Senses In Sound: David Carollo Globalises The Local Scene With His Sinestesia Project
David Carollo, the visionary who first started the Sinestesia radio show 11 years ago, is now a native of the Singaporean electronic scene (Credit: Courtesy of David Carollo)
Amidst the rapture and freedom one experiences on the dancefloor, an overwhelming sensation of synaesthesia has the ability to take over. You might feel a tingling warmth on your skin when locked into an 808 groove, see a string of colours when you hear a glistening synth hook, or even smell the seaside air when a DJ drops a song you last heard at a beach festival. The potential of dance music can unlock a series of triggers, and believing in this transcendent phenomenon is David Carollo. Often sensing it himself when he grew up with dance music in his native home of Italy, the now-Singapore-based selector and producer wants others to revel in this mutually felt occurrence, and he’s been doing it with the power of radio.
For the last 11 years, David has pushed Sinestesia, a radio show featuring an eclectic and immense range of selectors from all around the world. With his headquarters now in the Lion City – and a broadcast slot on Ibiza Live Radio – he’s used it as a platform that enhances our local electronic scene, promoting the pool of homegrown talent that we’re proud to have. Echoing his own myriad of influences, the show crosses the realms of house, techno, disco and electronica, potently showcasing the wondrous depth of the DJ community. Like its previous editions, 2021 has gathered yet another batch of Singaporean artistes – including Halal Sol, Bongomann, Ulysses, EJ Missy and more – with their recorded sets staggered across the year.
The lineup of the 2021 season of Sinestesia, with some familiar names you might know (Credit: Courtesy of Sinestesia)
Beyond Sinestesia, David Carollo is an accomplished visionary many would be familiar with, especially with his wisdom and acuity on the decks. With polished sets that encompass deep rhythms, melodious overtones, melty textures and a penchant for genre-flipping discovery, the adroit Italian is a fixture in the local club circuit with past performances at Headquarters, Straits Clan, CÉ LA VI, Tanjong Beach Club, Kilo Lounge and more. Admirers of his sonic identity can also look forward to his A1ks project, where he produces left-field dance tracks with long-time collaborator, Michel Meroni. These credentials have won him adoration in the local community, and his assimilation of Sinestesia into it epitomises his gratitude and ambition. Without question, the scene’s happy to have him in it.
In this interview, David catches up with us to share the 2021 season of Sinestesia, how it all began, and why he’s thrilled to be part of the Singaporean electronic scene.
David Carollo has performed all around the world, from Europe to Asia (Credit: Courtesy of David Carollo)
Hey David. Congratulations on a new season of Sinestesia. What can we expect from this next chapter?
Hey Kevin! First of all thanks for this interview! This season of Sinestesia is amazing. We’ve put together 52 artists from 24 different countries worldwide (full lineup here). As you know, since 2020, this project had a great boost in terms of international exposure, being hosted on Ibiza Live Radio and having an FM station (103.7 FM in Spain). Everything started in a very casual way: I met Miss Luna when I played a live radio set for them at Good Life Ibiza, a disco-bar in Playa D'en Bossa – in the heart of the island – during my holiday. I had the chance to play a house music set alongside Sam Sparacio, part of the management too, and label boss for Gasoline Records; it was a nice experience! After that, we kept in touch when I came back to Singapore, and in a discussion about radio I let them know about my project. They chose to give me the opportunity to run it on Ibiza Live Radio. And so here we are!
Since last year, I’ve been co-hosting the show with my guys Michel Meroni – my music partner since 2015 with my project A1ks (A Thousand Shades) – and Giuseppe Gitto aka Giuseppe G, another familiar face in the Singaporean scene. This year we created a website too, with more info about artistes and to showcase some of their releases as well. Little news: a merchandising section is coming soon too, so watch this space!
Two of the main points of the radio show format are variety and being global. This year we are engaging some artistes from Singapore: Halal Sol, Bongomann, Ulysses, EJ Missy and The Professor. In previous seasons, we featured several other local talents like Aman Anand, Basil, Daryl Knows, Daytime Dancing, Deen, Eddie Niguel, Erwin Linden, Fyan, James Selva, Jehm, Joshua P, Kaye, RAH, Robo X, Satish K, Sharma, Sivanesh, The Beat Usagi, Vanan M, Yazyd, YuJin, and Zig Zach. Guest mixes are various, across genres like disco, house, techno, minimal and melodic.
The Singaporean music scene is grateful to your show for constantly roping in local talents. In your time here, what are your thoughts and perspectives about the selectors here, compared to elsewhere in the world?
The pleasure is mine, Singapore is full of very good DJs! What I like most about the scene here is the variety. I’ve travelled around 30 countries in my life, and as you can imagine in most of my travels, I found the chance to taste the local club and music scene. I think there is no city with the variety of music you can find here; maybe only in Berlin. In one weekend jumping here and there, you are able to listen to Balearic, disco, house, Afro, techno, hip-hop, EDM, trance and more. This is a very multi-ethnic city with a lot of influences, and it’s nice to see a good turnover between local and expat DJs.
“What I like most about the scene here is the variety. I think there is no city with the variety of music you can find here; maybe only in Berlin.” (Credit: The Council)
Can you remember why you wanted to form Sinestesia? What does it represent and what did you want to achieve with it?
