ZOOM ON – LUIGI TOZZI

The sun barely rises at seven AM when Luigi Tozzi slips out of bed. “I’m more of a morning kind of person,” he confesses. Feeling the coolness of the early morning air, he grabs a quick coffee, before making his way to his studio. The house is silent; Rome is still asleep. As he enters the small, cluttered room, it feels like stepping into an underwater world: his ocean of sounds. The walls are lined with records, old and new. Two tables carry a mixer, a couple of computers, some controllers and speakers, like diving equipment, waiting for him to plunge into the depths of creativity. He details: “I stay in the studio for five to eight hours straight. Those are my working hours. It’s not something I force myself to do: it’s very natural for me. Then, of course, there are days when I’m struggling creatively, yet, for me, it’s still “experiences,” still “making sounds.” So I would say, in general, that it’s very organic and easy for me to sit there for a long time. And even though it isn’t always fluent, I know I will do it anyway.”

Luigi Tozzi’s studio is like an intimate bubble, filled with history. Every scratch on vinyl and every piece of material tells a story, just as the ocean holds secrets beneath its surface. In his routine, he sits at one of the tables, his fingers hovering over the controls, feeling the familiar rush of excitement that comes with each new dive into his music. As he adjusts levels, adds layers, and mixes tracks, new landscapes emerge in his mind, from the depths of a quiet sea. The speakers throb like the pulse of an underwater current, and the music begins to take shape, ebbing and flowing. He could lose himself in the rhythms, just like a diver lost in the endless blue…

His schedule has an advantage, as he explains: “By starting very early, my working hours end sooner as well. In the afternoon, you know you are done; you know your ears are done. It then opens a second day within my day, when I can do something else. When I’m in Salina, for instance, in the house built by my family, I go freediving, which I love doing in the summertime.”

After his “working hours,” in the serene waters of the Italian island, Luigi Tozzi wears his mask and flippers, to slip into the azure sea, leaving the world above behind. As he glides through the underwater landscapes, the marine life sparks his creativity. Like Ness and Claudio PRC before him, his artistic vision is inspired by the tranquillity and beauty of the sea, allowing him to capture its essence. Thanks to the meditative practice of freediving, he creates a unique harmony between the ocean and his music, particularly emblematic in his “Deep Blue” series:

He details: “Many tracks of these albums were done in Salina, where I make my most significant music. It’s a particularly peaceful place, with no car, no agenda, nobody requiring you to do anything. There is a very special vibe on the volcanic island, which hosts very few people.”

Let’s examine the artist’s path to better grasp how his surroundings shape his creative vision.

In the heart of Rome, the capital of Italian electronic music, the young Luigi Tozzi found himself surrounded by a close-knit group of “friends for life,” as he mentions: “During the studies, you usually end up changing schools and friends every three or four years, but that was not my case. I spent my youth in a French school located in the middle of Villa Borghese Gardens, alongside a large group of inseparable friends. I’ve known most of them since the age of five, and they’re still around me today. It allowed us to build a deep, familial type of bond.”

Among them, some were immersed in the electronic music world and guided him through the soundscapes that would shape his future. He details: “Three of my friends, in particular, were into electronic music, and one of their big brothers, old enough to go to clubs, was showing us the music and talking about the nightlife before I could experience it. As such, I’ve been like knowing about electronic music and breathing it before having the age to go out clubbing. Then, I started hitting the nightlife, of course.”

At that moment, minimal techno was sweeping across Europe, particularly in Italy. The first decade of the 2000s saw a surge in popularity for producers such as Richie Hawtin, Luciano, Ricardo Villalobos, and James Holden. Their sounds resonated deeply with Luigi Tozzi, after a first immersion into trance and Italian dance music. At age sixteen, he fell for minimal techno and learned to mix with his friends, originally just for fun.

