Joining us for this week’s Truancy Volume is a producer and DJ based in Turin going by the name of Bakked, who has caught our attention in recent times with a trio of groove-packed releases on his label Outban. Wonderfully and distinctively designed thanks to Simone Faye, the records have not only helped him solidify himself as a prominent figure in the city’s bustling and growing nightlife for underground house and techno, but also a breakthrough DJ who has ticked off clubs Closer and Club der Visionaere in recent times. We caught up with Bakked for a brief chat over email to discuss the music scene in his hometown Turin, his relationship with the Outcast Torino crew, the music and design for his Outban label, and how the mighty Ricardo Villalobos still remains a strong influence for him. As strong a digger as he is a producer, his Truancy Volume doesn’t hold back – riding through for an hour-plus on a wave of leftfield whippers and forgotten underground twisters. The Italian covers a lot of ground here, but the groove holds peak strength throughout, coming into its own with the help of a standout breakbeat scratch number right at the half-way mark. As his international gigs start to fly, and with the selector/digger scene in Italy thriving more than ever, we can’t help but feel he’ll be a producer and DJ to watch for next year.
Hey there! Thanks again for taking out the time to do this mix and answer some questions for us! So just to start, how have you been and what’s been new with you this year? “Thanks to you guys! Let’s say they have been quite hard years and full of emotions, both positive and negative. As for this year, I am more determined than ever.”
So seeing as this is your first interview on the site, can you tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you originally get into electronic music and what’s the Bakked journey been like so far since then? “At the beginning, I never considered becoming a DJ or a musician, but the love for music has always been there. The desire to try something new came for fun without too many, big expectations. My artistic path has been and still is full of changes and evolutions.”
So correct me if i’m wrong but you’re based in Turin at the moment? Have you always lived here or have you grown up at all in a different part of Italy? What sort of nights in Italy were you going to that started getting you into house and techno – have you seen the Italian music scene change much over the years? “Yes, I was born and raised in Turin. I spent the best nights at Savana Potente and Outcast Torino. Savana Potente has always been one of the biggest night reality in the city and hosted some of my favourite DJs of my youth. Outcast Torino, on the other hand, was born few years later as a smaller and more intimate reality, with an accurate music selection and has reached years after years of excellent results. The Italian club scene – in general – has changed a lot in the last 10 years.”
What can you tell us about your involvement with Outcast Torino. You’re a regular at their parties so I was wondering how you all met and got to working with each other. You’re playing b2b with Denaila at their Halloween party next week too, are you excited for that? “The relationship with Outcast Torino began six years ago through Denaila who I was already collaborating with then. I’m now one of the DJs on their roster. As for the upcoming Halloween party, I’m super excited to play with my friends.”
What’s the club scene in Turin like at the moment? Are there any other local DJs or nights that you recommend for anyone visiting Turin or even nearby cities? “After two years of lockdown, the clubs in Italy are now reopening (even if at 50% of capacity). I honestly hope to be able to return to normality as soon as possible. I would recommend anyone coming to my city to attend parties and listen to DJs like Alex Dima, Riko, Denaila, Paolo Macri, Stenny, Andrea and Sick Advisor.”
Can you tell us a little bit about when you first started producing and what have been some of your influences in your own productions? What does the studio consist of right now? “I have a strong influence for Riccardo Villalobos as well as Akufen, Skee Mask, Onur Ozer, Flying Lotus and Aphex Twin. The set up of my studio is always in constant evolution, but at the moment the production set up looks like this: 2 Yamaha Hs7 monitors, Clavia Nord Rack 2x, Roland tr-09 boutique, Roland tr-08 boutique, Roland tb-03 boutique, Elektron Machinedrum sps-1 and Korg m50-61 Music Workstation Synthesizer.”
The Outban records have been some of my favourite club releases the last year so I am keen to know what it was like making them and self-releasing. Had it been while that you thought about starting your own label? What can you tell us about the track titles being mainly all numbers too? “At the beginning of the pandemic I found myself with a lot of free time and it was at that moment that I tried to come up with the first record with this new project. Outban was born from the need to express 100% what I feel inside me without limits. As for the numbers, a part of the title of the tracks is always the number of the project saved in my PC.”
The artwork is so memorable and easy to recognise as your label now. Can you tell us about the designer who does them? “When I started to work on Outban project, I wanted to have a very recognisable graphic and Simone Faye (@faye_wax) was my first choice since the beginning. He’s a very good graphic designer and, like me, he’s a great music lover and one of the members of Sick Advisor.”
What have been some of your favourite ever gigs, the ones where everything just seems to fall into place and you’ve found your rhythm for hours? Do you have a method in preparing your folders and tracks at all? “One of the best parties in which I played was one at Closer (Kiev) with the guys from Criminal Practice. Unbelievable vibe! Usually I try to select the most suitable EP for the party, without having a precise lineup. I always try to feel the vibrations of the place where I am in order to satisfy the clubbers.”
What have been some of your most recent record purchases? Judging from Instagram you’re quite the selector. It feels like there’s quite a lot of Italian selectors doing their thing at the moment – Del Garda, Quest, Alex Dima, Paolo Macri to name a few, are the digging spots quite good in Italy at the moment do you think? “D. Lewis vs. Emix – Tek EP, Fuzz Townshend – Tasty Big EP and Beat Control – Love Life EP, these are my latest purchases just to name a few. Yes I always select the music by myself and Italy has great producers and place where you can buy quality records at the moment.”
What sort of other hobbies or interests do you have outside of electronic music? “I really like to keep fit, I have been practicing calisthenics for 4 years now.”
So what can you tell us about the mix you’ve recorded for us? Was there any direction you decided you wanted to go for this when making and are there any particular tracks you want to shout out? “For this mix I wanted to include many genres that I love. One of the records I care the most in this mix is Dub Federation – Zokoko (Edit).”
Last usual question for us, what was the last thing to put a big smile on your face? “Hasbulla on Instagram ;-)”
Bakked: Soundcloud, Bandcamp, Instagram
Access the 320 download and full tracklist over on our Patreon
