Aeroplane Interview: "Maybe you’ll hear Aeroplane Live for the next album"

One of the leading lights in nu-disco, Vito De Luca of Aeroplane fame took half and hour out of his ridiculously busy schedule to talk to Skiddle about his forthcoming show at Trilogy, what happened to the Aeroplane live band, his new compilation and what he has planned for Aeroplane in the future.

So you’re playing in Leeds on September 24 for Metropolis & WAX:On's Trilogy – how does the music scene in the UK differ from Belgium? Is it as urbanised as it is in the UK scene at moment?

The music scene is quite different, I would say that it's not urbanised, but that due to the fact the current urban music like dubstep was born in the UK and therefore that’s where it’s going to biggest. Disco is really big in Belgium, but there aren’t as many massive clubs as we’re a smaller country. The best club in Belgium is Libertine Supersport, it only holds around 800 in the basement and few hundred upstairs. But it’s the perfect club size for the sort of music that I play – it’s also where I will have the launch party for my new compilation.

As you’ve just mentioned you’re releasing a compilation CD soon – tell us about that. How did it come about?

The mixtape series has been so successful and I wanted to build upon it. So we decided to do physical compilation – it will be 100% new music exclusive to the CD and will be available physically and digitally. The compilation will come as a mixed CD and you’ll also be able to buy the tracks individually if you want to mix them yourself. It's quite different to the mixtapes as the tracks have never been released and in many cases never been heard before – they’re an exclusive to the compilation and this is why it has taken quite a while to compile and release. It’s going to be quite a special selection of new talent who are going to big over the next 12 months – it should be out next month. We’ll release some of the tracks as singles and they will become remixes as well. And there will also be a completely new Aeroplane track from myself on the compilation too.

Your last single had remixes from Rex The Dog. How did that come about? Will there be any more singles to come from the album?

I know Rex a bit and thought he would be ideal to remix 'My Enemy'; the track works really well with his 80’s synth style and the remix came out really well. There will be two more singles from the album. First up with be ‘Caramellas’ which will have some remixes too, I can’t say anything about who will be doing them just yet. And then after that there will be special re-release of the first single ‘We Can’t Fly’. Again I can’t say too much about the remixes just yet. But I’m pretty excited about the whole thing and they will both be out before the end of the year through Eskimo.

There were rumours that you would try and perform your album ‘We Can’t Fly’ as a live performance? What can you tell us about that? Is it going to happen ?

There was a plan to perform ‘We Can’t Fly’ live. I’m a musician and it’s one of the things I really want to do - the slower pace of ‘We Can’t Fly’ would have lent itself really well to a big live show performance. But there is only so much I can do, so I would need quite a bit help to make it work. When we started to plan it and looked at the difficulties of playing a live show it didn’t happen unfortunately. The people who were going to help me couldn’t commit and the whole thing then fell through. Now it's been a while since the album has been out. I have kinda missed my chance. But in the future it’s definitely something I want to do - live performances are so important to me and If you’re a musician playing live is something you want to do. So maybe you’ll hear Aeroplane Live for the next album.

When you’re not listening to Nu disco what sort of music do you like to unwind to?

Guilty pleasures all the way. I love listening to guilty pleasures. I listen to anything from pop to hip-hop, but mainly pop music. I certainly don’t listen to techno when I am brushing my teeth, ya know. I listen to loads of different types of music when I want to relax. 

There are some amazing acts in the Nu-disco at the moment – who should our readers go and listen to at the moment? Give us four of the best.

Ahh that’s really hard as I don’t have my records in front of me. I’m actually eating sushi at the moment. I really like what Oliver are doing at the moment, they are a duo from Canada and are making some amazing music right now. Another one would London producer Tyson who is making some great disco at the moment – he’s definitely going to big in the future. One from Belgium would be Mickey - he is one of the residents at Libertine Supersport and is just making a name for himself outside of Belgium. And finally, Moonlight Matters, he is making some amazing remixes at the moment and used to be part disco act Villa – he’s certainly one you to keep and ear out for.

Your infamous mixtapes series have been a massive success - how long does it take to create a mixtape? Does it take a day? A week? Or longer?

They take a whole full month to make. I have to really believe in the music that I choose for the mixtapes. So over the course of the month I listen to and play loads of music. It can be quite hard to find ten tracks that I actually want to put in the mixtapes. I make the mixes on Ableton Live. I don’t bother with any effects just two tracks, and two EQs - the mixing is usually done in one take. But I don’t keep to the master tempo as that can effect the sound of a track once it has been warped – so I use a more traditional method of re-pitching tracks up and down rather than forcing them into one set tempo.

If, God forbid, your studio was on fire and you could save one thing from it what would it be? And why?

That’s a hard one. My heart would choose my Jupiter 8 synth – only because it is probably the rarest synth I own. There were only ever 2,000 made. But... If it were my brain choosing, it would be my Virus synthesizer. Just because it's one of my favourite synths and is a lot more capable of making full 16 tracks songs, which the Jupiter just can’t do.

Apart from the compilation CD what else have you got planned for 2012 and beyond – are you starting to think about new material and a follow-up to ‘We Can’t Fly’?

The new record is taking shape in my head, but I haven’t begun to write anything at the moment. Currently I am trying to build my studio up. So I can achieve the sound that I want for the next album. With the last album I didn’t wanted it to sound like it was influenced by the 70’s and 80’ but actually made in the 70’s, if you know what I mean – for me the album came out how I wanted it to. But for the new record I want to go a different sound – so making sure I have the right equipment is key and it can take a long time building up the right studio gear. But before the next record I want to do some producing. I can’t give you any names, because if they don’t happen I will look a bit stupid. So I will release the compilation, the final two singles, maybe produce a few other acts and then I will start on the next album. For me producing is not about putting your style into their music. But to help the act your working with to achieve a sound that they want – this something I really want to do.

Since the split with Stephen Fasano from Aeroplane is touring more or less fun now that your doing it on your own?

It not less fun, but it’s like when you watch a comedy with friends you enjoy it together, but if you were to watch the same film on your own – you still have just as much fun, but you get to savour it more and concentrate on it more – so playing Aeroplane shows is like that now.

Have you been surprised by Stephen’s success as the Magician?

He’s doing really well. In fact, he’s doing amazing. When we split I offered to help him out in any way that I could when it comes to production and stuff like that, but you know I didn’t hear from him for a while and it seems like he didn’t need my help. I loved his collaboration Peter and The Magician and played it loads. I would have looked pretty stupid if I didn’t, as it was one of the biggest tracks of summer. I’ll play anything that I think it great. His latest song isn’t really my style to be honest. But it’s a great song. I am so pleased that he is doing so well. I had no doubt that he would be a success after Aeroplane.

Thanks Vito, see you in Leeds!

Interview: Andrew Rafter

Aeroplane plays at Trilogy Part 1 with Nero and Annie Mac on Sat 24th September, at Leeds' Academy. Tickets are available below.

Tickets are no longer available for this event