When he is not doing interactions with the world wide web or deals with the codes, he is doing music. A real good music which mostly takes lots of time and effort. Like doing a very detailed handwork. A collage of sound crumbs. Micro sound cut&pastes. Secondo is also founder of the label Dreck, a very forward thinking electronic music label with lots of Radovan's musis as well as Strategy and Antonelli inside.

London is the base for Secondo and Dreck Records for a long time where he continues vibrating experimental loving hearts with it's deviant and extraordinary style. Secondo is for his more dance oriented and break beeated, sometime four on the floor productions and AM/PM is there for his fullfilled experimentations and well defined musical concepts.

Surely being an architect has a stronghold for Secondo. His sound is neat, well defined and always as it should be. No more or less. Just like a very well designed building, with enough amount of light inside. He is the definite master of samples. His LP "A Matter Of Scale" which was released from Soul Jazz Records some time ago, gives a snapshot of his experimentations and last but not least searches for electronic music. Here are Secondo's words on the new album and everything else he has to say.

What are you dealing with these days and how did the album release go, are you happy with it?
Since the release of the album in July I've been very busy with website work, which is what I do when I don't make music. But I've also nearly finished building my new music studio and when that is done I'll be able to finally follow up all the musical ideas that have accumulated during the last couple of months. I'm very happy with the album, mainly with the fact that it's finished and out and I can now move on to make new things.

I am curious about the process; how did the connection with Soul Jazz happen and ended with a release?
I've released a 12" single for Soul Jazz Records in 2004. The single was meant to come out on Dreck Records, but a friend of mine played it to Stuart, the boss at Soul Jazz. He liked it a lot and offered to release it. When I finished the album it was clear to me that I'd like to play it to Stuart and see if he'd be interested.

How was the process of concluding the album "A Matter Of Scale"?
It was actually quite a long process, some of the tracks are more than two years old. I was working on other projects, Secondo singles, AM/PM material, during that time as well, so it was a constantly interrupted process. This had its advantages, as you can come back to material you've done a few months earlier and look at it from a different angle. For the next album however I'm planning to take some time out and try and produce it in one go.

You were trained as an architect. Do you see any advantages of those studies over your musical approach?
Definitely. I try to always precede a new project with a strong concept that guides me through the process. I obviously end up following my instincts a lot once in the studio, but I find it very helpful to have some basic parameters to fall back on. I guess this way of working is a result of studying architecture, but I'm sure any other art related studies would have influenced me in a similar way.

Could you please talk about your musical monikers AM/PM and Secondo. Why you have chosen such names? Under AM/PM you are experimenting more on 4/4 beats and ambient atmoshperes. As Secondo, you are dealing with urban beats and breaks. How you separated your musical output into two?
The two projects started out as two separate ideas. With the first one I started slicing up existing pieces of music into tiny fragments, which on its own didn't make much sense. I then reconfigured these fragments to create new music that was far away from the original compositions but still retained certain traits of the original character. This idea generated a few tracks that I then later grouped under the Secondo moniker. Secondo is Italian for second, which implies the recycling aspect of the concept. But Secondo is also the derogative term given to second generation Italians in Switzerland, where I was born to an Italian father. The concept behind what became the AM/PM project was to create music with the final hums, or the ends of existing music. I sampled hundreds of ends from all sorts of music, looped and re-arranged them to new compositions. The name AM/PM suggests a certain repetitive endlessness which is inherent in the tracks. Today I follow both these conceptual frameworks in a much less rigourous fashion.

You are an exact example for the new generation European citizen. You are Italian/Serbian/Swiss/Londoner... How you feel about being cosmopolitan?
Above all I really appreciate being able to speak five languages. "Home" will always be various places and it will never be related to any nationalist sentiment.

Can you compare musical and personal life in Zurich and London?
Zurich is a good little city that has a lot to offer musically, and culturally in general. But somehow while I was living there I felt that nothing could ever happen, given the safe and non-daring lifestyle of the Swiss. London on the other hand is a place where things happen and are created, there's always something around the next corner, both pleasant and unpleasant things. This can be quite tedious and demanding but for now and the near future I regard London as a good base for my work.

Are you happy with nudisco and deep sounds coming strong?
In one way I do, as deep house music is one of the things I used to listen to when I started clubbing back in the day in Zurich. On the other hand when something becomes "big" you end up hearing more and more of the same copycat-music and the original essence quickly gets lost.

What other stuff do you listen and deal with? Labels/ genres/ fashions/ styles...?
I listen to all sorts of music and am always happy when i get introduced to a new genre. Music is an endless treasure trove and it would be a real shame to limit oneself by only listening to a few genres.

Can you talk about your journey to London than settling and creating the label Dreck, and the musical philosophy behind?
I moved to London primarily to work as an architect. I eventually quit to concentrate on music and the label. I've set-up Dreck Records with my long-time collaborator Laurent Benner, with whom I've been buying records since schooldays in Zurich. Laurent is a graphic designer and overlooks the Dreck operation from that perspective. Musically we're looking to release whatever excites us and the ephemeral nature of styles is something that we try to put aside when making decisions about what to release.

Have you got Turkish friends in Zurich or do you have in London? What do you know about Istanbul and Turkey?
I know a few Turkish people, both here and in Zurich. From what I hear Istanbul must be an amazing city and I'd love to come visit one day. I remember asking my father as a little kid how it could be possible that one part of Turkey is in Europe and the other part is in Asia. As it turns out my childish question is something that keeps politicians occupied to this day and probably the reason why Turkey is historically and culturally so interesting.

Would you like to play here and under which name would you choose to perform?
Definitely! I play both my projects live, as well as DJ-ing. It really depends on the event, Secondo definitely is a club affair, AM/PM on the other hand works both in the club as well as in a more relaxed, even seated situation.


Interview: Christopher Çolak
25 November 2008