In parallel, Rome’s emerging festival scene provided the perfect backdrop for his musical awakening. He attended Dissonanze in 2006, which has been particularly transformative for him, as he explains: “Dissonanze has been a life-changing experience for me, this is where I really understood the potential of escapism that techno can have for a huge amount of people grouped together in the same room.”

Seeking this form of escapism more eagerly, Luigi Tozzi frequented more clubs and festival events, eventually leading him to the techno capital: Berlin. His exploration of the city’s legendary venues, including Berghain, introduced him to the deeper, dubbier side of techno. Artists like Marcel Dettmann and Basic Channel became his new references. Back in Italy, he also witnessed the early works of Donato Dozzy.

He recalls: “I listened to him play in Brancaleone, a historical club in Rome that schooled me a lot. I used to go there with my friends and watch artists like Jeff Mills or Carl Craig. Donato Dozzy was a resident there at the time, and I could enjoy some of his sets at a very early stage.”

In 2010, at age nineteen, Tozzi’s passion for techno evolved into creation. He remembers: “At first, I started taking DJing more seriously. I bought records and turntables. A couple of years later, I started making music, mainly focusing on dub techno. In the same period, while digging, I came across the deep techno scene. I was particularly captivated by the work of Claudio PRC, Ness, and Deepbass; especially their Dommune sets, which really drew me in.”

Luigi Tozzi continues: “From that moment, deep techno became clearer in my mind about what it was, and what I liked. I remember when I discovered “Orion” by Deepbass, I thought “Okay, this is what I want to try to do,” like, this kind of very minimalistic blend between ambient and techno. Today, I’m happy that Claudio, Andrea [ed.: Ness] and Darren [ed.: Deepbass] are great friends of mine, I respect them a lot.”

Tozzi’s first release came out on Dynamic Reflection in 2014, just before producing in the same year for Michel Iseneld’s nascent label Hypnus, soon to become a cornerstone of the deep techno scene. Our music lovers all know it: the connection between “Michel and Luigi'” is a soulful friendship, with Hypnus unfolding like Studio Ghibli’s “Castle in the Sky,” a world of wonder and creative escape. Let’s pause for a moment on their magical collaboration, worth calling “special”…

The illustrative comparison with the Japanese animation studio is not random, as in a 2019 interview for Orb Mag, Michel Iseneld, under his alias Ntogn, mischievously confessed his desire to turn Hypnus into “the Studio Ghibli of electronic music.” In detail, Iseneld described the label’s sound as “deep and adventurous atmospheric techno, utilising electronic music as an expressive medium to create escapist experiences with an authentic sound.”

With a similar love for “musical escapism,” it was certain that he and Luigi Tozzi would find an important common ground. Their shared passion and values, including the fact that they are both used to living in groups of loyal friends, contributed to strengthening their bond. 

In an interview for InDepth, Luigi Tozzi mentioned how they exactly met: “At the time I got in touch with Ntogn, I was using Soundcloud to upload my music so I could post it on forums and get feedback. It’s on a forum that I met him, at a time when both of us were making music as a hobby. As we talked, he asked me for downloads of my music so that he could play it when DJing, and eventually he told me he was going to start his own record label, and from there things grew progressively; not only our collaboration, but also our friendship.”

Ultimately, we asked Luigi Tozzi what he thinks of Michel Iseneld, from the perspective of “a friend.” Tozzi’s long answer says a lot about their profound bond, as while discussing with us, he delivered a genuine, spontaneous, beautiful declaration of friendship: “If you ask me about Michel, I would say he’s a deep friend and a visionary. I could just drop these two words, meaningful enough to nail the character. He has always been very helpful to me, discussing music with someone my age, while being from a completely different part of the world. He has his own background, but we quickly saw common roots: we got to understand each other very fast. At times, we just sit on the sofa and listen to music. Then we discuss it, and I feel extremely inspired. He’s a very enriching character, and I feel blessed to have these kinds of people around me. The fact that we’ve been working together for a long time is something important, and it had a huge influence on my music. My experience with Hypnus allowed me to progress a lot. As an artist, he’s a genius, with one of the strongest identities. And when I say “genius,” I’m referring to someone who has a very strong and radical vision, going for it without compromises. Korridor, as well, is one of the few geniuses I met, and Michel has his way. He’s able to translate his imagination into sounds extremely well, while also being a very technical producer. As a DJ, his mixes are epic, because he has a huge personality. He’s brave in picking eccentric records. He can go all over the place, which helps me, because I am the exact opposite. My main goal when I record a mix or a track is coherence: I choose to be extremely consistent. At the beginning of Hypnus, he was bringing me to places I thought I couldn’t go, and I was bringing him back from places that were maybe sometimes a bit too far. We’ve always greatly complemented each other.”

