I had the pleasure of catching up with Vito De Luca, aka Aeroplane, in light of his forthcoming release, Page One is Love, on Eskimo Recordings. With a US tour just around the corner including dates at TomorrowWorld and Made in America, it really does seem like the sky is the limit for the disco talisman.
Earmilk: On the 17th of August your forthcoming release, Page One is Love, is out on Eskimo Recordings. Tell us a bit about what we can expect from the release and where the title came from?
Aeroplane: I heard this line in an old TV Show, “If life is a book, page one is love.” It kind of reminded me of the type of unifying vocals you could hear in the early house records, bringing some sort of togetherness to the dance floor. All I needed was someone legit to say the line, that’s why I went back to my friend Jamie Principle for it and made a record out of that line. The whole EP is inspired by that early house sound.
EM: For the title track you have Jamie Principle on the vocals, how do you usually go about selecting vocals/ a vocalist for your tracks?
Aeroplane: Like I said earlier, I went back to Jamie because he was an important figure in the early house movement and it made sense for Page One Is Love. I usually just hear someone’s voice, like it, and hit the person up, depending on schedules sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. I don’t think about it too much in terms of famous people or not, it just has to be something good. I also tend to prefer vocalists that have an attitude rather than people technically perfect.
EM: If you could collaborate with one vocalist in the future who would it be?
Aeroplane: Always and forever Marc Hollis from Talk Talk. But it definitely won’t happen as he is completely out of the music business, or so I heard.
EM: You're off on tour in the US soon, are there any dates which you're particularly excited about?
AEROPLANE: Made In America is definitely one I’m excited about. I’m very honoured that people like Roc Nation would trust me to play their festival. TomorrowWorld seems like it will pretty big too. I’m also going down to Mexico and shows there are always really good, but of course I’m really looking forward to every show.
EM: What are your thoughts on the current state of the Nu-Disco scene?
AEROPLANE: I have moved on a little bit from the Nu-Disco scene, I don’t follow it as closely as before. I am more focusing on actual disco and house and trying to blend them together., but the whole Tropical House has been taking over the Nu-Disco thing it seems. Nu-Disco has now taken a way broader meaning especially on digital record stores like Beatport. If you listen to the Nu-Disco/Indie Dance top 10 on Beatport, there’s pretty much no Nu-Disco involved. So I think the scene that you describe is more the vision people have of it today rather than what it was in the beginning.
EM: Which tracks are you really enjoying playing out at the moment?
AEROPLANE: I really like Kolsch stuff, melodies and grooves. His remix for Groove Armada is one of my favorite new releases. I also play quite a bit of Purple Disco Machine's production, that always works really well.
EM: If, for some very cruel reason, you could only play at one venue for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
AEROPLANE: It’d have to be some sort of cool pool party where I can play the type of music I really love; slower and sexier. Definitely not something too big. Probably one the beach gigs at Calvi On The Rocks…
EM: If you weren't doing music what exactly do you think you would be doing?
AEROPLANE: I have no idea. I got quite obsessed with coffee so I might be a barista or something. But I wish I was smart enough to work at NASA, something to do with space.
EM: If you were in a fully functioning lift going up just one floor with another artist, who would it be, and what would you say to them?
AEROPLANE: Thomas Bangalter. I would probably stutter something like “Tha…th… thank you…"
EM: Lastly, what does 2016 hold for Aeroplane?
AEROPLANE: It’s not all 100% clear at this stage but A LOT of music for sure. And a new house project called Flush, as Aeroplane will probably get back to more of an EP/Album format as opposed to tracks or singles…
You can check out his upcoming tour dates here.
Aeroplane
Page One Is Love
- Eskimo Records
- 2015 SEP 17
