ARTIST OF THE MOMENT: Claudio PRC
“…this water ran and ran, incessantly it ran, and was nevertheless always there, was always at all times the same and yet new in every moment!” These words written in Hermann Hesse’s influential book “Siddharta” describe beautifully how one could see the work of Berlin-based DJ and Producer Claudio PRC. The Italian artist became one of the key figures in the hypnotic, deep techno realm and continues to dazzle with shimmering, multilayered tracks that seem to spiral elegantly into the depths of..well, I’d say everything. Water is a recurring theme in his work which also shows up in his newest EP, “Challenger Deep” on Delsin Records. It has been a true pleasure to get a deeper understanding of his approach, the new release and where he is headed with his project 012.
Hi Claudio, lovely to speak with you. It’s a pleasure for us at Delayed to chat with you. You have been very busy playing the last months - where from and in what state of mind are you taking this interview?
Hey guys, excited about this interview, thank you very much for having me.
I am on the train to Katowice, Poland, for tonight’s show at Cel Klub. It’s quite a busy period. I am working so much between gigs and music productions, and I am feeling very motivated and full of energy. The constant and huge support from people is what keeps me pushing the boundaries and helping me to refine my concepts and skills. I am feeling like a flowing river! I am grateful for a lot of things to share with you all!
It seems to be going very well for you. Amidst the current developments in faster, more outgoing and trancy Techno, there seems to be also more interest to go into the deeper, maybe even introvert realms that you represent. How do you experience that for yourself?
Thank you! I honestly want to completely focus on the sounds and the concepts I am bringing on, I could not make something different, so I am deep into my daily work since I started. I am helped by great teamwork with my booking agency On Board, I take care of my path as well as discover new artists and talents which, especially lately, are coming out in our scene much more often. I am glad to see a big part of the young generation getting close to this sound. It looks like, even though we are experiencing an opposite musical trend, the focus on more slower and introspective sounds always has been constant and I am very happy to see promoters investing more into this. For me, in the end, it’s all about keeping the interest in my work, to do the best I can without cheating myself. Of course, we are always in constant movement, we are changing ourselves day by day, but this is part of life, part of our experimentation - but in arts, I believe that the soul of what we do must stay the same.
I had the joy of being on the dancefloor at Waking Life Festival this year and thoroughly enjoying your set. I could not help thinking that people turned very much inward during that experience while at the same time sharing a deep connection with each other. Like a mycorrhizal network. It was beautiful.
Oh, you were there?! Amazing! I have to say that Waking Life has been the best festival experience of all my life. Everything was perfect for my needs, the location, the organization, the sound, and the people. There was definitely a very big connection between human beings where respect for each other was the primary thing that I felt. Then the sound, wow, I wish to play every gig with a sound system like that. I’ve been to many different festivals in the past years and Waking Life has been the best compromise between a rave, a club night and a concert. Next year I would like to be back even if I will not perform!
This November you have returned to DELSIN Records with “Challenger Deep” - a hypnotic 4 tracker following last year’s “Rites of Passage”. Please tell us a bit more about the collaboration with the label and the story behind this release.
I am really excited about this new release! The relationship with Delsin started last year. The label has always been a big point of reference for me, so I always dreamed of sending to them some music. Last year I took the courage and sent them a big demo, without having big expectations. I immediately got an answer from Thijs, one of the owners, and he said that he was waiting for me. So we planned “Rites Of Passage” which marked for me the beginning of a new discography path. “Challenger Deep” came this year, I could see those tracks as the perfect follow-up to the previous record, Delsin did as well, so we sent them straight to production and I can’t wait to have on my hands the final result. With these records, I want to keep acting in the field of deep techno and house, with many reminders of my Prologue era but with a fresher attitude.
When it comes to your creative process in general and the “Claudio PRC” signature elements, what are the equipment and tools you prefer to work with the most or even the ones you’d never trade or abandon?
When I produce music I generally work with both hardware devices and digital. I usually like to focus on one dedicated instrument when I am doing a new project but there is one that never leaves my studio and with whom I have a very strong obsession, let’s say, it’s the Clavia Nord Lead Rack 1. That’s my synth, I bought it in Berlin years ago at a second-hand shop, it is the first edition made in 1995 if I am not wrong. I did all my recent records with this instrument and I am sure there will be more to work with. I never trade my instruments, they are part of my path, and they will be part of my memories when I will be older so I want to keep all of them.
“Kaikō” is a slightly mysterious, maybe even spooky appearing track and I understood it is the Japanese word for “sea with strong current”. The theme of water - and other elements - is a recurring one in your work. Does it almost seem elements are your muses?
Being an islander, water is one of the most important elements in my life. The ocean and its waves are very inspiring for me, not only for music but for life in general. Since I moved to Berlin I am missing the sea more and more. When I go back home to Sardinia, the first thing I usually do is to take the car and go directly to the beach, sit in front of the ocean and watch the waves for some time, it comforts me so much, it gives me peace, it inspires me and lets my imagination travel a lot. I need those images and those sounds in my daily life. “Kaikō” as the whole “Challenger Deep” release is inspired by the deepest point of the ocean on our planet. While traveling in Japan or Asia in general, I used to watch the live map from the aircraft and I’ve always been attracted by this point called exactly Challenger Deep, close to the Marianne Trench. Therefore my imagination took me straight into those depths and it posed me a lot of questions.
Let’s stick for a moment with what drives you and the so-to-say urge to create. You mainly express yourself in sound - what are other expressive forms you like to play with or explore?
I used to paint, graffiti and in recent times also canvas, now not that much, or very rarely. That was something that was helping me to find myself, to balance, to be creative and most of the time chill down from daily life. Now it is mostly all about music, I am devoted completely to the sounds. I would love in the future to be back on that but now I must work only on music.
What would you say is your biggest artistic challenge personally or your the most profound learning you’ve had so far?
I had a strong and big experience in Japan many years ago, while I was invited to play regularly at one outdoor festival. That time I was in charge of opening the event, but I completely failed as my opening was completely wrong and not fitting the whole concept of the promoters. I completely missed the point. I was so sad and angry with myself. That experience completely changed my artistic life, and it gave me one of the strongest lessons ever. I thank God for having failed that day.
Your project 012 also features a podcast and started recently off with a Label night at Club OHM in your hometown Berlin. How is it going and where do you see it heading over the next time?
The showcases are a necessary step for the development of the label, the first as 012, only it happened 2 weeks ago at OHM in Berlin with the partnership of my longtime Sardinian crew Basstation. 012 is a platform, not only a label but a place for allowing the artists to not only release their music but also to be able to perform it in a club or festival in front of a passionate audience. That one was just the beginning, the next one is already planned for January - always at OHM but we plan to move also outside Berlin in the future.
Often we ask the artist in this rubric about musical favourites they discovered lately. Let’s do it differently this time as I saw you are also very much into books and we share a common favourite - Hesse’s “Siddharta”. What’s a recent read that has touched you?
Oh so, yes “Siddharta,” I think is the most beautiful book which I ever read. Recently I am also reading less unfortunately, the one I am currently on, which I still have to finish, is “Mount Analog” by René Daumal and also “Passavamo sulla terra leggeri” by the late Sardinian author Sergio Atzeni which is a fictionalized re-enactment of the history of Sardinia.