INTERVIEW, NEW MUSICMathias Pageau

INTERVIEW: Ruff Stuff

INTERVIEW, NEW MUSICMathias Pageau
INTERVIEW: Ruff Stuff

Have you met Ruff Stuff, the Berlin-based DJ responsible for some of the catchiest house of recent years? I’m sure you have, but now’s the time to delve deeper into the universe of this Italian aficionado. What better way to do this than to buy his new record Untitled07, a 4-track album filled to the brim with groove? While the first two tracks are perfect DJ tools that promise to ignite the dance floor, the back half of the record tends to explore deeper - some would say headier - forms of house. As a whole, the album flows perfectly between those two poles that cohabitate idyllically. We spoke with Ruff Stuff about bangers, gigs, and synths. Read what he had to say below.

 
 

You’re releasing a new album, Untitled07. Can you tell us how you developed your album? What were you feeling at the time, and how did you translate it into music?

This EP is the result of almost 2 years of work.

I started from simple loops for each track and wanted to give each one some time to evolve and become what you can hear now.

The tracks on the B-side of the record were born right in the first months of the pandemic; more articulate grooves and sounds that reflect a lot of my listening at that time: more introspection, more intimacy, and less room for dance floor vibes.

 



Looking back, what’s your favorite track on this album, or the one that represents something special for you?

It is not easy to choose a favorite track for this EP. Out of all the music I have produced in recent times, I chose to put together the 4 tracks that could most represent the different facets of what my sound is at the moment.

Perhaps the track I am most attached to is Growler, which opens the B-side of the record. I've always loved those rolling bass lines, and I rarely get to pull out stuff like that. So when I was faced with this bass rolling beautifully with the atmospheric pad and the 808 drum it was almost magical... I had the perfect B-side track, and I said to myself... "hey... you can do this stuff here too, you don't have to just produce pushy stuff all the time…” ahahaha

 
 

I always like to nerd out about gear and plugins. Were there any hardware or plugins that were important to your creative process while you were making Untitled07?

As always, also for this EP I used a variety of tools to compose the tracks.

I use samples, for basslines almost always the Moog Minitaur, my beloved MPC Live, different virtual synths and drum machines and a whole series of effects that over the years I have bought and use almost always in the same way.

For example, I have a whole collection of my own samples for kicks, hats, snares, claps that in Ableton always have a certain effect chain in each project, so by doing that I have created a palette of sounds with certain characteristics that define my sound.

People often say stuff to me like "your tracks sound unmistakable: the kicks, hi-hats, rides, how you combine bass and grooves is easily recognizable.” People who know your music know immediately if they're up against a Ruff Stuff track as soon as they hear it.

That makes me feel proud because that's what I've been aiming for all my life, to have a sound that's my own and easily recognizable.

 

You mention you like using samples. Where do you like to find your sample?

Over the years I have built up my own library of samples that I use in almost all my tracks.

Many samples come from old Akai libraries from the 1990s that I have been fortunate enough to get my hands on. From these various CD-ROMs I extrapolated as much as I could and now I use a lot of stuff that comes from there.

I also happen to sample sounds from records I buy and then play the samples back in a totally different way.

 
 

I'm curious to know what the scene is like in your neck of the woods. Why did you choose Berlin, and how do you feel your city has inspired and shaped you as an artist?



I moved to Berlin about 6 years ago because in the city where I lived at the time, Milan, I couldn't find spaces to play music. There, the music scene is really restricted to a small circle of promoters and DJs that  are  friends of promoters…and I was totally cut off even though my music was played by so many people.

When I arrived in Berlin within a short time, so many doors opened up for me. I found a much greater openness and I realised that if you have qualities, if you play your cards right, people are willing to listen to you and give you space.

By the way, in the last few years the Berlin house scene has grown so much and the opportunities have expanded, there are so many parties that offer quality house music while keeping their eyes wide open for new things and new DJs. So I've had the opportunity to bring my music around more and more, and many more doors have opened.

 

What are some of your favorite tracks at the moment? Who are some of the artists that have inspired you recently? And what do you like about what they do?



At the moment I’m very into techno, house and tech-house from the early 2000s. 
I’m rediscovering a lot of material that came from that era: part of the catalogue of Zenit (the label from Marco Carola and Corrado Izzo) for sick techno tunes, almost everything that Trevor Rockliffe produced at the time, some very old Armada Music releases, the early works of Deetron, and of course everything that Mr. G is releasing.

I like a lot the power of those groves they used back in the days… They were doing very simple tracks, with few elements but with killer grooves that can still make you move 20 years later.

 

Have you done gigs recently?


This summer was a busy one for me, I was able to travel around Europe, I had  the opportunity to play for the first time at an amazing festival in France (Pete The Monkey), few days ago I made my Parisian debut at Badaboum together with Demuja and Leo Pol, plus I had different gigs in Berlin over the last months.

I had a lot of fun playing everywhere and got a lot of energy back from the crowd, but if I had to mention a special one, this would be my label showcase at Sisyphos in Berlin the 9th of October.

I managed to reunite some good friends and DJs that I really admire and we took over the house floor for 24h.. ahahaha :) it was insane! The energy of the people was super good, I saw smiles everywhere, all the DJs played amazing sets and luckily we recorded everything. If you wanna be catapulted there you can listen to my set!

 
 

For young house producers out there, are there any tricks you can share or lessons you learned through the years? What are your tips to make a good track in the studio?

This is the only suggestion I give to everyone: Work as much as you can.

This is the only secret to making it in life, in my opinion. Hard work always pays, especially in the long term: it’s painful sometimes, it requires a lot of energy and effort, but then when you master a discipline, results will arrive and people will notice it.

We live in a society where everything is made for fast consumption, and this is also reflecting how young producers and DJs approach the music industry. 
I see that nowadays music is often tossed on the side, to give space just to visual contents good for socials.


Just take a look at all the hyped YouTube channels streaming live DJ-sets … a big part of them show just weak DJs playing questionable music with few technical skills, but with a strong visual presence: trendy dresses and cool dancing moves perfect for the video. 
But if you turn the camera off, what remains? Just cheap music, often played in an awful way.
 How long will this last?

Once the trend of extravagant videos is over, there will be nothing else and nobody will remember those people.
 On the contrary, working on quality, making good music could pay much more over the long period. Look at the music of people like Kerry Chandler, Armand Van Helden, Mousse T… We are still dancing to their music 25-30 years later…





 

What's coming up for Ruff Stuff?

At the moment I’m focused on finishing some remixes that will be released next year, plus I’m working on new material for my label, but I’m still at an early stage.

You can expect a new EP from me on an Italian label called This Is Not, with a piano house track that for me has a very good potential.
 Also I have a couple of remixes coming out  by the end of 2022, one on Snatch Records and another one for my long time friend Flaze on Bare Bones Wax.

 

The album Untitled07 is available now via Ruff Stuff LTD.