Soulivity Magazine got the chance to spend a few moments with electronic music artist, Gadi Mitrani. A long-time favorite in his native country, he has been representing the Turkish underground with esteem since he first burst onto the scene over 15 years ago. A unique and prodigious talent, Mitrani's ceaseless love for all things electronic music has led to some of the scene's most hallowed and celebrated dancefloors. A true visionary, he was one of the first to notice the potential of Turkey's electronic music scene — and as such is deemed an influential figure to many of the country's fledgling electronic music producers.
When people hear about electronic music artists, they normally don't think about Turkey. Tell me about life growing up there.
Well, I have a great life in Istanbul, too much lovely friendship, lots of good music, and fun.
I was lucky to have so many good friends in my neighborhood and at school when I was growing up. So, I am very happy to grow up in Turkey.
When I was growing up, there were lots of good small clubs; and, everywhere you go (even commercial clubs), they were playing house music. So, I grew up listening to house music…so many soulful vocals 🙂
What drew to the electronic music sound? What were you listening to before you discovered it?
I discovered house music when I was about 15 years old. You know the era, of Lil Louis, Jungle Brothers, that acid house with vocals. I was lucky because my older brother was into DJing. He was buying house music vinyls; so that way, I introduced to vinyls. Before that, I was a big Micheal Jackson and Bon Jovi fan. But, I remember, even when I was 7, I used to listen to lots of music on my walkman.
Since you were one of the first electronic music artists in Turkey, what was the scene like there when you first started?
Well, I don't know if I was one of the first. But, I started very early. While I was in high school, there were a few quality small underground clubs. Few DJs playing only techno and tech-house, but the vibe was so good.
We had a radio called "2019" that played only underground music 24/7. I remember I used to record the programs on my cassette tape and listen on my headphone. At the end of the 90s, I was away from the country for my college education and, electronic music started to grow everywhere in the world as well as in Turkey. I remember I was going to amazing worldwide DJ events during my summer vacation.
In your early teens, you made a dramatic decision: you moved to New York City, here in America. Tell me about what drew you there and your life while you were living in the city.
I moved to NYC for my college education. I had an amazing 4 years. I was one of the luckiest to experience Twilo many times. I started to produce progressive & deep house tracks after going to Twilo. In that 4 years, except for school, everything was related to music. I was clubbing all the time, so that helped me to progress my vision a lot for producing and djing. I spent lots of minutes at the legendary Satelite records buying records.
Congratulations on the new release! Who or what were your inspirations behind this music?
Thank you!
Seven Villas is one of my favorite labels, and I had to record the set using released tracks only from Seven Villas. So, I listened to many tracks from the label library for weeks. There were so many good tacks; and, I tried to put every one of them on the set. I just did not want to record a straight set with 9-10 tracks. I wanted to do something unique and special. I tried to record the set as I am producing music, so you can think like it's an 80min long track.
As I listen to it, I can't help but be drawn into the smooth movements. What feelings are you trying to invoke in listeners?
Thanks for the nice feedback 🙂
I always try to tell a story on my sets. It started with a deep introduction, then a nice happier emotional progression, and ended it with a goosebumpy conclusion.
What other artists are you listening to right now?
Lots of artists! I am listening to Behrouz, Lee Burridge, Hoj, Guy Mantzur, Guy J, Khen, Pablo Bolivar, Roy Rosenfeld, Volen Sentir, Sebastian Leger, Yunus Guvenen, Lost Desert, Sainte Vie, and Facundo Mohr.
