Stefano Ritteri, aka Solo, is a DJ remixer and producer originally hailing from Rome Italy, but now living and working in London. He has been making music since he was very young, learning to playdrums, guitar and piano before he was a teenager even. He built his first studio at just 14 years old in a friend’s garage, where they experimented with live instrumentation and turntables, as
well as him playing drums for various local bands.
At the age of 20 he entered... Read more
Stefano Ritteri, aka Solo, is a DJ remixer and producer originally hailing from Rome Italy, but now living and working in London. He has been making music since he was very young, learning to playdrums, guitar and piano before he was a teenager even. He built his first studio at just 14 years old in a friend’s garage, where they experimented with live instrumentation and turntables, as
well as him playing drums for various local bands.
At the age of 20 he entered a competition with “Arezzo Wave” (Italy’s biggest Festival) with an electronic track he had made, and won for two consecutive years, the prize being the opportunity to tour Italy as part of a showcase of young talent. This helped him to forge relationships with promoters and clubs where he later returned to DJ. He played some great clubs in his home country, most notably Agatha at Brancaleone (Rome’s premier underground nightclub), Clubbers Party in Milan and Velvet Club in Naples. Initially he was
primarily into Drum and Bass and Hip Hop, then breakbeat captured his imagination. He made the decision to move to London
to further his career, on arrival he became ensconced in the vibrant and diverse club scene, becoming a regular at Fabric, Cargo and Herbal amongst other places. His influences opened up still further, with House music making an impression on him now as well, with his appreciation of producers and DJs such as Plump DJs, Meat Katie, Ivan Smagghe, Switch, Laidback Luke, Format B, Mastiksoul, and of course retaining his love of Hip Hop throughout
this musical epiphany. At this time he began producing campaign music for the likes of Asics, Nike and Rai TV in Italy. Now he has his Green House Studio in London’s Brick Lane, where he has been busy working on his own material as well as producing music with r Hannah Holland, and engineering and mixing for Mowgli, Riva Starr, Zombie Disco Squad and Stevie Kotey from Chicken Lips. He has forged his own very distinctive sound over the last couple of years, taking in influences as diverse as Brazilian music, which captured his imagination whilst working as a drummer in Italy, and Jazz to
various ethnic music. Lately, he has begun to find inspiration in African music to add to his already copious influences that are all based around Funk and rhythms. He has an instantly recognisable sound, which is his own take on “fidget” house sometimes he jokingly call it “midget” house! It’s an imaginative mash up of ethnic samples and other crazy sounds, party basslines and tribal drums. Simply, music to PARTY to! With a release on Dirtybird in Spring this year and many more releases on Dead Fish and other labels (TBA) it looks like 2009 will be Solo’s year! Show less
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