Right after, we asked Tozzi, whose album “Deep Blue” has been one of Hypnus‘ biggest hits, what he thought of the label. He seemed to light up his eyes while answering: “Let me say something very evident, that I would love to scream to the world. Please, someone, point me out a label that is as coherent and as built from friendship as Hypnus, with such epic ramifications, from Aedi to Kabalion and The Memoir. It’s also the only label I know that creates devices to make electronic music. How visionary, wide, complete and tight the whole galaxy of Michel’s projects is: it’s totally unique, which people maybe need to realise more. There aren’t “two Hypnus,” which is very valuable. It’s also a horizontal project. It’s not vertical, which Aedi, of course, shows the most [Ed.: Aedi is defined as a “democratic label”, with decisions made collectively]. We are together with the people who listen to our music. We are, basically, the same as our crowd of listeners.”

We can testify to this last point, as Luigi Tozzi has been one of the first artists whom we successfully contacted in the birth of Hypnotic Techno Circle. We remember having been particularly impressed by his openness and care. With both qualities, Luigi Tozzi also introduced some new artists to Michel, such as Feral:

“He contacted me on Facebook,” Tozzi says. “He’s from Roma too, so I proposed to catch up. We ended up meeting at the Northern Electronics showcase in Brancaleone. It was a beautiful night made of very inspiring live sets. We had some drinks, talked a lot about music and got to know each other; it was fun. Then we just became friends. Very naturally, I showed Feral’s music to Michel, and we thought about introducing it in a VA. From there, Feral grew his discography on Hypnus, which became key to the label. His first works were already showing his immense talent and reminded me a bit of Cio D’Or, as they were minimalistic and delicate.”

Anecdotally, as Tozzi mentioned Cio D’Or, we asked for his opinion on her: “I want to say that I love her music. She’s a huge inspiration for me and maybe the most flagrant link between minimalism and deep techno, along with Mike Parker…”

Tozzi didn’t only produce for Hypnus. The talented artist also teamed up with Dino Sabatini on Outis Music, Psyk on Non Series and Claudio PRC on 012, among others. Let’s focus now on these three highlighted collaborations, as they particularly caught our interest.

Firstly, it is worth mentioning that Luigi Tozzi, particularly loyal, is not exactly the same artistic persona from one collaboration to another, as to protect the link he has with each label owner. He explains: “In general, collaborating with a label is not just like finding a place that would accept my music: it’s about seeking balance between my sound and the sound of the label. The owner is very important in the process. For instance, Michel inspires me with an approach that differs from Manuel’s [ed.: Psyk]. Thus, while my music is based on storytelling on Hypnus, it is more dancefloor-oriented on Non Series.”

Secondly, it is in the profound nature of creative people to “colour outside the lines” at times, as a natural need. Luigi Tozzi is no exception, as he explains: “There was this moment of pandemic where I started being a bit bored with some kind of deep techno. I felt like the scene was getting a bit standard in sounds, with a lack of great research behind it. I needed to come back to dub techno and early works from Marcell Dettmann, Markus Suckut and Ostgut Ton‘s, which inspired me to make “Tender Is the Night” and “Spiral.” Between the two records, I was slowly drifting into understanding that the output I wanted for Non Series was very stripped-down minimal techno.”

