Name: Mauro Picotto
Occupation: DJ, producer, label owner at Bakerloo
Nationality: Italian
Recent release: Mauro Picotto's From The 80s Til Now is out via Alchemy April 21st 2023.
Recommendations: Because of my first independent release The Alchemist EP on the Primate label I would say, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho and because I'm Italian the visionary journey of Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy. If you pass by Florence, stop to the Uffizi and enjoy all the masterpieces.
Music you can't go wrong with the old Supertramp, Pink Floyd, Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream albums.

If you enjoyed this interview with Mauro Picotto and would like to stay up to date with his music and current live dates, visit his official website. He is also on Instagram, Facebook, Soundcloud, and twitter.



What made it appealing to you to DJ yourself? What was it that you wanted to express and what, did you feel, did you have to add artistically?

My love for the music. From a very young age I've always been in contact with dancing and music as my dad and my sister were very good dancers so I was in the right environment at an early age.

When I was 13 years old I bought my first records and my dream was to be able to play the music I liked to my friends. Only a few years later I realized I was so passionate and able enough with mixing tracks together to build a good journey that people wanted to listen to me.

At 17 years old I started my journey in the clubs as a DJ and from then I never stopped - apart for a few holidays and the Covid experience.

Which other DJs were important for your development and what did you learn from them?

From the age of 13 to 17 years old my growing taste for the music was strongly influenced by the clubs I was going to, where DJs like Daniele Baldelli, Sergio Flash, Raffaele Giusti, Beppe Loda were in charge.

My passion and curiosity to understand and feel the soul of music was extremely important for me. I was crazy enough to travel to clubs in Ibiza in 1986 and had my first spring in New York on the 1988, back with the Break for Love promo of Raze.

In Europe during the 90s I experienced The Hacienda in Manchester, Dorian Grey or Omen in Frankfurt and discovered the magical journeys of DJs like Laurent Garnier and Sven Vath.

There is an ongoing debate about “fake DJs”, but I literally had great night just by putting on a CD of “Trance 100” at a private party and letting it play through. What does a great DJ add to the clubbing experience?

Everyone has his personal taste but I think often now the DJ ego kills the quality of a good night. I'm still a strong believer that a good DJ needs at least a good music culture, not just the ability to play the usual hit tracks one after another on the decks - maybe with the help of  visuals.

The music selections and the way a DJ delivered them is too important for me. It has to be like a fine dining experience and not a Mc Donald burger, even if lots of people like it.

Tell me a bit about the clubs you've played or danced at which were important and influential to you, please.

As I said I went to so many clubs around the world but I experienced lots also from the many vinyl music stores I visited at the time, where you meet and share music knowledge.

In Italy I think I played in all the major clubs that ever existed :-) Ultimo Impero, Cocorico, Echos, Insomnia, Jaiss, Tenax, Magazzini Generali ... so many were amazing at the time and few still exist or resist now.

I would listen to DJ mixes on CD the same way I would listen to artist albums. Do you think that DJing creates a new form that can take on qualities of a composition in its own right? Is this something you strive for?

In music, the limit is the sky. I would never compare the two, but at the same time I would listen the same way to them: With an open mind and curiosity.

What role does digging for music still play for your work as a DJ? What do you listen for and where/how do you find the best music for your sets?

I have a community of friends where we share our discovered tracks after wasting so much time on listening to releases and promos.

I always listen to music with my soul. If music doesn't have the X-factor that catches my attention, I just ignore it.

The music I select for my sets needs to have these strengths: a good groove, soul catcher and the most unique character possible.

When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

Yes 100%. I see colours, I always add colours and shapes to a tracks I choose and even colours to a single sound when I’m in the studio producing ideas. Music is colours for me. I open or close my eyes depending on my mood and where I'm at the time obviously.

When I was young and I said I've seen colours in music, people thought I was crazy but now I realized we are so many with the same beautiful problem or beauty.

