Donato Dozzy (I)

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Donato Dozzy (real surname Scaramuzzi) is considered among the best electronic music exponents of his generation in Italy in the world, where he has built his reputation as a DJ, composer and producer. As if in a state of perpetual creative challenge with himself, Dozzy demonstrates a great capacity and variety in terms of sound and method, which he pours out through his numerous record releases, installations for public spaces and museums, the even unusual musical instruments he uses and collaborative projects with other producers, singers and visual artists. His sets are so lush and hypnotic that they are considered therapeutic. His recordings and performances consist of slowly evolving sounds, with minimal but detailed rhythms and the occasional presence of natural elements or synthetic textures that evoke them. Dozzy learned to DJ in the early 1980s and initially alternated between genres such as dub, reggae and Italo disco. He fell in love with techno and acid house at the end of that decade, but spent much of the 1990s focusing on studying instead of music, graduating in political science at the University of Rome. He started a DJ residency at the Roman club Brancaleone in 1999 and joined a band called Kitchen Tools in 2001. After moving to Berlin in 2004, he became a resident at Panorama Bar, which helped to increase his fame. He started releasing singles on labels such as Orange Groove and Elettronica Romana, often in collaboration with producers such as Brando Lupi and Giorgio Gigli, and founded Dozzy Records in 2006. His first solo album, ‘K’, is released by Further Records in 2010. The following year he received huge acclaim for his ambient techno project Voices from the Lake – created with sound designer Giuseppe Tillieci aka Neel – whose eponymous debut album appeared in 2012. Since then, Dozzy’s albums have become more conceptual, exploring limited source material, such as sounds produced by a single artist (“Donato Dozzy plays Bee Mask”) or an instrument (“The Loud Silence”, derived from the mouth harp). The Roman artist tours the most renowned international festivals, performing highly acclaimed sets such as those at Labyrinth in Japan in 2007 and 2008. Also in 2008, together with Nuel (Manuel Fogliata), he launched the Aquaplano label and released a limited 12″ techno series, which quickly sold out and achieved cult status. In 2014, he collaborated with vocalist Anna Caragnano on the album ‘Synthesiser’. Dozzy and Neel set up the Spazio Disponibile label in 2016, while Dozzy alone continues to release singles on other labels including Bunker New York, Claque Musique and Eerie. His acid techno-influenced full-length ‘Filo Loves the Acid’ is released by Tresor in 2018. For the retro-sounding ‘One Instrument Sessions’ in 2019, he exclusively uses an EMS synthi AKS. In October 2020, Il Quadro di Troisi, his first synth pop project with Italian electronic artist Eva Geist (Andrea Noce), is released.