Tozzi shared how he met Psyk: “We got to know each other in London in 2018, while playing at the Semantica Showcase in Corsica Studios. After the event, we went to the Airport together and talked about how much we love Richie Hawtin and Plastikman. When you sense this common ground of passion in the conversation, you are motivated. At one point, Manuel mentioned that he liked my track “Yavin 4” and that maybe I could do something similar for Non Series. I remember telling him I would think of a different approach if I had to make a release on his label, but that I was super interested in doing it, as I bought a lot of early Non Series music. Then, it took more than a year to send him a record.”

Earlier in 2014, fate introduced Luigi Tozzi to Dino Sabatini, another key figure of deep techno. What began as a meeting of minds soon grew into another great friendship. Tozzi shared how they got to know each other: “Back then, he wrote me on SoundCloud because I recorded a vinyl session that he probably liked. I told him how much I was enjoying his music and how “Shaman’s Paths” has been a game changer for me. Then, we talked about sending him some of my music. I remember having prepared many tracks for him, and that’s the way he is Dino: he didn’t request a WeTransfer folder, but rather said “Bring your music here to my studio. Let’s have lunch. Let’s listen to it. Let’s talk about it.” From this experience came the record “Calipso“. Later I got to meet him again, and being new to everything, having the possibility to see his studio, the way he works, to listen to his compositions, to show him what I was doing, to have him explaining me technically what was good, what required to be refined, has been extremely enriching. Before Dino, the people I was interacting with, like Michel, were my age, or were, like me, new in that scene. At Hypnus, we are all very like-minded, from the same generation with the same influences. So Dino was my first sort of mentor figure.”

In 2022, during the pandemic crisis, Sabatini ended up opening a well-esteemed music teaching program, confirming his natural disposition to share the fruit of his passion. As if to conclude Tozzi’s warm sentiment, he stated what we sense in Sabatini’s smooth music: “Dino is one of the most beautiful persons I have ever met in this scene.”

Deeply immersed in the Italian deep techno scene, Luigi Tozzi also crossed paths with Claudio PRC, a meeting that marked the beginning of a creative synergy between two of the genre’s most atmospheric minds.

In 2020, after doing some remixes for each other, they worked together on the record “Lyra” on PRC’s label 012, an opportunity for us to also gain Tozzi’s opinion on the well-known Sardinian producer: “He’s my big brother. Like Dino, he was much more experienced than I, when I first met him. Yet we are closer in age compared to Dino. So I would say he’s a different kind of figure, also because we played together countless times. We have a great musical bond, and he has always been very kind to me.”

If Dino Sabatini and Claudio PRC have been important mentors for Luigi Tozzi, it is worth mentioning that he also became one himself, for a younger artist of the Aedi project. This shows that the community spirit runs inspiringly in the veins of these Italian visionaries. Tozzi highlights the value: “Dino opened his doors for me. It’s beautiful to do that, and it gives me a feeling of gratitude: I earned something and I want to give something back. The EDM world is partly responsible for creating a gap between the big names and the beginners, while the knowledge and know-how should be shared more. If you only mind your own garden, it will become smaller. Dino taught me a valuable lesson; a healthy way of sharing and connecting with others.”

This perspective, mentioned in all simplicity, is central to our humble hypnotic techno movement. It reflects a dedication to creating a more inclusive and supportive community, consisting of exactly what Tozzi just said: appreciating the support received as a mark of humility, and growing thanks to the connection among peers and the willingness to share. Many core principles of the community spirit are present in Tozzi’s words: “Humility” and “Inclusivity,” represented by the “horizontal approach” aimed at bridging gaps, so dear to the spearheads of Hypnus ; “Empathy” and “Generosity,” flowing from mentor to mentee or from supporter to performer ; “Loyalty,” reciprocated in kind ; “Resilience,” allowing us to withstand and recover collectively from difficulties, and, crucially, “Collaboration,” which potentially grows everyone’s “garden”…

Following this extensive exploration of Luigi Tozzi’s career and the values he embodies, it is now time to don a detective’s hat and take up a flashlight to examine the essence of his sound, like we did with Mike Parker to unveil the meaning of his spirals.

