I'm A House Gangster presents The Gangstercast

Gangstercast 61 comes from Toronto-based House and Techno legend Carlo Lio.

Some artists are content earning the label of “overnight sensation,” while others patiently rely on hard work, dedication, and perseverance to earn the title of “everlasting sensation.” The latter is unquestionably the case for enigmatic Toronto native producer/DJ, Carlo Lio.

Originally known for leading the pack of prodigiously talented Toronto producers, Carlo has utilized his trademark cosmic house and techno sound to cement his status among today’s prodigiously talented world-renowned producers.

For proof, look no further than his remix of the‘Diablo’ track on Cocoon Recordings. One of the greatest rewards an artist can receive is to be recognized by his musical heroes, and an even greater honor occurs when those heroes ask you to remix for them. Such was the case for Carlo when Dubfire and Oliver Huntemann approached him to remix ‘Diablo’. Without hesitation, Carlo accepted this project and the resulting track not only topped the charts, but it manifested Carlo’s personal dreams in a single shot. Ever since, Carlo’s discography has exploded, with his music catching the eyes and ears of some of the biggest labels in the market – SCI+TEC, Bedrock Records, MOOD, Desolat, Suara, Intec Digital, and Mindshake Records just to name a few. And in the coming months, Lio will be releasing remixes and collaboration projects for Mathew Dear (aka Audion), DJ Sneak, Paul Ritch, Carl Cox, and Nicole Moudaber.

As talented as Carlo is in the studio, his deep pulsing tech-house and shaggy techno beats are even more powerful with captivating dancers in clubs and festivals around the globe.

With home bases in both Toronto and Barcelona, Lio effortlessly maintains the life of a superstar DJ, continuously roaming the planet for new dance floors to conquer. This year alone has Carlo billed on some of the world’s biggest events, including BPM Festival (Mexico), Digital Dreams (Canada), Audiogate (Germany), Balaton Sound (Hungary), Barrakud (Croatia), Les Plages Electroniques (France) and Music On (Ibiza).

Having no intentions of slowing down from this pace anytime soon, rest assured Carlo Lio is at the top of his game, routed straight into the international limelight with a lifetime of accolades ahead.We asked Carlo to explain to us how this mix represents him as an artist to which he replied; “Well it def shows that I'm not just a techno head. Its very easy to be labeled in this game. So this mix gave me a chance to show a bit of my roots. Touch up on some funk & Grooves.”

We caught up with Carlo himself give us a lil insight about this mix.....

Carlo describes the House Gangster sound as; “Very organic”. He says; “A ton of soul and personality and brings out the joy in people as music should.”

House music means everything to Carlo. “Without house, there is no you or me. I owe my life to house.”

Asking him in particular what the ‘house gangster movement’ meant to him, he stated; “Its about Never forgetting your roots. Its about staying to true to who you are as an artist / person and innovator!”

Telling us how he chose the tracks in compiling this mix for us, Carlo states; “Having a chance to do a 2 hour mix, i def went across the board. So i def got in some new joints but also dug back a bit and added some older favs of mine.”

Gangstercast 55 comes from Tuccillo.

Originally Italian, Tuccillo has been a producer for longer than 15 years being a self-taught virtuoso of the electronic sound.

TUCCILLO is one of the more prolific producers of the current music scene. Deep, chill out, minimal, R’n’B or Ultra lounge, no genre resists his talent, blending the electronic and analogical components to obtain his own and unmistakable sound.

Established in Ibiza a few years ago, the creativity and style of his work is requested by heavyweights of the musical scene, his sound is known on radio and worldwide labels, his compositions are included at the most important charts, with productions that will guarantee and confirm him as one of the most promising music creators.

His set brings the studio into the club with unreleased tracks elevating the music to an ideal state which permanent groove and warm sounds, making the perfect soundtrack for a night of absolute house music.

His ample knowledge and experience as a musician, and the good taste he displays in his concept of what dance music should be about in the dawn of the XXI century, define his very success and the unique character that impregnates his musical saunter...

No introduction is necessary for whoever represents music creation in constant evolution. Great music, great heart, that’s Tuccillo.

We asked Tuccillo what House music meant to him, to which he replied; “Do not know how to explain, is pure passion, since I started listening to DJ ́s tapes in the 90s.. Thanks to the Italian old school and not forgetting I had a great influence young, the UMM label that took us to know more about HOUSE MUSIC in Italy in the 90s ...”

