Why Melbourne is going loco for Italo-Disco
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01.08.2022

Why Melbourne is going loco for Italo-Disco

Italo Disco
Words By Alexia Petsinis

Breezy rhythms, addictive beats, cheesy vocals…and a damn good time.

Italo-Disco – a broad genre fusing boogie, disco and jazz-funk sounds that defined Italian popular music in the 70s and 80s – is experiencing something of a renaissance in Melbourne, of all places.

In the hands of a few creative masterminds who are putting their own fresh spin on the genre, these feel-good tunes are uniting crowds from all cultures across the city’s most-visited bars and nightspots. The best part? You don’t even need to be Italian to become completely intoxicated by the audible zest of these tunes. 

Read Melbourne’s most comprehensive range of music features and interviews here.

If you’ve never heard of Pino D’Angio – Okay Okay – no problemo. You only have to hear his songs once during a night out, and they’ll probably be stuck in your head for a lifetime. Luca Muscato, one of the creative directors of multicultural music community, DiscoMediterranea, says that Melbourne’s cultural diversity and long-standing fascination with records from all over the world explains why folks can’t get enough of Italo-Disco. 

Originally from Palermo, Sicily, (a city celebrated for its eclectic mix of marketplaces, music, and multicultural influences), Muscato co-founded DiscoMediterranea with a likeminded  group of creative minds with when he moved to Melbourne in 2019. Enriched by a growing community of DJs and contributors, the project aims to connect people to the diverse sounds of the Mediterranean through multi-sensory experiences of music and storytelling. When it comes to the tunes, Italo-Disco is the group’s specialty. Its roster of rotating DJs are infusing some of Melbourne’s most popular bars and venues with beats spanning the genre’s early years, through to sounds from its recent global ‘revival’ (often referred to as ‘Nu-Disco,’ instigated by a new wave of Italian producers and record labels including Mystic Jungle and Periodica Records). If the turnout at DiscoMediterranea’s recent events is anything to go by, these sounds are speaking to people from all walks of life in Melbourne. The group has scored residencies at Whitehart Bar, Section 8 and Runner Up Rooftop (Collingwood Yards), as well as collaborations with guest DJs including DJ NETT and Mike Gurrieri.

“We have found very fertile ground in Melbourne, and we’ve seen great numbers at our events. When we fill up the room with a crowd who are all on their feet dancing, we are recreating a party atmosphere that has been going on for generations in our families. The essence of what we do is very simple: provide catchy beats that make people feel like they are part of something bigger, something that unites us all,” says Muscato. 

George Hysteric, DJ and founder of Mothball Records, is another Melbourne-based Italo-Disco guru who has observed the recent popularity of the music genre across the city. While Hysteric has been mixing tracks from the genre for years in his sets, he says a new and culturally intuitive generation of fans in Melbourne want to hear more, packing out the dancefloor well before midnight. In addition, Melbourne hospitality ‘institutions’ like Italian wine bar Joanie’s Baretto in Thornbury continue to run Italo-Disco-themed evenings by popular demand, including their recent sell-out event Discoteca Grande, which people are still talking about around town. 

“When I first got into Italo-Disco music about 20 years ago, people I knew in Melbourne were quite dismissive of the genre. They wrote it off as cheesy, as the kinds of sounds people shouldn’t be proud of. But now, these same songs get an entire room on their feet, particularly Funk-Italo tunes that have a familiar beat people can groove along to,” Hysteric says.

As Muscato adds, the genre has a highly immersive quality, striking a chord in people’s imagination. Its distinct characteristics include lush, even cinematic sounds that transport people to the Mediterranean coastline, a sultry palazzo party after dark, or a slow afternoon under a Sicilian lemon tree: “Dreamy sax and lazy guitars set the tone for a carefree mood. Of course, ‘Disco’ is at the core of this genre, and the origin of disco music is founded on freedom, inclusion, and happiness. It’s feel-good music,” he says. 

Italo-Disco – as both a music and visual cultural genre – has even inspired some of Melbourne’s most effervescent acts working at the intersection of performance art and music. It seems to come down to one word: escapism. Performance Artist and DJ Tanzer’s latest album Disco Automatic draws on the genre’s inimitable sounds and production qualities, which are visually referenced in the scintillating costumes, styling, and dazzling effects of her recent music videos transporting the viewer to a surreal, alternate reality of sequins and synthesisers. Performance art duo The Huxleys (who also star in several of Tanzer’s music videos, including Destination Love) also reference Italo-Disco as an ongoing source of cultural and stylistic inspiration for their ‘escapist wizardry’. 

Italo-Disco: the more you listen, the more addictive its sounds become. As Melburnians are continuing to discover, songs from the genre have a remarkable ability to loosen up the neck and shoulders, to make a bad day evaporate, and even, to help you cryptically profess your love for someone in a foreign language on the dancefloor (grazie, Google Translate). We’re talking about the kind of music that makes the spirit fly free, especially after a negroni or three. As Ornella Vanoni sings in her 80s hit Ti Voglio:

Tu mi fai volare / Quando sto da te / So anch’io volare…

Add some zest to your party playlist with these Italo-Disco gems, as recommended by some of Melbourne’s gurus of the genre:

George Hysteric, DJ and founder of Mothball Records 

  1. Melody – Plustwo (ft. Belen Thomas)
  2. Queen of the Night – Camomilla
  3. Lemonsweet – Bagarre 

Luca Muscato, founder and creative director, DiscoMediterranea

  1. Contatto – Enzo Carella
    2. It’s your move – Mina
    3. Sera a Posillipo – Rosa

Follow DiscoMediterranea here.