Locorotondo is a small, isolated town in the South of Italy. It is one of those beautiful places where, unique musicians such as Giuseppe Maffei (29/06/15), or better known as Zp. aka Z.I.P.P.O, are free to express their inner chaos and inspirations. His roots and style are drawn from a number of music genres: old school hip hop, funky, jazz, blues, soul. These genres acted as the catalyst for the DJ to begin his initial endeavors into mixing music. He credits these as incredibly influential in his development into an eclectic and versatile musician. The artist does not believe that music should be categorized and divided into genres. He prefers to use a variety of sounds and styles to create his own unique brand of sampling, as some of the original DJ’s such as: Larry Levan, Dave Mancuso, Frankie Knucles, Jamie Principle. It is important to the musician to maintain a continuous development in an ever evolving journey of self discovery. As owner, along with his brother, of a record store he has access to a large and ever growing sources of sounds in which he finds his new inspirations. Introduced to the international scene since the very young age of 15, in January 14 Z.I.P.P.O produced ‘Symmetrical therapy’ for the German label ‘Figure’. This first big step,affirmed his work as not only listened to,but highly appreciated by the current music scene.A few months later,Zippo released another breakthrough Ep: “Collected Works pt.1” published by the ‘Involve’ label.This,along with the aforementioned ‘Symmetrical Therapy’ has helped Z.I.P.P.O build a reputation as one of the most promising Techno DJ’s in Italy.Another production worth mentioning is 3KZ, a progeny created in collaboration with the producer Kaelan.Described as an unpredictable, wishful thinker, Kaelan and Z.I.P.P.O have found great chemistry in their working relationship.This understanding has resulted in their own unique collaborative style.They also have produced the Ep. ‘Bounder’ (inclusive of a Mark Broom remix), for Suburban Avenue, providing the audience with a retro-futuristic sound.On the same creative wave, the artist worked in a project along with a Detroit underground legend;Fanon Flower.The result was named ‘EP SAV_002’ which once again is produced by the label Suburban Avenue.The music in this work is the result of 2 artists fusion;it comes across as a hypnotic,dark,sound.It almost seems to reach the most sensitive part of one’s nature, carrying you to the soul.The artist aims to keep expressing himself whilst producing music and to never grow apart from his beliefs and ways to feel it.
RA Resident Advisor