How does the decision making process work during a gig with regards to wanting to play certain records, the next transition and where you want the set to go? How far do you tend to plan ahead during a set?

I never planned a set ahead of a gig. Of course I prepared a selections of 2 or 3 bags of records that I know well, then I used my instinct to start and then I go from there. I like to catch the mood of the crowd and bring them in to my journey around music genres, sharing emotions and energy.

I always said a good DJ is the one who play the music you want to hear but a great DJ is the one who can play the music you don’t know yet but will give you the feeling of knowing it already.

When you're DJing, does it actually feel like you're inventing something on the spot – or are you inventively re-arranging patterns from preparations, practise or previous performances?

Yes, it is a creative job and always I get inspired by it. DJing and producing are two very different things, even if they go together hand in hand.

Personally, my production time has always been very open about genres and style. I get bored easy and I need always to experience different routes. The popular tracks I did are often generated from my young childhood memories and most of the dance club track ideas are born in the clubs when I was Djing. Then, I'll go in the studio and I try to recreate the same feeling and can always start with a clear idea.

When I go in studio I'm not coming out of it without some tracks to test the following weekend. Especially now with a family, my studio time is very limited.

During a party in Frankfurt, an anonymous DJ played “Acperience 1” and it changed my life. But so did a Michael Meyer set at Berghain and I can't remember a single track he played that night – it was one fluent gesture. How do you see the relative importance of “great mixing” vs “mixing great tracks” - and how do they compete/complement each other?

Personally today I don’t place great value on hearing a perfect beat matching performance as sometimes it could be even boring. I care more to feel something special and if the DJ can create a fluent mix of moods, vibes and groove journeys around the world. These kind of DJs are welcome to me because this is what a DJ is for me.

Personally I also think about expressing myself. To bring you into my musical journey I need at minimum a 2 hours set. Thanks god that compared to Europe, in South America it’s still very normal to get a minimum of a 2 hours set.

In terms of the overall architecture of a DJ set, how do you work with energy levels, peaks and troughs and the experience of time?

For me a good DJ set is a bit like a rollercoaster ride, a cocktail of energy emotions and sex.

Of course a good promoter, a good location and an amazing sound system are essential. Personally I just need a good night's sleep, some good food before the gig and a bottle of champagne. The beauty of the music does the rest.

Online DJ mixes, created in the studio as a solitary event, have become ubiquitous. From your experience with the format, what changes when it comes to the way you DJ – and to the experience as a whole - when you subtract the audience?

I don't normally DJ without an audience. I need a crowd to share the energy and feeling with. I need the audience near me as much as I need the music.

Technology has continually taken on more steps of DJing, producing and other "creative" tasks. From your point of view, where does "technology" end and "creativity" begin? Where do you see the role of humans in DJing versus that of technology?

Technology is synonymous with techno music: all new machines, software, hardware, plugs etc. contribute to the evolution of all music genres. Without the technology we wouldn't have experienced all what we heard and will hear in the future. It's all about being creative with no rules and experimenting with any kind of music feeling.

In my opinion techno music, in its purist soul, even if it’s the poorest business music, is the most enjoyable vibe to experience in clubs and the studio.

DJing requires empathy, focus, time management, patience, and vision, among others. Are you finding that the way you play influences the way your life your life and vice versa?

Maybe or maybe not. What I know is this: Comets pass but planets remain.

I've been a lucky man as I did what I loved in my life and I never felt it was a job. My instinct and vision of the music drives me. Today many want to be DJs, influencers or soccer players for the wrong reasons.

Experience is gained over time. Without fatigue, perseverance, humility, self-criticism, passion, courage and sacrifice, luck alone and money will not be enough to make you content.

Let's imagine you lost all your music for one night and all there is left at the venue is a crate of records containing a random selection of music. How would you approach this set?

Without knowing the records it wouldn't make sense to me play it. I need to know the tracks before I play.