Music

Gloria Brancatisano / October 31, 2019

Playlist

Giuseppe Ottaviani handpicks his favourite tunes ahead of Festival X

Headphones in. Volume up.

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Need to pick a song for a very specific situation? We’ve called in Italian DJ Giuseppe Ottaviani to take us through some of his favourite tunes ahead of his set at Festival X this November and December.

There is a joy and energy that characterises trance music that is hard to explain, but you will find it embedded within Giuseppe Ottaviani’s catalogue. Long considered one of the genre’s most respected creators, across the last decade his trailblazing live shows have redefined the barriers around what a DJ does.

If you’re familiar with his GO Live! concept show, wait until you see version 2.0. Further shifting the show towards a studio-meets-stage direction, Ottaviani has even developed a one-man portable tech set-up to help bring it all to life. The set-up allows him to bring the inspiration that drives his releases directly to live audiences, allowing him to entertain and create simultaneously. Using crowd interaction and reaction, he created new music on the fly, ensuring each live Giuseppe Ottaviani experience is wholly unique.

After two years of taking the show to clubs and festivals around the world, Ottaviani started releasing some of the tracks, eventually packaging them together into an album called Evolver. The record brings together years of audience ideas turned into demos and then demos turned into records. The final result is a 17-track conceptual album that showcases Ottaviani’s skill at live production.

With almost 60 productions and more than 55 remixes under his belt, Ottaviani’s output is nothing short of prolific.

Give us the elevator pitch! Who are we chatting to?

My name is Giuseppe Ottaviani and I’m not a DJ, I’m a music lover.

The first song you remember hearing:

I perfectly remember Antonio Vivaldi’s Four Seasons (Spring). My mum used to play it a lot on vinyl when I was a little kid and that’s pretty much the oldest track I can remember.

A song you’d play to introduce your music or style to a stranger:

My sound has evolved a lot through the years, but last year I made a track which is basically a follow-up to my very first solo production that introduced me to the business back in 2006. The track is called ‘Till The Sunrise’ and it sums up my “back to the roots” sound with a fresh new era approach.

A song you’d play when it’s about to hit midnight on New Year’s Eve:

The one that always gave me chills and the one I would play is Paul Van Dyk feat. Vega 4 –  Time Of Our Lives

A song you play first thing on Monday morning:

You know how Monday can be, so I use Muse’s ‘ Get Up and Fight’ as my alarm. Actually, I use it every day….I’m probably going to hate Muse quite soon.

A song you play while you’re getting ready on Saturday night:

Ok ready for this? I used to play this one with a bunch of friends back in my school days when we were getting ready for a “wild” Saturday night, and I used to love it. Whigfield – ‘Saturday Night’. Now I know it might be silly but sometimes I still play it, it just puts me in a good mood 🙂

A song you’d play if you could only hear one song forever:

I would definitely go for U2 – Where The Streets Have No Name. The funny thing is that I fell in love with this track more because of the guitar intro melody than the actual full track. Somehow I’m totally addicted to that guitar melody and I would make an infinite loop with that one and I would be just fine forever.

Festival X 2019 Lineup:

Calvin Harris | Armin Van Buuren | Lil Pump | Alison Wonderland | Anna Lunoe | Badrapper | Camelphat | Cosmic Gate* | Futurecode* | Generik | Giuseppe Ottaviani* | Godlands | Marlo* | MK (Marc Kinchen) | Murda Beatz | Nic Fanciullo | Paul Kalkbrenner | Ruben De Ronde* | Steve Aoki | Sunset Brothers* | Thandi Phoenix | Tchami | Vini Vici* | More to be announced
*Appearing in Sydney & Melbourne only

Festival X 2019 Tour Dates:

• Friday 29 November – Brisbane Showgrounds
• Saturday 30 November – Sydney Showgrounds
• Sunday 1 December – Melbourne Showgrounds

Festival X will kick-off summer festival season with their inaugural event coming to Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne this November. Tickets are available via Ticketmaster.com.au.