True darlings of the Electronic Dance Music scene, Gioli and Assia have a lot to be proud of. Accomplished musicians and producers, the sky’s the limit to their abilities as they take the world by storm. Blending multiple music genres with ease, the duo has developed a formula that works and has mass appeal. Consulting with luxury brands and running a successful sold-out tour in the US, their live performances have gone viral while they managed to maintain a residency and even release a debut album “Night Experience”, on their own label Diesis Records. “Mad in Love” was the first single, and with it, they honed in on their unique blend of Melodic Techno.
Ever reaching for the stars, Gioli and Assia’s creative output includes the release of singles like “Feel Good,” “Blame On Me,” and “Inside Your Head,” as well as their own creative covers of “These Boots Are Made for Walking” by Nancy Sinatra and “Fever” by Peggy Lee. Additional tracks include “Blind,” “Breathing,” and “Emptiness” adding to their already impressive catalog. I had a chance to speak to Gioli and Assia about their performances, their latest single, and how they manage to make music so magical.
Hello, It’s RiMo here from Fresh Music Freaks. I’m here today with the extraordinary duo Gioli and Assia from Italy. How are you both today?
Hi RiMo, thanks for inviting us! We’re very good today, it’s very sunny here in Sicily.
You both are music dynamos, playing multiple instruments, producing your own music, running your own label, and vocalists. And that doesn’t even scratch the surface because you are also DJs who are masters at blending music genres while giving your work your own flair. How did you two start off in music? When did you decide becoming creative partners was the right direction for both of you?
We met five years ago, and we knew we wanted to combine our passions and life goals. We both love music, and we started collaborating as artists (Giolì) and manager (Assia) from 2015 to 2017. In 2018 we wanted to try something new, adding some vocals inside the instrumental tracks we were used to releasing. Our duo project started with the first track “Stay Closer” that did well and the following album Istantanee, released in March 2018. Since then we never stopped creating new music as a duo. We always loved working together, both in the creative and production sides, and sharing the stage when touring it’s priceless.
Describing live electronic music artists can be confusing because artists are sometimes categorized and those categories may not reflect the true nature of their work. How would you describe your work?
We love and listen to different kinds of artists and music in general, so we receive influences from many genres. We usually define our productions as indie electronic, but there’s much more than that. We usually play Afro-House, sometimes more underground, or sometimes more Pop, when we drop a remix of Billie Eilish or Rosalia. We don’t really care about limits or genres, good music is good music, and we’re curious to try and mix always different sounds.
Your impressive performances on top of an active volcano garnered millions of views. As I was watching it I realized that the theme of it suggested to me a certain mythos that you have captured in your work. There is definitely a certain sense of mysticism that comes across and whether it’s intentional or not, it is absolutely mesmerizing. You captured something so beautiful there, the pulse of life perhaps. What was it like performing at this site and did you expect for a moment that these performances would have the impact that it has had?
First of all, thank you for your nice words! We loved every minute of that trip and performance. It was crazy but we had fun climbing the volcano during the night, arriving on top of it at five am and starting to shoot during the sunrise. The view was incredible and so was the atmosphere. The colors were magic. Volcanos give that sense of power and eternal natural beauty, so we expected people to be fascinated by that view. We wanted to share our music as a full experience, a musical journey, not just a live performance. We didn’t expect it to be that viral for sure! We are glad people liked both the view and our music.
Your latest single “DARLING” is pure magic. It’s melodic, hypnotic and delivers the perfect electronic dance experience. The vocals and the music draw you into the romantic tones and you can feel the love in this song. Please tell me about the inspiration for this song.
“Darling” was born thinking about fresh sounds for the summer. We added the handpan and kalimba, with some jungle vibe and metaphorical lyrics, it’s like a nostalgic positive lullaby. It was perfect for this period. We hope our fans appreciated it and had fun while listening to it, during these days of lockdown.
Please tell me about the instruments you typically use or used this week (for example a drum, vocals, synth, symbol, etc.). What drew you to them and are you attached to any of them?
Gioli: Every instrument is different from the others, for example, I play drums when I want to be energetic, the guitar gives some old school rock vibe, and the piano creates a dreamy atmosphere. The sounds drew me to them and I enjoy learning something new in the process.
What do you do while working and/or on tour to stay healthy?
Honestly, we are not very sporty people. When we have a long tour ahead, we like to rest and sleep whenever possible. We love to eat inside the room, so we can relax while watching a TV series. Also being a couple and a duo it’s a beautiful thing. We can enjoy every moment of it with the person we love, building memories together, having life experiences, and traveling around the world having our partner at our side. This is good for mental health because you never feel alone.
Please tell me a little bit about Diesis Lounge Sessions. When did you decide to do these and why?
A lot of our fans discovered us and started to listen to our music thanks to the live videos we did this past year. We had a lot of new ideas for new locations, also outside of Italy. Unfortunately, we had to postpone them because of the COVID19. However we couldn’t stop sharing content, so we created an in-house format that could have been fun for us and for the people in lockdown around the world: a comfortable Lounge concept, with many instruments and ideas of new remixes and covers. We are taking a break for now, because we want to start thinking again about new outside locations, but we’ll be back with some other episodes of Diesis Lounge soon.
What was your residency experience like in Ibiza at Privilege? Are you or would you do another residency and why?
It was one of the best summers so far! We enjoyed every day spent on the island. We used to play at Privilege on Thursdays, leaving for other shows abroad on the weekend. We used to spend the rest of the week having fun around the city center or exploring the beautiful landscapes and beaches. We would love to have another residency on the island for sure!
I’ve been a huge fan of live electronic music because of the unique experience it affords for the listener. Can you tell me about how your creative process is when you do a cover of a track? How do you make it more of your own?
Every artist has his own style, so even if you take the same song, every one of them will make it sound different. For example, we love adding instruments like piano, handpan, and some kind of synths, because they can transform the track, giving it our stamp. As mentioned before, we like and listen to different kinds of artists. One of the covers we did that we like most is the “Comptine d’un autre été” from Yann Tiersen. We also added some lyrics to it, both in French and English.
Looking at 2019, it was a stellar year for you both and you had a very successful US tour. What was the tour experience like for you?
For the first time, we did a tour with our team, and it was incredible. Doing your own “hard tickets” shows for the first time, it’s a complete adrenaline rush! The first date was in New York, we didn’t expect that reaction from the people at all! There were people flying from France or from Brazil, just to see us. We’ll never forget that kind of support or the goosebumps it gave us. It meant a lot to us, we are missing so bad touring in the US with our whole team. Hope to start soon again!
Can you please tell me what you are looking forward to for the rest of 2020?
We are looking forward to giving you some exciting cool news about new music and a lot of new live streams. But of course, we really hope to start traveling again.
Is there anything you would like to share with your fans?
Just love and enjoy your present and what you love most, keep listening to your favorite music, and stay tuned for some great news!
Check out their recent #DiesisLounge/COVID-19 Live Stream:
Gioli and Assia: Instagram | YouTube |SoundCloud | Facebook | Website | Spotify
