/massimosantucci