LAMP Weekly Mix #111 feat. Greco
LAMP Weekly Mix #111 feat. Greco
Greco is a New York based producer and DJ that has come onto the scene strong over the past couple of years and is on a tear lately releasing on prominent labels such as Nurvous Records, Lost Records, Simma Black, Chief Recordings, Audiophile Deep and many more. You can here his jackin' infused style resonate through this mix while also delving into deeper classic styles that have a hint of disco. As the curator of Spira Records, a promo channel dedicated to sharing the latest from a range of upcoming artists, this young music enthusiast has his plate full. However, Greco still manages to pump out amazing work and his strong growing discography is a testament to a hungry and tenacious work ethic that embodies a new crop of house producers looking to revitalize the classic sounds. MR PUZL got the chance to catch up with this East Coast tastemaker and explored his roots and where he sees the New York scene heading.MR PUZL: We've been looking forward having your on our Guest Mix series for a bit now. Tell us what you've got in store for our listeners.Greco: First I'd love to thank everyone at LAMP for having me! This mix was incredibly exciting to make, lots of forthcoming tracks of mine on labels such as Simma Black, Cahoots Records, Hustler Traxx, Amplified Records & Mood Funk Records. I've also included some of my favorite tracks at the moment incl. artist like Low Steppa, Skapes, Luuk van Dijk, Waitz & Flinchy! Nothing but high energy dance music!MP: Growing up in New York what were some of your earliest music influences? What inspired you to begin DJing?Greco: I feel very fortunate growing up in NY as I had tons of great influences growing up from hip hop to house music. My father was an avid disco fan, my mother encouraged me to learn to play piano at an early age, even my martial arts teacher was an outstanding musician. I was around music and musicians my entire life so it only made sense that I gravitated towards a career in the music industry. My older brother was a big influence on my fascination with dance music back in the 90's. While he was going out in NYC, I would always get promo CD's from him as I am 8 years younger and could not make it into any nightclub until I was 21 years old. Music has always been my salvation in life and I simply wanted to do the same for others! When I was 18 years old my family and I moved to Florida and this is where I took the next step in becoming a DJ/Producer. I landed a job with Clear Channel Communications, learning all types of skills behind the radio industry. Graduating with a bachelors degree in business management also allowed me to move up in the company as a marketing assistant. At this point I was certain that the music industry was where I belonged. Fast forward a few years and I was playing all around FL with DJ's like Oscar G, D. Ramirez and Lazaro Casanova. I also had my own Friday Night residency for a few years! Once I grew tired of receiving praise from playing other artist's music, I decided it was time to take my career to the next step by moving back to New York to study music production at Dubspot! Since then everything has been moving so fast and I feel truly blessed by all the opportunities that have come my way!MP: New York is renowned for its DJs and is home to some of the greats across a massive spectrum of genres. Who are you watching and listening to that are part of the next crop of rising talent?Greco: The last few years in New York have been great! There is so much history here and being able to experience living legends like Todd Terry, Kenny Dope and Louie Vega on any given weekend is such a great pleasure! I even had the honor of playing alongside Louie Vega last Summer! With that, there are tons of emerging artists all over the country! Specific to New York, I was very fortunate to come across guys like Brian Morse and Jon Billick (Cahoots Records), Eskuche & Nu Sky, Nathan Kersaint, Chili Davis & Sean Cormac (Foward Disco), and finally my young padawan J.Pak!MP: Dubspot is a phenomenal program and these type of schools are becoming more prominent in the music scene especially for people pursuing careers in electronic music production. What were some valuable takeaways from studying there?Greco: Dubspot was undoubtedly the turning point in my career. I was self taught for many years and simply needed guidance on the more technical points of music production. Although the knowledge gained from Dubspot was crucial to my progress, I also left that school with some amazing new friends! The atmosphere was so positive and inspiring. Just talking about it makes me want to sign up for some more classes!MP: The style of house you resonate with hearkens back to early jack, Detroit and Chicago sounds but has some of the deeper bass flavor to it. What made you gravitate to those style's particularly?Greco: I have such a huge appreciation for early dance music and I love any style of music that makes me feel good. With that, I've always wanted to produce music that would make the listener jack their body and just lose themselves in the music. I am also a child of the future, fusing the old and the new together.MP: As house music continues to permeate its way into the suburbs of the US we are seeing some phenomenal producers coming out of the woodwork; case in point Landis LaPace from Florida. In your travels and listening