Tuccillo describes the house gangster sound as; “360 o House music.. deep, sample’s , funk , jack , vinyls, akai , Groove ! : )”

When we asked Tuccillo about how this mix represents him as an artist, he told us; “It represents my passion for music and the RESPECT makes some of my great inspirations and creadores..Mr DJ Sneak”

Telling us how he chose the tracks in compiling this mix, Tuccillo tell us; “There is a mix of my productions, the latest release in DJ sneak classic "Back" and some classic house ..”

Finally, Tuccillo gives a special mention about this mix; “Tucci groovy curly mix special dedication to HG Family”

Gangstercast 48 comes from Manu Gonzalez.

Manu Gonzalez is one of the rare breed of home grown Ibiza DJ/Producers. Born in Ibiza in 1990 this young DJ is now beginning to make a big impact on the Balearic Electronic scene.

Manu worked for many years in the famous Discos Delta vinyl store, the most famous record store and one of the best in the world, ordering and selling vinyls for all the famous DJ/Producers who were based in Ibiza. From the age of 15 Manu has been involved in the Ibiza scene, developing his own style based on quality music skills and sound experience learnt from dealing with the best professionals from this early age.

Manu has his own special way of understanding and interpreting Balearic music mixes with his influences ranging from Chicago House, Detroit Techno to the latest trends including quality tech house mixed with groovy cool touches of contemporary underground sound ALWAYS with the main focus being the dance floor and the crowd.

For such a young guy, Manu has already established an international fan base, Playing funky powerful grooves and old school style DJ sets all over the world in Mexico, Estonia, Austria, Germany, Scotland, Italy and Romania along with many other countries. Most weekends when not travelling abroad Manu is playing in Madrid, Barcelona and all over Spain, Including some on island winter residencies. Manu is playing regularly at what most people consider to be the best clubs in the world; Space, Pacha and Privilege. Since 2010 till 2014 Manu had a summer residency @ Privilege Ibiza "World Biggest Club".

When not DJing, Manu can be found in his studio producing and editing tracks for prestigious labels such as Natural Rhythm Berlin, Novo Music Spain or Get Funky, Romania. His tracks have been played and supported by Marco Carola, Luciano and DJ Sneak and many more who are all happy to work with the sound of Manu. Manu has also recently remixed Hot Since 82's Restless ft Alex mills which hit 86 on Beatport top 100. With a cluster of DJ award nominations, Manu Gonzalez is considered to be one of the youngest and brightest DJ / Producer prospects which the Ibiza club culture has produced for many years. One thing is certain, you will be hearing a lot more from Manu Gonzalez in these years to come.

Starting on Friday 26th December at 11pm CET Manu will launch his new radio show on OpenLab - Limitl3ss. The show will air every week, exclusively on 89.9FM in Ibiza, Fomentera and worldwide on www.openlab.fm.

House music means “Everything” to Manu. Explaining his true dedication to house music, he says; “My whole life is devoted to making, playing and finding the best house music I can, for me when I see a dancefloor reacting to my love of house music this is why I wake up in the morning and do everything I can to deliver the best possible music to any dancefloor.”

Asking what the house gangster movement meant to him, he says, “For me the house gangster vibe is all about authenticity and a real love of genuine house music, it’s obvious to me DJ sneak is looking for djs who are also heavily inspired by the true sound of house. Regardless of the genre trends in the end it all come back to real house music.” He describes the house gangster sound as “classic, underground house music.” Using words to describe it like ‘authentic’, ‘deep rooted’, and ‘timeless.’

Manu told us how he chose the tracks for this mix, he said, “When working in my studio I received the request to make this mix I instantly started to think about the content of the mix. having been a huge fan of DJ sneak for many years and loving his sound it wasn't difficult for me to do a little research and pull together the kind of mix that I truly believed sneak would love. I really believed in this mix and it’s so exciting for me to now hear that sneak does also.”