In a chart that Tozzi prepared for Orb Mag in 2020, he mentioned: “I’ve cultivated a taste and passion over the years for deeper and smoother sounds rather than big in the face music.” Going further in a thematic interview for Melifera, he added: “The idea, when I build drones and atmospheric pads into my pieces, is to envelop the listener and create a very evocative dimension in which the rest of the composition can develop.”

The notion of “enveloping” is particularly telling regarding Luigi Tozzi’s art, as during our conversation, he repeatedly used the evocative expression “his bubble,” referring to the idea of escaping from reality through an internal process…

Yet, if art is “self-expression,” with Luigi Tozzi being particularly authentic as a core value, which reality does he try to “escape” from, and why is he inclined to soften his world?

The answer primarily intertwines three realms: familial, social, and personal.

First, it is worth mentioning that Luigi Tozzi’s family is involved in the film industry, as he confesses: “I’m born in a family of movie makers, for generations. Therefore, the world of cinema is key for me. I have a huge movie collection, which has fed my imagination for years and still does.” His passion for cinema is obvious, as, for instance, during our conversation, when discussing Paris, he first pointed out how “the city allows its visitors to watch a 50-year-old black-and-white Western at ten in the morning,” before any other more usual references, such as Paris by night or the Eiffel Tower.

Only a dedicated cinephile would raise such an observation about the City of Lights. His passion partly explains track titles like “Binary Sunset,” “Endor” and “Yavin 4,” which reference scenes from Star Wars and its moons, themselves being also nice nods to Hypnus’ moon concept. More importantly, like Donato Dozzy and Mike Parker before him, Tozzi’s high fascination for the silver screen contributed to building “the bubble” he enjoys immersing himself in, which eventually impacts the cinematic side of his music.

Then, there is, of course, the ocean, also deeply rooted in his family background, as he explains: “My passion for freediving comes from my big brother. Our main moments together were during the summer holidays. I was always looking up at what he was doing, including observing him diving underwater to catch fish, which was a crazy thing for me. At age eight, I started asking if I could also do it with him. He accepted, insisting “You must remain calm,” “You need to do this and that,” and “You must not be cold,” while the water was crazy cold. But I started going with him and then developed the passion, just to go by myself. Over time, I became an amateur spearfisher and diver…”

All the freedivers know it, whether it is for recreational purposes, exploration or fishing, the ocean holds transformative powers. It imparts invaluable lessons, such as guiding us in reconnecting to our innermost instincts, becoming more aware of our bodies, transforming fear into calmness and teaching humility in front of the vastness of nature. Engaging with such an environment requires adapting to its terms, and to become part of this world, nothing feels more organic than returning the body to its simplest form. Once we have tasted the sensation of weightlessness and its resulting freedom, the show of nature and its immersive dronish soundtrack, we struggle to stay away from the water. Tozzi’s connection to his “bubble” is partly a call from the ocean…

During our own “phone call,” we couldn’t help but see some links with Luc Besson’s stunning movie “The Big Blue,” which is also the title of “Deep Blue 3″‘s ninth track. The spectacular film explores the deep connection between humans and the ocean, through the lives of two competitive freedivers, Enzo and Jacques, followed by journalist Johanna.

“I love the vibe and melancholy of this movie,” confesses Tozzi. In our conversation, we agreed that Besson’s breathtaking cinematography, Eric Serra’s hauntingly beautiful score, and the characters’ magnetic charisma offer one of the most powerful cinematic immersions into the freediving experience, striking visually and emotionally.