This is the 11th year of Sinestesia. Everything was born during university, when I recorded my first show in a small web radio in Seregno – near Milan – for BMradio.it. In that format, I used to record my own weekly mix. The style of my set in that period was more ‘hypnotic’ during the golden age of the IDM wave, picking gems from labels like Border Community, DIAL, Areal Records and Kompakt. Something I used to do was to associate imaginary descriptions and/or videos to the music I used to listen and play from this genre. This is the reason why I called it Sinestesia, to somehow ‘see and ‘feel’ the music, not just to listen. After a few years, the concept changed because I started to be busy with my main job, and moved forward to create a hub to host international DJs. The main objective is to provide a quality format to our listeners and to promote and give exposure to our artistes. It’s a non-profit project that needs A LOT of commitment, but in the meantime, I cannot deny that it’s very satisfying.
“Something I used to do was to associate imaginary descriptions and/or videos to the music I used to listen and play from this genre. This is the reason why I called it Sinestesia.” (Credit: The Council)
Before your move to Singapore, were you always involved in music industry-related areas outside of DJ-ing? Or did you start out as a DJ first?
My relationship with music – and first of all, dance music – began a long time ago. I was a teenager when I started to listen to live radio broadcasts from some of the major clubs in Italy. With audio hi-fi, I used to cut and paste some of the songs I liked on some tapes, creating some compilations. Then I started to club and participate in some festivals and events. In the following years, thanks for P2P technologies like Napster, it started to be easier to find music. I managed to have a ton of music, especially from German producers and labels. In 2004, I bought my first pair of CDJs, two old ‘second-hand’ Pioneer CDJ-100s, getting ready for my first live performance in 2005.
David Carollo made the move here to Singapore in 2017 (Credit: Courtesy of David Carollo)
From there, I started to work in public relations for the main club in Milan, Magazzini Generali. Other than having the chance to play in this club as well, in 2006, I did the warm-up set for one of my favourite DJs and producers, Adriano Canzian. In that period, I also started to organise independent events (for example, a 12-hour marathon with 12 DJs in the woods, with a cinema-sized screen for visuals), after-hours, audio video performances, and collaborated with some clubs for bookings, communication and obviously DJ-ing. One of my best memories is when I was playing a closing set in a small second room at Amnesia Milano, when in the main room, one of my legends was doing the same… Papa Sven Vath!
In the meantime, I was also doing my radio internship experience as part of my FSE Master in Marketing and Communication. My first international DJ set came in Istanbul on May 2015, alongside talented producers – and now friends – Cosmo & Kramer. This was followed by Germany and Czech Republic in the same year, this time with my music partner, Michel Meroni, one half of my beloved project A1ks (A Thousand Shades). In 2017, I moved to Singapore with humble beginnings, managing to perform in my favourite spots in town like Headquarters, Tuff Club, Kilo Lounge, Tanjong Beach club and more, including some gigs around Asia too.
What would you say is the anchor that connects your musical style when you perform?
To be honest, I consider myself a very eclectic DJ. I think I’ve played almost everything between 90 and 140bpm, from downtempo to deep and soulful house; from disco to micro and deep tech; from IDM to melodic and ‘pure techno’ as well. I was born ‘house’ in the ’90s, but have always been open to influences and trends with the objective to express myself with what I like, and what I ‘feel’, in order to transmit something to the crowd I have in front of me. So, when you see me behind the decks, you can really expect (almost) everything.
“The scene was growing until the pandemic, and I am confident it will grow again once everything comes back to normal.” (Credit: Kilo Lounge)
Speaking of performing (or the lack of), what have you been up to during this period where DJ performances are frozen?
Even with no clubs and live performances, my focus on music didn’t change. I research and listen to music every day. From March 2020, I received several inquiries from international radios for guest mixes (Turkey, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, etc) and I’ve participated in United We Stream Asia and other live-stream sets. A few months ago, I finally bought an old Technics 1200 turntable, and re-started (my other vinyl records are still in Milan) a little collection of my favourite records ever, and I hope I can play some of these in a live performance soon. Talking about production, on June 2020 – exactly in the middle of the pandemic – Michel and I released our first single "Dark Rituals" under A1ks, on the Barcelona-based label WOOD, a label owned by the talented Luca Ranaldo AKA Main Leaf. We like to call it ‘emotional techno’. The track received a lot of good feedback, including a premiere on the Lebanese Toka Musik. We are also finalising other tracks together. During this pandemic, I also started to experiment with production of some micro-house tracks. I’ve consolidated something, but it’s still in the early stages. Let’s see what happens next!
David Carollo is one-half of A1ks, together with his long-time collaborator and Sinestesia co-host, Michel Meroni (Credit: Courtesy of David Carollo)
And finally, what are some major takeaways that you have so far from your time spent in Singapore?
In consideration of the underground community here in Singapore, it is small but strong. The scene was growing until the pandemic, and I am confident it will grow again once everything goes back to normal. What is at least growing is the production part, full of local rising stars. I hope to continue supporting these talents for a long time whilst also having opportunities to perform again. This said, a special thank you to The Council for giving me the chance to play at clubs and events with a strong underground footprint, which is something I have missed from back home.
Follow Sinestesia on Facebook, Instagram and Soundcloud to receive weekly updates about the radio programme, artistes and shows. You can also follow David Carollo on his Facebook and Instagram channels to stay updated with his activities.
