Photo courtesy of Jack Williams
Ostensibly Gino seems like a new name in D&B. A fresh faced character from Cambridge who absolutely shelled into the dance late last year with the brutalist Hunger Pains EP on Macky Gee’s Down 2 Earth…. And is now about to follow it up with an equally stinking but more groove-based Minor Problems EP on AudioPorn.
Do a nanosecond of digging, however, and you’ll find his mug isn’t quite so unsullied. He’s been denting said dance for several years now under a series of names. First as Rushmore, then as Arnone and now as Gino, a name he’s settled on once and for all.
Regardless of which alias you first supped on his toxic sonics, the results have been consistent: Gino is a certified all-rounder who can just as easily sledgehammer you one minute and have melt into the ground the next. He’s just getting warmed up for what’s looking like his biggest year so far and this is where he’s at right now…
Let’s go through these name changes. I’m guessing you ditched Rushmore because there are too many?
Yeah that’s right. I had a tune played on Radio 1 but then realised loads of Rushmores had been played on Radio 1 so I went from something more original; Arnone, my surname. But no one could pronounce it. I’d meet people backstage or wherever and the conversation would be about pronouncing my name and not about the music. I though this isn’t cool. So changed my name again to Gino. Even though there are a few Ginos out there
There are quite a few on Beatport
But in drum & bass there are no other Gino’s so I’m sticking with it now. It’s getting silly otherwise.
But going back through it all, each name you’ve had I’ve had namechecked to me by someone else. Mollie Collins was raving about you to me when you were Rushmore, Mampi Swift was bigging you up as Arnone in a previous interview and now Shimon shouting about Gino. The name changes haven’t hindered you as much you’d think…
Maybe. Every project has had traction and picked up support for sure. But I feel there’s been more traction and progress under the Gino alias. There’s a reason for each step, I’ve learnt things and developed but I’m happy to be Gino and I’m happy some people have picked up what I do and are interested in it.
You can’t ignore Hunger Pains. It’s an insane track. Genuinely never heard anything like it.
Haha. I’ve just been experimenting with everything. Sometimes I do go a bit mental and if anything I have to tame it down a bit. I love playing it out as well. It does the trick on the dancefloor.
Shouts to Down 2 Earth for supporting the more experimental sounds and always championing new talent, too.
Huge shouts to Macky full stop. He’s supported me since Rushmore. I’ve known him for a while and we’ve always talked about releases but it took me two years to get round to it. That EP did well, I’m always happy to work with Macky.
It was quite an opening statement as Gino now Minor Problems is a new chapter. Like the groovy yin to Hunger Pains’ raging yang.
Yeah it’s a very different EP. I want to explore different styles and show different sides to my sound. I gotta shout out Shimon and Trimer too actually. Like Macky and the guys you mentioned earlier, they’ve been supporting me since day one.
Nice. Get Down is my persy…
Oh nice. It’s weird, everyone has a different favourite on the EP. I’ve not been able to second guess which one people will like the most. I wrote Get Down first actually.
That’s the sign of a strong EP when everyone has a different favourite…
I like to stretch my muscles in each area of producing. And it’s fun to play that way, too. Like playing the more rolly stuff over a hard horrible synth, that mix always works. And if I’m able to do that with my tunes that’s very useful. Especially if they’re both on dub!
It’s the one thing that makes D&B unique; the ability to bring two totally different styles together in a mix like that.
100 percent man
Tell me about your minor problems. Here are some of mine… The ‘o’ key on my laptop is sticky and there were no crosstrainers free in the gym this morning. Have you got any minor problems?
They’re good minor problems! I didn’t prepare for this. Oh actually one that comes to mind is when I’m on my bike and it’s really windy it gets a bit intense and you’re riding against the wind. I’ve had that a lot recently in this treacherous weather. Logic crashing is a continual minor problem.
Could be a major problem if you lose anything!
True. But a lot of problems can be a minor one if you tell yourself it is. That’s about as philosophical as I get.
That’s pretty philosophical. So what’s next?
After Minor Problems, which is out late February I’ve got another EP for Macky’s Down 2 Earth around March or April. I’m looking forward to that. There’s a lot of heavier stuff in there. I’ve also done some collabs with Sub Zero which seem to be doing the damage, a remix of Modified Motion’s It’s Spelled P.I.M.P, a remix for Good 4 Nothing and something on G13 who’ve been big supporters since my earliest aliases, too actually. That’s all I can confirm for now. I’m always writing, I’m writing every day!
Gino – Minor Problems is out February 28 on AudioPorn
Follow Gino: Facebook / Soundcloud / Twitter
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