Hard to believe that a label a born in shadow of Florence’s beautifully picturesque Bosconi hill has become one of the most influential Italian record labels. That is exactly what has happened from this stunning locale and Bosconi Records has given a home to artists such as Bruno Pronsato, 100 Hz, A Guy Called Gerald, Paul Johnson, and of course Minimono, the list is endless.
This is only part of the story and to get the full history of this constantly impressive label we caught up with label founder Fabio Della Torre who explains the labels’ origins and a hint at what is coming up for the imprints notable milestone…
Great to have you join us Fabio, how has 2021 treated you so far?
Despite being a very particular year I have become a father in late 2020 so 2021 has been amazing and kind of revolutionary so far!
This cleared my mind in a way and made me focus on what truly matters. That is probably also reflected on how i see the music environment around me in general, driven by passion and more and more made by people who share the same one!
‘Minimal’ now seems to be a strange way to describe music, especially the music that has cropped up on your label over the years, what is your attachment to the word / genre? Do you even identify with the word?
It probably was at the beginning but it doesn’t mean we necessarily need to be encoded into just ‘Minimal’. Over the years we have released music covering a wide spectrum of genres across the three labels (Bosconi, Bosconi Extra Virgin and Bosconi Squirts) so I believe we have several ‘Minimal’ releases in the catalog but many others too 🙂 The idea was just releasing stuff that we liked, fresh and durable at the same time.
Going back to when you started the label in 2008 what was happening in your local and national scene at the time?
2008 was the year were my partner Ennio and I were very prolific with the Minimono project releasing on Oslo, Tuningspork, Telegraph, Ethique…Don’t know everything that was happening in our whole country but we were pretty much working and playing as a consolidate crew.
From the label point of view there were already some notable Italian labels but still not so many compared to what was happening in the rest of Europe so this is why the idea of founding our own.
What factors led you to create Bosconi Records?
As I said the scene was fervid, we were a lot of producers doing I believe interesting productions so we used the experience gained releasing on other labels to give life to our own imprint.
The genre was going through a fair bit of change at that time but even your first tracks seems to have side stepped these and remained pretty timeless. How do you think that is?
Yes, the main factor was doing something that could last the test of time, something that not restricted in a musical genre but always looking for original, innovative ideas, even if they were sometimes raw, not fashionable or from not so well known artists at the time. For example, when we released 100hz record in 2009, nobody seemed to care when it just came out…
I’m happy with the time all the catalogue seems to still be appreciated and that the label is pretty much alive and active with new releases coming in the next future.
Being such a pivotal act in the genre how important was the success of Minimono to the subsequent success of your label?
Yes that has been an important factor for the start and the launch of the label. But right after we saw that also music from other artists was also well received and we kept investing in promising local artists as well as collaborating with international artists we liked.
The label started in 2008 but you didn’t release under your own name until 2012 how come the wait?
I have never been a prolific producer, have always been more focusing more on the DJ side of things, collecting and spinning records. Also, having the label to run and producing Minimono and other few projects kind of distracted me from producing my solo project. But this is something I definitively would like to go for in the next future.
You are coming up on your 50th release which is some time in the game. How has the years been running the label? Has there been any obvious points in your memory good or bad?
Actually, the choices of the releases have always been made with the heart so I’m never disappointed or particularly excited (as I always am!) on any release. They are all our children and we love them all the same way 🙂
For sure we will remember these yeas of the pandemic as some of the most difficult years for independent labels to release new productions. Probably not for all of us but not having the opportunity to play our music around made it really difficult for new stuff to be heard. The increasing of the price of manufacturing and the lack of raw material are making everything even more difficult and expensive.
What or who is currently influencing your label output?
We are based in the countryside on the “Bosconi” hill above Florence so hard to say we are directly influenced from what’s happening around us:) The label doesn’t follow a precise pattern then but pretty much reflects what I like to DJ or listen, just what sounds fresh and challenging on my ears. I like everything that has an electronic attitude from house to techno to electro or italo-disco.
I have gone through the proto trance progressive path that’s happening right now already in mid 90’s as I started DJing so probably I’m not the biggest fan of that. Even though revisited, and I recognise there is a new approach, it does still sound a bit artificial to me sometimes.
What plans do you have for your 50th release?
Yes, I guess in 2022 we will be releasing Bosconi 50 but keep in mind there is also the other sub labels so the full label catalogue in itself at the moment consist in about 90 releases all on physical. For sure Bosco050 is a nice number, still I didn’t figure out any project at the moment. It could probably be an occasion for a release on my own? let’s see. 🙂
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