Gangstercast 46 comes from the fabulous Honey Dijon. Based in NYC but Born and raised in Chicago; the home of house music, Honey is known for her unique take on the Chicago sound with inflections of the deep New York underground. Honey is one of the few DJ’s in recent years to defy pigeon-holing. She draws from a wide repertoire of musical styles from old school Chicago House, disco, tech house, tribal, funk, soul, and R& B. She has graced the tables from Ministry of Sound London to Ushuaia Ibiza, Panorama Bar Berlin, Stereo Montreal and everywhere in between. She has also shared the decks with none other Danny Tenaglia, Derrick Carter, Green Velvet, The Martinez Brothers, Satoshi Tomiie, and Quentin Harris.

Like many involved in the scene, her love affair with music began upon hearing her parent’s soul and r&b records at home. Soon she wanted to be the one dropping the needle on the record whenever they held parties in the family basement and the lure of club life soon followed. Before long she was obsessively collecting her own music from record stores, which is where Honey met and formed a long lasting friendship with Derrick Carter, who became a mentor. It was he who introduced her to the underground of Chicago where she was exposed to the sounds of jacking house and Detroit techno.

After relocating to New York City, Honey also met another music giant Danny Tenaglia, whose legendary sets at Twilo were also a major source of inspiration. “Danny heavily influenced my sound as a DJ’, says Honey. “The drama of his delivery and risk taking always informed me of how I wanted to present music. Of course, Derrick and Chicago house were also very influential in my development as an artist, so it’s this combination of Chicago and New York that has helped me develop my signature sound.”

Known for her passion and integrity in her sets, this week Honey takes us back to the old skool sound, with this hugely authentic mix, fusing the bump of Chicago with more classic New York sounds and other European influences, dexterously flowing between house and techno, with a warm, hypnotic feel. The art of mixing itself is very important to Honey, and when telling us of the tracks she chose in compiling this mix, she explained; “I did a bit of research and did a bit of crate digging to try and give a bit of swing and soul but in a modern way.”

When explaining to us how this particular mix represented her as an artist, she told us; “Well being from Chicago, I wanted to mix a bit of my roots with what's happening in dance music at the moment. Since there has been a resurgence of House in Europe, I felt it was the perfect time to pull out a few forgotten classics.”

Being a firm believer in the underground sound, and being a protector of the faith, When asked what the House Gangster movement means to her, she replies; “I just feel it's a gang of like-minded people representing the love of house and paying respects to where it came from and to also where it’s going.”

Honey describes the ‘House Gangster sound’ as “Boompty but with guts and soul! Also with a bit of a techy edge top to it”

As two wise Chemically enhanced men once said, ‘The brothers gonna work it out’. It’s an adage the Smokingroove brothers - Safe and Marko - have taken to heart and we’re glad to have worked out getting them on the Gangstercast for episode 43.

Starting off the main part of their career in their native home of London, they cut their teeth on the underground club scene in the 90s and their style of “deep, Chicago-flavored House music with a Jacking vibe” has seen them sign records to Roger Sanchez’s Stealth Records and DJ Sneak’s Magnetic Recordings, as well as penning a string of releases on their own Illuminati Recordings imprint.

Their love of House music has prevailed and they reflect, “[House music] is the spirit of clubs, the people we meet and the life we have. For a musical genre, it’s pretty special in that way.“

They’ve hosted radio shows for over 10 years and it’s perhaps on the DJ front that the brothers have made their biggest impact. With both Safe and Marko now based in Dubai, they hold down the most coveted residency in the Middle East at the much-copied but never bettered Nasimi Beach, and have played huge events such as Creamfields Abu Dhabi, Pete Tong’s Wonderland, El Divino Ibiza and Savannah Ibiza as well as countless legendary UK clubs. More recently they have become brand ambassadors for Adidas Originals, New Era & Pioneer DJ and they have mixed the first in a series of Pacha Dubai CDs.

Episode 43 of the Gangstercast allows Smokingroove to flex their DJ muscles, as they explain, “Over the last 16 years, we’ve built our own mental-inventory of great records and music we honestly love and feel. The mix captures our love of the sound. This mix was recorded live so everything in there is pretty indicative of what we play. You’re getting the Smokingroove sound in this mix. This isn’t a practiced, studio set. Real deal, one-shot take.”

They add that the House Gangster movement is, “like a global clique of people who all vibe off the same music and mentality. House is a broad genre so this feels like membership to an exclusive global family within that. Real underground House music with a street-edge to it. A little something for everyone but keeping the beats correct and a definitive underground vibe.”