This last point leads us to the fundamental aspect of Luigi Tozzi’s art: the musical translation of “an emotion,” more than an oceanic landscape. He explains: “Anything that makes me emotional feeds my creativity. For instance, I can watch a movie like “The Big Blue” and feel very touched by it. Then I will for sure go to the studio. Of course, creativity diminishes when you are cold or apathetic, but in my case, transposing an emotion is central to my process. When you make something cathartic for yourself, which purifies you and makes your emotions come out, then you feel inspired. It can be a movie, a book, a freediving session, a football game with my friends, anything that is cathartic.”

What is more profound than working with emotions and shaping them into art? We are at the core of deep techno, and Luigi Tozzi embodies the genre in all its essence…

To grasp the emotions the Italian artist conveys, we first need to understand the emotions he feels. During our conversation, an important emotional state was revealed through a subtle hint. We noticed that Luigi Tozzi answers very fast. Sure, Italian people are known to speak fast, but there’s more to it. He answered our questions almost before we ended them, with impressive reasoning. Ultimately, we asked him if he was not “hyperactive” and if it wasn’t one of the reasons why he looks for peace in his music. He answered: “It is exactly that. I indeed tend to be very compulsive, doing lots of things, nonstop. The projects that I pick for myself, like making music or going freediving, are activities where you need to stop. They have a different rhythm, which, I think, is very therapeutic for me. When going underwater, for instance, I’m forced to enter a sort of very primordial state where instinct takes over and you’re not very rational, but hyper reflective, which is definitely something I need at times. Similarly, my morning routine in the studio feels like a long dive.”

Filled with gratitude, we salute now Luigi Tozzi AKA “our Big Blue,” whose soundscapes have gifted us countless moments of solace and beauty. His musical sanctuary became ours, a shared space of peace and contemplation, offering the envelopment we also need in our most vulnerable moments…

#3

Moby – Go (Luigi Tozzi Edit)
[Self-released, 2018]

On the 14th of March 2018, a tsunami reached our shores, as Luigi Tozzi uploaded his version of “Go”, which itself is a 1990 treasure of breakbeat, well-known by Generation X. Let us share the original version below, as well as an incredible live version, just for the pleasure to vibrate again for Moby’s masterpiece:

In 2018, as soon as Tozzi dropped his rework, we shared it with our community and spent an entire week celebrating the Italian artist. On paper, remixing such a legendary track should be impossible. Yet he pulled it off with the talent of Dantzig solving an unsolvable equation. We were already deeply connected to Tozzi’s music at the time, so having him reinterpret one of our favourite musical monuments, knowing he would bring it into his own fascinating world, was especially exciting. As expected, his fusion of “Go”‘s haunting, ethereal synths with his signature deep rhythms gave the track a beautiful, enveloping feel.

Being in touch with him, we took the opportunity to ask about his creative process. He answered: “It has been extremely spontaneous. At that moment, I was DJing quite often, and was listening to “Go” again in the morning with my coffee. I thought of mixing it in my set, but not being the kind of DJ to jump between genres, I needed a deeper version, which I ended up producing. In fact, for his track, Moby sampled Angelo Badalamenti’s harmony, so I just sampled it, added it to my Ableton session, started processing it and then played pads above it. Once I achieved the ambient part, the work was already done, because the melody is beautiful. The only thing left was to add a solid beat to accompany it.”

We love it when artists breathe new life into timeless classics, like Tozzi’s subtle revision of “Your Love,” which came later, Sabatini’s hypnotic reimagining of “The Wipe” and Van Morph’s deep take on “Age of Love.” Those are tracks that we remember, a potentially important criterion to be listed in a subjective chart. Luigi Tozzi mentioned that he would eventually remix Depeche Mode one day…

#2

Luigi Tozzi – Reptilian
[Hypnus, 2025]

There’s something strangely alive in Luigi Tozzi’s EP “Sentient” on Hypnus, containing four tracks taken from his live sets, including “Reptilian,” favoured by the listeners. As we are in Michel Iseneld’s dungeon, we expect “storytelling,” but Tozzi usually refuses to share it, as he explains: “I know exactly why I produce a track, but it is part of my artistic intention to make you feel the music more than understand it. I believe a lot in listening creatively to a track. It makes you imagine worlds or connect to special thoughts, which I neither want to spoil nor influence.” 

