Admittedly, I’ve never been a massive fan of the EDM genres, but when it’s this good, I can’t help but love it! Tonylight is an amazing producer and artist who has recently released a new album, titled Lumanoide. It’s an absolute pleasure to listen to and I’m sure fans of the EDM scene will dig it – find out more about the record below!
By Jane Howkins
You recently released a new album titled Lumanoide. What can you tell us about the record?
Lumanoide was born after a different sound research process compared to my previous productions. The most important thing for me is the selection of my live setup. My main interest is to create compositions that have an impact on the public, which lead the listener to dance to alternative music. I like to create songs by imagining this situation of the dancefloor and I look for a very light and agile setup for live shows. The tracks were recorded live, imagining the dancefloor, exactly with the equipment I use live.
Lumanoide is the result of a couple of years of composition. Patiently in the evening I composed and recorded many tracks. The album is a selection of that material.
How has the reception to Lumanoide been so far, and where can it be purchased?
I think is going well. Many people seems to appreciate it. Lumanoide has recently come out, so I still don’t know how to evaluate the overall impact. Obviously it’s not easy to get celebrity with this underground sounds but I’m getting offers to play live and this is my main focus.
Lumanoide is available at 51beats.
Your music is quite unique, as you use a selection of 8-bit sounds within it. What is the writing and recording process like?
Thanks to a long militancy in the 8bit scene, I have developed this crunchy and cutting sound that I find satisfying to listen to.
For this work I used only one instrument, a groove box, and I limited myself to 8 sounds. All the tracks share the same structure, 8 sounds at 120bpm, once the pattern of 8 sounds has been composed I record it live. After various tests I obtain the track directly without further computer editing.
Do you have any singles planned for release from the record soon?
With the 51beats label and other friends from Trattoria San Biagio (Como), we are thinking of a limited edition on vinyl which could be a selection of tracks taken from Lumanoide. I hope to be able to announce this further publication soon.
Are there any plans to release a full-length album in the near future?
I have a lot of material. As I said, Lumanoide is just a little selection of my works. So an extended version of Lumanoide could also be developed. For now, I want to focus on live shows but I don’t rule out the release of new tracks or perhaps other EPs.
Your music has a unique electronica sound. What/who are you most influenced by? What have you been listening to recently?
I have been frequenting and listening to electronic music for many years – given my age. I was very influenced by the first English electronic music scene I heard as a boy, the first albums of Warp records (LFO, Autechre), Rephlex (Aphex Twin, DMX Crew), Ninja Tune etc.
In the 90s I went dancing at Mazoom, a nightclub near Brescia, where DJ Marco Dionigi proposed a subgenre of house music that he called “slow motion”. He slowed down the records, creating an enveloping and hypnotic sound, so I decided to reproduce those sensations, creating tracks at 120bpm. I listen to little recently released music not so often. I think that I’ve experienced a very particular moment for music production.
I like what is happening in the environment linked to ambient music, which I notice has a lot of influence on the young generations of electronic musicians.
You’re based in Milan. What is the local music scene like in your part of the world?
The local electronic scene in Milan is very limited. Unfortunately, in recent years in the city we have witnessed the progressive reduction of spaces to listen to underground musicians and alternative sounds.
However, I am confident that in the future a new socio-cultural movement linked to music will form, perhaps through the creation of new sounds. We will need to be attentive and be able to recognize new movements, hoping that they have space to express themselves.
Do you have anything else exciting coming up over the next few months?
My passion for music led me to develop a small business activity producing and selling analog synthesizers, called LEP (Popular Electronic Laboratory). Precisely in this period we have the new instrument coming out, ArpoLoop, an analog groovebox synth, which allows you to create live music in an intuitive way. We presented it at Superbooth 2024 in Berlin. Here you can find more information: http://www.leploop.org/…synth/
Do you have any tour dates lined up for the UK?
Not for now, but I would really like to.
Any last words for the fans?
Dance! Dance! Dance!