Name: Bruno Belissimo
Nationality: Italian
Occupation: Producer, bassist, composer
Current release: Bruno Belissimo's Questo disco me lo comprerei is out now.

If you enjoyed this Bruno Belissimo interview and would like to stay up to date with his music, visit him on Instagram, Soundcloud, and bandcamp.



I find it fascinating that disco, even more perhaps than rock, has always had an entirely universal appeal and animated musicians as far away as India or Africa to make music in this style. What is it about disco that makes people everywhere like it?

I agree! The fundamentals of disco music are very rudimentary and somehow innate in all of us I think.

A 4/4 kick and two notes of bass played properly will make people dance anywhere in the world no matter the musical background, where people are from, religion and so on. That’s why Disco music's influence is so spread out.

[Read our [Indian Disco Queen] Asha Puthli interview]

In Italy, disco has a particularly strong tradition as well.

Yes, disco music in Italy used to be very influent. If in the 70s Italian disco was mainly inspired by the American one, in the 80s Italo-Disco brought Italy to be famous worldwide for its leading role in this genre.

I fell in love with Italo-Disco right when I started to get interested in synthesizers and programming which are the two main elements of Italo-Disco sound.

In 2023, disco still seems to be everywhere. What makes this music so incredibly timeless and which of the current wave of commercially successful artists do you personally appreciate as well?

Disco was a huge cultural revolution in the 70s. It changed everything, how people would experience music, it changed fashion and shaped the aesthetics of those years.

Disco will never disappear because it’s a cliche, that’s why cyclically it goes back as a trend, like it’s happening now.

I really like Nu Genea and Fitness Forever, French disco in general and Franc Moody from UK. These are my takes!



What defines disco for you?

Something positive, groovy and sweaty.

Do you still remember the first time you discovered disco for yourself? What drew you in?

I discovered disco because being a bass player it was just impossible not to bump into and fall in love with it ... The bass drew me in, I wanted to be that guy grooving and slapping the bass. This is how it all started.

Do you compose from the bass first?

Most of the time I do start from playing bass and drum. Bass it’s my main instrument and I feel comfortable with it. All my music is based on the bassline.

Why is disco such a great and rewarding area for you personally as an artist? From your point of view, what of your personality and individual approaches do you add to the classic sound?

Disco definitely makes me feel myself, that’s why is rewarding to me.

What I add to the classic sound is my try to keep it fresh and avoid the process (which I call “revival” ) that brings producers to enjoy the recreation of a sound from the past exactly how it was. I want to give a contemporary version of Disco. Clichés will always be an inspiration for me but I don’t want to be a copy of something already happened.

I think there’s a lot of experimentation in what I do but it’s mostly musical. I want to make a contemporary version of Italo-Disco so I’m always trying to avoid the easier path and find new ways to make this music in 2023.

Disco has always been negatively compared as a purely hedonistoc music compared to the supposed “seriousness” of rock. How do you see that yourself?

Hip Hop as well at the very beginning was in opposition to the meaninglessness of Disco which was an expression of those carefree times. Now disco music has to adapt to the different times we are living in.

I see it more as a break from the anxiety of daily life and dancing - a way to  create a moment of happiness.

Disco has always included electronic means, but it was built on a foundation of tightly performing live musicians. If ones recreates disco with electronic means on a computer, what gets lost, what is gained?

That’s what happened with Italo-Disco and American Disco music from the 70s. Italo-disco in general is much less groovy because programming took over and instead of having a drummer or a bass player they would use a Linn Drum and a Moog.

I would not say it’s a loss, it’s just a new expression of that sound. The music gained in experimentation because those new electronics instruments were a new world to discover.

Your new EP gets stronger with each listen and the title track's rhythm section has been stuck in my head for many days now. What do you still remember about the recording process for the new material?

Lately I’ve started to work with other musicians in studio instead of doing all by my own.

Exchanging ideas with other people helps a lot the production process and makes it more fun.

I like to think that the people who will listen to the record will feel the fun and joy I felt making it.

What's your perspective on using vintage equipment versus contemporary one, especially when working within a style which originated many years ago?

I do have many vintage instruments which are very important for my sound but I don’t consider myself a nerd of such things. Vintage gear sounds great but often a vst provide more choices to stimulate the creativity

I saw a great photo of yourself with the Sequential Pro One. What do you like about it and how do you make use of it in your tracks?

I love it, I’ve found it in a thrift shop in Bologna years ago. It wasn’t working but I took the risk and bought it anyways ...

Fortunately it was easy to fix and now it’s one of my favorite piece in my studio
 
Some see instruments and equipment as far less important than actual creativity, others feel they go hand in hand. What's your take on that?

Creativity needs tools to be expressed so I think it goes hand in hand with the equipment.

In the light of picking your tools, how would you describe your views on topics like originality and innovation versus perfection and timelessness in music? Are you interested in a “music of the future” or “continuing a tradition”?

I think that what makes a song timeless is the melody rather than the timbre or even the lyrics. So what’s important it’s the tool that allows you to come up with a certain melody.

I’m intrigued by creating a music for the future but I think I’m more keen to continuing a tradition trying to keep it the sound fresh even if the time is passing by.