Celebrating two decades of deep diving through dance music, Turbojazz delivers an all encompassing album that reflects his years of exploration & passion with the release of Whateverism.

Turbojazz’s debut album on personal label Last Forever Records, Whateverism takes listeners on a trip through Turbojazz’ history in the underground Italian scene, covering genres from Nu Jazz and Soul to a modern Deep and House sound and featuring collaborations from a global combination of talented artists. The range of collaborators aligns with his range of genres, where appearances by musicians like LA’s acclaimed MC Dave Giles II, Detroit’s deep house diva Nikki O, Chicago’s Demetrius Rhymes, UK House master Sean McCabe and Japan’s Brisa meld together with promising Italian talent like Sara Vanderwert, Arya, and Jaxx Madicine partner Veezo.

With a desire to tell the story of his depths of experiences in music and life through Whateverism, its release is a personal affair for Turbojazz, but one that many dedicated music lovers will surely find reflected in the layers of their own lives. Dig in with Turbojazz and enjoy the journey as he takes us deeper behind the scenes. #

I’d love to hear about the initial idea for Whateverism. When did you first approach this concept and what was your original intention with this release?

I’ve always dreamt of doing an album like this, and the reason it came after my first 20 years in music is probably because I did not consider myself as ready or good enough to put together the many ideas I had for this project in a cohesive way. Sonically speaking as well. The challenge was to find a simple yet precise formula to apply in order to truly reflect the path I’ve had in my musical journey as a DJ and producer, and apply that to this production.

What was most important for you to convey through this album? Do you feel that you were able to accomplish all of your intentions? How so?

The clearest thing about this album is that I did it, firstly, for myself. It’s an image that showcases all the experiences I’ve collected and their layers, both in music and in my personal life. Artistically, it felt like something I needed to put out in order for me to keep moving forward, hence it’s called a “release” right? Putting out a record always makes me feel like I’m saying something to the universe, and I’ve accomplished all my intentions in this way.

What was the most challenging part of bringing this release together?

Well, it’s probably dealing with time, arming yourself with patience is the first thing with these kind of projects. Having artists from all over the world, living in different time zones and having to manage time and resources posed some challenges, but I did not once think to give up, and it’s thanks to the professionalism everyone displayed, some plans were tweaked which in the end I’m thankful for. As well because things turned out better that I had envisioned.

Can you give us some insight into your choices for Whateverism’s collaborations and what they meant to you?

The idea of the featuring comes always from the production. When I complete a song I start thinking who could enrich or complete the song and for sure Dave Giles II, Brisa, Nikki O and Demetrius Rhymes together with my favourite Italian musicians and singers were my first choices. Being a DJ I receive a lot of promo and I keep myself very updated about the releases so I noticed and started working with Dave on “Stay Balanced” months before his collaboration with Honey Dijon, and on the latest Beyonce album. Let’s say I could be a good A&R.

As this album marks 20 years in the music business, I’d love to hear your thoughts on how your creative / production process has changed and remained the same over the years. Do you approach anything differently now?

While producing electronic music, we are exposed to a lot of technologies, and I love to try out new things. I keep my knowledge up to date through studying and experimenting. I started sampling with the Akai MPC2000XL from 1996 and it is still next to me every day, accompanied by some rare pieces of hardware. I’m also currently in the middle of a software transition and I’m exploring all the new possibilities that will come with that because I share the opinion that the sounds we are able to produce, on some level, depend on the setups we have as musicians, so not ‘sleeping’ on technology is important. It can really take your craft to a new level as Jeff Mills and the likes of him teach.

Where do you find the most inspiration when it comes to discovering new music?

It’s not easy lately but I do find inspiration at times when I am travelling and digging into the local scenes of wherever I am, like I experienced in my recent visits to South Africa.

This led me to continue exploring their local scene and keep coming back with a bunch of records from every era. Some productions have even started from me sampling those records, it’s a really good source of inspiration for me.

What are the values and mission of your Last Forever label?

I opened up Last Forever Records in 2019 and it quickly became part of my daily work, and my decision to release Whateverism under my own label is aimed at developing and growing the label too, it allows me growth in more ways than one, I get to grow as an artist and as a businessman, I’m learning the skills and rules of the trade but above all, I wanted to be the ambassador of Last Forever Records, it is an exemplary action, it expresses the trust and belief I have in my own label.

What is next for Turbojazz?

I already have a few exciting things that I am working on. I will be delivering a live show production of the album with the musicians involved, a compilation, a couple more dance-oriented EPs and most importantly, I’ll keep enjoying this journey.

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