According to Angelo Raguso, being a DJ is a profession that not everyone can improvise. And as such you have to work hard, study and perfect yourself. The tendency is often to pay attention to the ”following” that an artist has on social media and not to the artistic quality.
What prompted you to DJ?
It was a set of coincidences. Surely everything starts from the passion for music. I started studying music at the age of 10 as a guitarist first and then a bass player and I’ve always been involved in the world of rock. At the age of 17 I began to enter the world of home recording to record what we were doing with the group I had at the time and then from there, the step to electronic music was short and consequently to the world of the DJ. After a couple of years, due to physical problems I was no longer able to play bass and I took the definitive step into the world of electronic music both as a producer and as a DJ.
What were the experiences that most shaped you?
I believe that every experience has taught me something, every situation is different from the other and every time it’s a different journey.
What are your current projects and for the future?
I currently have various tracks I’m working on for different releases and different EPs on different labels. I also have some collaborations with DJs/producers from the underground scene. For the future I have many ambitions and hopes!! I always try to work to the fullest of my abilities to grow and ensure that the future is full of good music.
How has the DJ profession changed in the digital age?
I believe that man’s primary purpose is to evolve, create and invent new things that make our lives easier and easier. Personally I believe that with this simplification, however, everyone can now be a DJ, without necessarily having to know music. This in my opinion made everything a little less professional and romantic. In my opinion I believe that a DJ to be such must have the technical skills, must know music and must have a musical encyclopaedia in his head before being on the PC or flash drive. Unfortunately, as I have already said, this evolution has trivialized the DJ profession to a simple game that adults and children can play, footballers and dancers, who all have the right to do so, for heaven’s sake, but if I think of a Roger Sanchez or a David Morales, I think of a story, I think of a background, of an evolution, I think of kids with a passion for music who go to play records for little money in clubs and as they grow up, they work their way up and make a name for themselves. If I think of a Bobo Vieri or Belen, I think of people who didn’t know what to do, bought a console, trained a bit and went to parties to make money. I don’t see a background, I don’t see the passion for music even if maybe they know how to do it, but I see more than anything else with all due respect the passion for fame.
What do you think about underground music and clubbing?
I think at the moment underground music gives us the most beautiful music in both electronic and pop rock music. There are many very good underground artists who have so much passion for music and are forced to experience music only as a passion after work just because they don’t have the money to finance themselves or they don’t have the right connections to get anywhere. On the other hand, however, this desire to make it is sometimes that extra push to create something that comes from the heart and not from the head and that’s why, as I said at the beginning, underground music gives us the most beautiful music. How many times, looking at an artist’s career, do we happen to say that “the first album was the best”… ? As far as clubbing is concerned, it’s a story in itself and I also partially refer to the answer to the previous question. I start by saying that in my opinion there is a cultural and economic problem at the base. First of all, the economic factor is very important because at the end of the evening the club manager must somehow make ends meet and somewhere he has to cut back and precisely since everyone is now capable of being a DJ, the evenings are divided into 2 types: n1 is called to be a DJ: the son of a friend, cousin or acquaintance in general is made to play for free in the evening, they are so happy because they took 2 photos on Instagram and showed off in front of a some people. n 2 you invest some money and you call the famous person who brings so many people. In any case that you call one or the other, the music they will put on will be the same and that is those hits that have been playing on the radio for 10 years in this part.
How do you use the web and social media for your business?
The web and social media are now essential for those who want to make themselves known. Personally, I have a somewhat conflict relationship with this world because I try to upload mainly photos and videos of what I do to show that there is substance, but then going around the social networks I see many DJs, especially women but also men, who in their profiles they almost only have photos in swimsuit or underwear or travel photos and I think it should be understood that they are djs only because in 1 or 2 photos they have headphones. And sometimes these people are very popular and always going back to the answer on clubbing then these people are called to play in clubs for their following, but I don’t think for the quality of what they do. Here this makes me very sad because nowadays the form really counts much more than the substance.
How do you see the future of music?
I think in the near future of music there is a lot of minimalism. There will be a lot of focus on groove while minimizing the use of melodic instruments.
Follow Angelo Raguso on Instagram (@angfaw9)
Author: Alex Spinoso
CEO @genesislifestylemedicine @genesistelehealth & Contributor for Influencer Today
CEO @genesislifestylemedicine @genesistelehealth & Contributor for Influencer Today
