DJ Beppe Loda is one of Italy’s pioneer DJs of the 1970s. His fusion of sounds from German space electronics to African percussion tracks have earned him a reputation that led to the foundation of a scene and even a genre; Afro-funky. Between the mid 80s and early 90s Beppe travelled around northern Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Austria, playing everything from small clubs to massive raves.
His legendary 80s mixtape-series “elettronica meccanica” made quite an impact around the early 2000s and led to a revival of his music in forms like the ELASTE compilation series. Beppe still plays around Europe and across the world and every time we meet up with him, he is digging records and spending his time in record stores, still eager to find strange and rare records to compliment his taste and collection. This meeting in Berlin was no exception.
You have been a DJ since forever, certainly since there was dancing in clubs in Italy. How has the concept of the DJ changed over the last 40 years?
For me personally, I’m not so sure the leftfield DJs concept has changed a lot since the seventies. If you wanted to play a special style as a DJ, you had to look for your unique set of records, you had to find your own personal sound, I think that’s pretty much the same today.
How did the scene that is known as Afro-Funky evolve?
When I moved to the typhoon club at the beginning of eighties, I started to play a mix of German electronic and early new wave, minimal synth and such. It was a really eclectic thing, slow tempo, a lot of strange stuff. I was lucky as music had taken a big step towards my thing in the eighties.
In ’82 I ended up playing completely different sets of music to the DJs around. I was a record maniac at that time and put a lot of effort into going to the south of Germany and hunting down these particular records. We went as far as the Netherlands and France where you could find music with different cultural influences, like music from Africa. It was a weird coincidence as I was attending lessons in percussion at the same time and it felt natural to me to get connected with African music, Brazilian music and such.
Many people from Austria, especially from Tirolia came to the Garda Lake for their vacations and discovered the clubs around the lake [like] “Cosmic” and “Taifun” club. I met with a very nice DJ from Innsbruck called Navajo and another guy who is still DJing in Munich, DJ Enne and after a party they invited me to play outside of Italy for the first time. I went in ’84 and it turned into a long and crazy trip where I was playing almost all summer outside of Italy, in Tirolia. People from Munich also discovered this new sound and they started to come to Innsbruck for the parties and I took other Italian DJs to play with me and from there it just went off. People started to organize more and more parties in Innsbruck, in Munich, [and] all over this area.
I think it was in 2001 / 2002, there was a huge revival of the sound that you played in the 70s, but also connected with more synthesizer-oriented disco. What was your reaction when this sound came back into the limelight, into new clubs and to a new generation of people?
Actually when this happened, I was very enthusiastic because German electronics, Italo disco and space disco from France, is really great music in my opinion. I was happy and felt honoured when some guys got into contact with me to get first hand information about the music I used to play in the 70s and featured this on the Elaste compilation.
At that point I was thinking maybe good quality in music is not that dead. When I was invited to play Ps1 in 2006, the party of MOMA in New York City, I decided to play a European music only set. I played with American DJs and I thought it was necessary to represent the sound I am known for, to play European music, Kraut electro, German electronica or space disco. The response was quite impressive with the American people, they really enjoyed the music, so when more and more people in Europe invited me to play, I kept on playing this mix around Europe.
You are also still an active record collector. How many records do you have at home ?
Right now? I think I have around 15,000 records at home. It’s everything from alternative fields of music, from German electronic, new wave to African and Brazilian percussion. I have a lot of rock records too as I was born around that age.
Are you still on top of your collection? Do you still know everything?
Yes – I’m quite sure I’m able to remember around 95% of the records I have. The other 5% are lost because I haven’t played them for a long long time, which I think is forgivable.
I know about some records where you put stickers on top of the record label. Can you tell us about that period?
Actually, I always wanted to share my music with everyone, I mean that’s why you become a DJ no? But then, I think it was around the beginning of the eighties, problems started occurring with the music I was selecting. Personally I had spend a lot of time and huge sums of money traveling and buying those special records.
When I DJed somewhere, I found out that other DJs, other club-owners and even record shops had sent people to my club nights to research the titles and artists of tracks I used to play – scouts, real deck sharks, can you imagine?
In the beginning it wasn’t really a problem, I felt acknowledged and honoured, but it was becoming a serious issue when 15 days after I played a new record, everybody had this record. When I discovered that the other DJs played almost identical sets, I thought, it wasn’t really good for my night and the club I played at. Don’t get me wrong, I have always been very generous with all the knowledge. I had given a lot of my discoveries to a huge crowd of people, but here I wanted a little bit of exclusivity. I played some records for 5 or 6 months and then removed the sticker, so everybody was able to see the item.
And what about now? If you compare that with what is available on the internet and Discogs, how do you think this has changed the philosophy of music?
Oh, I don’t think the initial philosophy of music has changed – today it is easier to get hold of specific records of course. With all the platforms on the internet you can get almost all that you want. But the concept has stayed the same: looking for a strange record, obtaining your personal sound, retaining a little difference to other DJs, to put your unique personality into the music your playing. When you buy a record, when you choose a track, you are putting your personality in the set [and] that has never changed. You can show your personality choosing your personal record. I think it is really important today to keep quality in the music. And other DJ’s who want to play commercial music, techno or house? I cannot say anything because it is not my kind of stuff.
Photos by Olga Baczynska.
