It seems Venezia likes to mess with the media in order to retain his mystique, and also, admirably, to take the piss. I mean what’s in a name anyway? No one ever asks Red Hot Chili Peppers or The Smashing Pumpkins where their names come from these days. Posed with this question, Venezia slyly replies with a cryptic: “Embrace the mystery of mistakes, and magic of interpretation.”
Currently touring Europe, he is heading to Ibiza from Edinburgh where he “had a rowdy one”. “[I] ended up getting matching fang tattoos with strange but lovely gals,” he says. “More and more rock’n’roll fans are coming to my gigs. It feels fantastic; I am meeting so many amazing people that weren’t going to my gigs before the album dropped.”
While some older fans of Drop The Lime might not fully appreciate his jump from electro beats and bass to jackin’ rockabilly infused songs with vocals, it’s been a gradual evolution for Venezia. “It’s definitely been gradual but also essential,” he says. “I’ve been wanting to create this sound for quite some time but the timing wasn’t right until now. I love bass music, I love electro but I also love blues and rockabilly. I missed playing guitar, and once I began to play again, songs poured out, as each glass of bourbon poured lovely.”
Growing up in NYC, Venezia was exposed to many sounds and styles in the cultural hotpot that is the big apple, “NYC has so many colliding cultures,” he says. “Fashion, music, film, art… all collide and inspire. It will forever influence me musically. I started playing guitar at seven. Blame it on the Stray Cats, Johnny Cash and Elvis – once I started I couldn’t stop.”
As well as being influenced by the greats, he’s also influenced by the likes of Aphex Twin, Underworld, and Prodigy. “There’s a lot of great new bands today as well – Beach House, Trailer Trash Tracy’s, Twin Shadow. They’re all doing amazing things musically.”
Venezia also still heads up the Trouble & Bass label, which started as a club night that fast became notorious in the NYC underground. “I’m lucky to have such a strong crew – we are like family. AC Slater, Star Eyes, and The Captain are the core members of T&B. The Captain holds down the fort while I spread the Trouble word in other lands. We’ve got our six year anniversary party in September. Madness will come rattling down.”
While he still DJs, for now, Venezia’s main focus is the live band. “It’s a show, a death cabaret, a devil’s dance,” he says. “A more theatrical, romantic, dark and intimate experience. I don’t want to blast people with spaceship lights, smoke and mirrors. I want the music to matter, and bring the rock’n’roll energy in dance music, with a big subwoofer bass thud.”
BY ALFRED GORMAN
