Maurizio Colella is originally from Italy, but these days the globetrotting producer and DJ known as EDX splits his time between Switzerland and the United States. On the eve of EDX’s upcoming Australian tour, Alasdair Duncan catches up with him to find out about his lifelong love of club music.
You’ve been spending a lot of time in Los Angeles lately – what’s the dance scene like from an outsider’s perspective?
The US is definitely an interesting place in terms of electronic music right now. The things that have happened here in the last two years are very similar to the things that happened in Europe around two decades ago. People here are becoming very enthusiastic about dance music, and are becoming more educated about the genre. It’s cool to be a part of something like that in a country where dance music is still in the early stages of catching on.
Your album On The Edge came out last year – how did you find the response?
It’s been out for around a year, and I’ve had a lot of very good reactions. Just today, I was walking down the street in LA and I ran into Tamra Keenan who did vocals for some of the tracks, and on the Kaskade production I did, ‘Angel On My Shoulder’. It was great to see her, and we talked about how well the album is doing. It hasn’t had a lot of play on the radio but it gets played a lot in clubs, which is good.
Your tracks have a very uplifting feeling about them, and you once said you make music to make people smile – are you a very upbeat person generally?
Yeah, I think so. I grew up listening to electronic music – everything from acid house to techno and trance and speed garage, and I always really loved it, but I was especially drawn to trance because it was very melodic and emotional. I think I was drawn to it because of the kind of person I am.
You had Sarah McLeod on the album, who is a very well-loved singer here in Australia – how did your collaboration with her come about?
Her ‘White Horse’ track was doing really well in the UK and she was reaching out to dance producers, so I guess her people just hooked up with my people. We got in touch, and we got on really well. I was just saying to my partner that I want to make another track that has more of an indie pop feel, and that I should reach out to her again, because she’s a really good artist.
What’s the craziest experience you’ve had at a live show in recent times?
My touring schedule in general is crazy, so it’s hard to think of an individual one. I’ve played a lot over the last few years, and I’m always really blown away that people are coming to hear my music. It’s great to see people moving on the floor when you play your own tracks.
You’ll be coming to Australia very soon – what can we expect from your shows down here?
I’m really excited to be coming back to Sydney, because I’ve played there before and it was great. I’ll be playing some new EDX productions, some tracks I’ve made over the last few months. Last time I came, I was still working on the album, so I didn’t have a lot of new stuff to play people – this time, there will be a heap of new stuff. I just want to make people smile.
BY ALASDAIR DUNCAN
EDX plays Marquee At The Star with Those Usual Suspects on Saturday September 14.