On our side, we are not so gentle, dear reader, and propose four possible interpretations to irradiate your brain. “To be read at your own risk…”

On the surface, the repetitive hits first sounded like the wheels of an approaching train, passing over the joint on rusted rails, giving the mechanical and hypnotic touch Ntogn and Mike Parker subscribe to in their own music. Yet, the title eventually suggests the continuous movement of a heavy reptilian creature. With that in mind, the track suddenly reaches a rawer and more organic dimension, valuing the aerial layer floating in the background as it opens to a surrounding mysterious, primal landscape… “Reptilian” is, by the way, another nice wink to Hypnus, regarding its serpent seal symbol on the logo, and these two first interpretations remind Tozzi’s concern about adapting his music to the label owner.

Then we came across a post on Hypnus’ Facebook page mentioning that the release was more dancefloor-oriented, which, combined with the fact that the track originated from a live set, conjured the image of a hypnotised dancer, drawn into a trance-state, mindlessly pounding his tripped feet on the dancefloor, or the DJ himself, hypnotised by his own loops…

Finally, on a deeper metaphorical level, we know now that Luigi Tozzi’s music is more emotional than visual, and we couldn’t help but make links with his hyperactive mind, potentially symbolised by the sonic beating, anxious and alive. In that sense, the word “Reptilian” could refer to the “reptilian brain,” the instinct-driven part of us that is not always easy to keep in check.

Perhaps Luigi Tozzi had an entirely different intention or deliberately fused multiple ideas. Either way, the four interpretations together capture pretty well his personality and musical essence, which is why we have subjectively chosen the track. His discography is so consistently strong, with every release thoughtfully crafted, that such abstract reasoning can sometimes tip the balance.

#1

Luigi Tozzi – Kracken
[Dynamic Reflection, 2014]

Our charts are always built without the artist’s input, and not sure that Tozzi will appreciate our top pick when he sees it. It’s not that he doesn’t like the record, as he shared: “I haven’t listened to it for a long time, but it’s for sure an important record. I still recognise myself in that melody, because it’s a bit childish, it’s a bit naive, and emotional.” Those are very positive points that, moreover, represent him well, but our uncertainty lies elsewhere…

“Kracken” comes from his very first release, “Myrmidon EP“, and a long road now separates him from those early days, as he recalls: “I made the EP just a few months after installing Ableton on my computer for the first time.”

Often, artists look back on their earliest works through the lens of technical growth. It’s only natural: when your craft evolves, so does your sense of accomplishment. With that in mind, it’s not surprising that artists almost systematically consider their latest creations as better than the first ones. How could it be otherwise? Progress brings refinement. 

About this, Luigi Tozzi is no exception, as he confessed: “I think my “Deep Blue series” is more accomplished and mature than my “Myrmidon EP“.” By saying so, he isn’t dismissive; he’s stating a fact, and yet, for listeners, the equation isn’t quite so simple.

First, there’s a rawness in early works, a kind of emotional immediacy, that often resonates more deeply, precisely because of its imperfections. There is something in that honesty, in that vulnerability, that speaks louder than polish ever could. This is maybe more equitably captured by the words of art historian Bernard Berenson: “Art is mind and heart, more than it is mere instrument and technique—without which, however, it cannot exist at all.”

Secondly, while artists often view their work as part of a personal timeline, shaped by growth, context, and the moment, listeners, on their side, rather experience music in a timeless space. They move freely through a discography, often unaware of its chronology or the evolution behind it. Their connection is guided not by the artist’s intent, but by personal taste, memory, and emotion. This fundamental difference in perspective creates a gap that reason alone cannot bridge.