online what other unlikely cities and states are showing real promise and engaging sounds?Greco: This is definitely one of my favorite aspects of the dance music scene. Discovering new talent is something I do on the regular and it never seems to get old! While traveling back to Tampa, Florida for my gig with Low Steppa in collaboration with Furious Funk Records, I ran into a lot of old friends all speaking of Landis! This truly makes me happy to see such young talent being recognized here in the states. Now that dance music has blown up, it seems everyone has become more comfortable with allowing themselves to feel the love! Currently I am taking notice to artists and scenes in Florida, California, Texas, Colorado, Michigan, Illinois, Oregon, Pennsylvania, New York and also our neighbors in Canada and Mexico! I hope to visit them soon and experience the vibes first hand!MP: You've developed a strong connection with Low Steppa and his Simma Black label. How did you guys first connect?Greco: I first connected with Low Steppa after he had shown support on my Criminal Hype EP. Then I received a message from my friend James Hype letting me know that Low Steppa was playing my remix of Stardust's 'Music Sounds Better With You' on BBC Radio 1Xtra! After that I made it a priority to work on music specifically for his label. While in the UK for a trip with my bud Austin Welsh, I met up with Low Steppa at his gig in Manchester. He was such a nice guy and even brought me on stage with him! When I returned home to New York I had gotten news that a collaboration between Matteo Rosolare and I had been signed to Simma Red. Just a couple months later I was playing alongside Low Steppa and signing to his imprint Simma Black! It all happened quite fast and I'm very grateful for the opportunity to be working with him! Stay tuned, lots more in the works between him and I!MP: As the news recently broke about Soundcloud's financial woes the looming question about it's continuing existence is the talk amongst many in the industry. If its demise became a reality how would you and channels like Spira Music pivot? What are some other mediums you'd like to explore and share your content on?Greco: I definitely feel Soundcloud has the ability to adapt even though they are in a financial crisis. We were just recently exposed to SFX Entertainment's financial crisis as well. In this fast paced industry, it is our responsibility to make changes and adapt as time passes. It Soundcloud were to perish, there would certainly be another medium larger artists would migrate to and so would the rest of the flock. Youtube has always been a great medium however, you could easily kiss all of the unofficial remixes/edits/bootlegs goodbye.MP: Spira Music popped onto my radar earlier last year and I haven't stopped downloading tracks from it since. It also connected me to super label called Chief Recordings. How did Spira come about and what do you have in store for this year?Greco: As a music enthusiast, I simply started Spira to have another channel to share music I enjoyed. After a few months of reposting music, I decided to release a free download of mine via Spira. This brought all types of attention from listeners and DJ's all around the world! From there I started receiving demo submissions and repost submissions quite often. As an artist myself, I know first hand how difficult it is starting out so I love having the ability to help promote their music on Spira. I'm proud to have released some big tracks from producers like Chiqito, Animist, and rising star Made to Move! 2016 is still young and we're jam packed full of heavy releases in the coming weeks featuring emerging artists like Waitz, Cardiac, Prune Flat, John Randle, Overtracked, Patty Kay, Guim, Jac Overman, Noah Petersen, Kardanski, Alex Low, Lenny Warn and tons more!MP: You're getting the opportunity to remix and collaborate with a lot of different producers at the moment. Who's on your personal list of producers that you'd love to get the opportunity to work with?Greco: Really excited for the ongoing collaborations I have with Dantiez Saunderson, Mad Villains, Jay Robinson & Austin Welsh! As for my personal list, I would love the opportunity to collab with some of the living legends such as Todd Terry / Kenny Dope / Armin Van Helden / Louie Vega / DJ Sneak / Mark Farina / Marshall Jefferson. I did however leave one name off this list.. because our collaboration is actually in the works!MP: Favorite classic house tune?Greco: Man, you saved the toughest question for last! If I had to name the most influential dance track in my life... Chicane - 'Don't Give Up' A simple message that has resonated within me since I can remember.
Tracklist
1. Nikola Gala - The Beginning (Blondish x Greco Club Edit)2. Greco - Station House [Mood Funk Records]3. Wheats - House Party (Greco Remix) [Amplified Records]4. Luuk van Dijk - Rock Da Disco (DUB) [Roush]5. Greco x Mad Villains - Lil' Bit [TBA]6. Greco - SubTale [Simma Black]7. Low Steppa - Where We Come From [Simma Black]8. Skapes - Turntable (Beef Stew Mix) [Eskape Musik]9. Flinchy - Power Hour [Rawsome Recordings]10. Greco - Take It Back [TBA]11. The Big Bird Cage - Superfly Hustler (Greco Remix) [Hustler Traxx]12. Waitz - Freak This (Original Mix) [Safe Ltd.]13. Greco - Dub In This Life [Cahoots Records]14. Stardust - Music Sounds Better With You (Greco Remix)Enjoy more from Greco below.<3 LAMP