Welcome to Minimal Mag, Gianluca Pandullo (I-Robots) & Lorenzo Betetto (Lorenzo LSP) & . We’re super excited to learn about the Studiodue – Future mixes on Opilec Music. You contributed a mix paying tribute to the legendary Turin club, Studio 2. Can you tell us about the club’s history?
Gianluca: A former vintage cinema was transformed into a club in 1979 and took on the name Studio 2 and began to gather its followers. As a members club, Studio 2 had a more cultural attitude than the classic discos of the time. This was expressed in the quality of the musical programming combined with other artistic disciplines for exhibitions, set-ups, themed parties and performances. The club alternated between student nights, rock and indie pop, prestigious concerts, projects on black music, the one night on Saturday, Pop Planet by the Latin Superb Posse starring house sounds and my Sound Of Blackness Thursday. The quality of the programming allowed us to increase the annual membership constantly without losing the characteristics of an interesting, curious and willing public to mix between the various evenings and different selections. Studio 2 between the 80s and 90s assumed a central and decisive role In Turin’s nightlife. Among the many artists and Dj’s who appeared during that time were the following: Killing Joke, The Young Gods, Chesterfield Kings, Lyres, Naked Prey, The Leaving Trains, Soul Asylum, Corrosion Of Conformity, Denial, Paul Weller, Desmond Dekker, Patrick Juvet, The Fuzztones, Casino Royale, D.D. Jackson, Nomadi, The Sounds, The Meteors, Pankow, The Fleshtones, Henry Rollins, Jesus And The Mary Chain, Dead Can Dance, Frankie Knuckles, David Morales, DJ Cash Money, Ricky Morrison, Claudio Coccoluto, Run DMC, Leo Mas, Andrea Gemolotto, Leight Bowery.
Lorenzo: Studio 2 was a 700/800 capacity club on two floors in the middle of Turin, a crossroad for different musical genres where nights like DOUBLE FACE, POP PLANET and OUT TO BOMB then SOUND OF BLACKNESS took place. It was a very important venue because it brought together many different underground movements from Rockabilly, New Wavers, Fashionistas and Rockers to the Hip Hop community, all of which found a dancefloor there that spoke to them.
What was your involvement in the space besides being a resident?
Gianluca: I was only DJing at that point in my career, focused on Afro-American sounds like rare grooves, disco funk, hip-hop, house music and all the acid jazz movement. After Studio 2 closed, I started my own nights around the city, becoming a local promoter and events organizer.
Lorenzo: I started in the early eighties as a resident DJ for DOUBLE FACE then later in the decade I started the LATIN SUPER POSSE project with ROBERTO SPALLACCI and JOE COSTA; a project focused mainly on hip hop and early house and all kinds of machine music influenced by the sounds of the ROLAND Tb303/909 et al. In that period we were involved in the restyling of the club. The image of
the club you see on the cover of our release comes from a project we made and the Saturn Mirrored-ball
and was a tribute to queen Vivienne Westwood!
The place became a haven for many communities and created a safe space to escape reality and express themselves. What ultimately led to the club’s closure?
Gianluca: There were somewhat mysterious reasons for the 1993 closure of Studio 2; happening after a
weird fire on the upper floor. The exact story is unknown.
Lorenzo: Yes the place was a safe dancefloor for everyone and a meeting point for people with different
musical backgrounds to exchange ideas. Our LSP’s POP PLANET night was open to every gender! The
club was a membership club so closed very late. I don’t know the reason for the closure in the end, but I
think some bad financial management… I guess.
With notable clubs closing their doors worldwide, what do you think we can do to create sustainable spaces that last? It is often said the average lifespan of a club is five years – do you feel like this is healthy for music communities across the globe?
Gianluca: It’s really important to have a thriving club culture in every country … Some may feel that music culture is less important to the new generations, but there is still hope, I see a lively talented community of artists, djs, producers, labels and musicians that still have followers, records collectors and clubbers following them. We all need to work hard in order to protect and support the quality talent and music that is out there and club spaces are key to this, particularly now as we recover from the decimation of the last two years.
Lorenzo: The problem in ITALY is that very few people invest in modern clubs with proper sound systems, lights etc because they fear having problems with the police or local institutions. Many of the new clubs in ITALY are just about marble, mirrors and champagne bottles not so different from the “discotheque” of the seventies. I think that a new idea of the club should be modular, with different spaces involving food, art and adapting to different capacities for different club events. CIRCOLO DEGLI ILLUMINATI in ROME is quite similar to my idea of a club, as an example.
When you set out to do this mix, did you have a goal in mind? Did you try and capture the authentic eclecticism the club had to offer?
Gianluca: My experiences and emotions at Studio 2, both as a party goer and DJ are what led me to the
creation of the compilation. I was looking to put together a mix with the heart and soul of Studio 2 based
on the eclectic catalogue of Opilec Music. I’ve favoured the house, techno and electronic style that
reflects the club from 1979 to 1993.
Lorenzo: First of all, it was a pleasure to have open access to the OPILEC MUSIC catalogue .. to choose
between so many tracks was a hard but interesting job. I know that I-Robots probably would have undertaken a more eclectic mix referring to the Out To Bomb Than Sound Of Blackness Thursday night where he was a frequent guest… so I went straight to a 4/4 to the floor approach including NYC house and summer of love UK house influences in the mix. You won’t hear much techno/minimal inside my mix but a lot of rough house beatz!