Thus, the artist shall continue to improve his technique while the listener will welcome the musical creations with his own subjectivity. Now that we acknowledged it, we can share which “taste, memory and emotion” inspired our choice.

It’s very simple: “Kracken” was beautiful and dreamy enough to bring us to a mysterious underwater city and make us launch the Hypnotic Techno Circle community to talk about it…

Listening to Luigi Tozzi’s full mixography, one observation quickly stands out, which is how linear his mixes almost all are, in terms of energy management. In his recent set for Monument, for example, the energy level remains almost unchanged from start to finish.

During our conversation, we came to understand that this effect is partly rooted in what he described as an almost obsessive pursuit of “coherence.” The word recurred often, in phrases like: “My main thing when I record a mix is coherence,” “I look for being extremely coherent,” and “I’m all for coherence.” Between the lines of these statements, we sense the notion of “purification” that, in our view, Luigi Tozzi channels through his enveloping music. It now seems certain that, through the hypnotic qualities of techno, marked by minimalism and repetition, Tozzi has found a way to extend this process of purification into his DJ mixes, crafting long-lasting journeys of emotional release.

At the same time, the linearity reflects a certain humility, echoing a legacy from the psychedelic culture: no frills, no stunts, but rather authenticity and truth. This approach mirrors his humble nature and reflects the spirit of “remaining in the background to let the music operate its hypnosis.”

Yet not everyone is drawn to pure, hypnotic, linear experiences. Some favour more energetic nuances and bursts of unpredictability, leaving a more lasting impression, like a striking note in a refined dish. Tozzi’s vast mixography hosts exceptions that resonate with this more dynamic approach. Some mixes clearly reveal a deliberate creative intention, like his podcasts for Danza Nativa and Blocaus, while on stage, he might show it even more intensely. 

For instance, during his session at A38, a decommissioned stone-carrier ship on the Danube, he unmistakably “woke the Kraken” to unleash masterful games of tension:

Finally, more exceptions appear in the mixes where he plays exclusively his own tracks, as they are deeply rooted in emotion. This is especially true of his Memoir sets, with the first one being our favourite, and of the mix featured here. 

This set, gathering the tracks from “Deep Blue 3” in their original order, represents him particularly well, in our opinion. Indeed, what could be more coherent than a mix crafted from a studio album already conceived as one? And what could be more beautiful than a journey composed of thoughtfully arranged tracks, themselves deep and emotional?

We let you appreciate the music, this time without “spoiling” it…

Is dub techno outdated according to you?

Luigi Tozzi: “Outdated,” for sure not, inflated, yes, definitely. Besides the fact that I don’t think that a genre can actually ever be called “outdated,” this term is even less applicable to dub techno which, in my opinion, is one of the purest forms of techno and still has a huge influence on other sub-genres, such as minimal and ambient techno. It is “inflated” because the “entry level” for producing something that you can call “dub techno” is very low nowadays. You can basically download a couple of sample packs, make a very basic chord pattern, throw in a couple of delays, program a 909 beat and that’s it. Then being able to make something that stands the test of time and that can be close to the level of what Chain Reaction was releasing in the 90s is, for me, the hardest thing ever. The quality in the sound design, modulations and care for the details achieved by artists like Fluxion, Substance and Rhythm & Sound is still unmatched today after thirty years, in my opinion.

Please propose a tour of your favourite dub techno music.

Luigi Tozzi: I tried to stick to ten tracks, which was already pretty challenging. Let me just add an honourable mention to Deepchord and Monolake, who aren’t in the list but who produced for sure some milestones for the genre.

How does dub techno influence your productions, technically and artistically?

Luigi Tozzi: Discovering dub techno is what motivated me to learn synthesis and start my path in music making. Technically, the use of very long effect chains and the endless processing of the original sound sources have always been the core of my productions and identity. Artistically, I am forever influenced by the concepts of spatialization, repetition and modulation that are key in the dub techno aesthetic.

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