Alessandro Magani and Danny Minchella met quite by chance and, so says Magani, felt naturally compelled to work together.  That said, the pair talks little of its past.  They worked furiously across the mid-Noughties in the progressive techno space and then nearly aborted their careers, disillusioned with the industry around them.  Fortunately, however, ‘Brick House’ happened under their newly formed Flashmob moniker – a muscular mix of drums, bass and incisive vocal samples securing release in 2011 via renowned German label Get Physical.

‘Brick House’ laid firm foundations for Magani and Minchella’s irresistible re-emergence.  The record was a huge hit, paving the way for sturdy follow-up outings on Defected – ‘Need In Me’ (2012) and, featuring Laila Walker, ‘Pieces’ (2013).  Flashmob would also lend their hand to slinky remixes of Andrew Crom & Martin Dawson feat. Roland Clark (‘Back To The Future’), FCL (‘It’s You’) and Pet Shop Boys (‘Vocal’).  They added to that tally earlier this year, with a fizzing, rumbling, jack-tastic workaround of Florian Kruse & Kevin Knapp’s ‘The Block’, and a brand new track, ‘Who’, on brand new label, Flashmob Music Group.  The latter was grabbed by Tiga for his recent Mixmag cover mix.


And then there’s the gigs.  Flashmob’s ear for snappy contemporary house has extended well to the DJ booth, the duo’s raw yet funky vibe earning it slots at many of the world’s premier venues – take Ministry, Watergate and Booom! as prime examples.  As the name Flashmob suggests, Magani and Minchella have fully embraced the notion (and power) of community in everything they do – their focus is not on image or reputation but great music and the spontaneous, footloose dancefloor experience around it. Now, with a new mix album on the horizon, Magani is here to tell us more.

Alessandro, what’s been happening this week?

Well I’ve been buying clothes, watching X Factor with the family, changing my studio around, playing with Danny in Sicily on our day off, finishing off the new DFTD compilation and wrapping a remix of Luna City Express’ new track - not in that order!

What are you doing to your studio?

I’ve basically got too much stuff. And I’d like to work out a way of getting a couch in there, so I can relax and think when I’m not standing up and doing something.

DFTD’s compilation VLM02 is a key moment for a relatively new label looking to further establish its manifesto. Was it a difficult brief?

We’ve been involved with music for so long now, we’ve been through so much and take our work so personally – in whatever we do – that we were confident we could pull it off. We had lots of enthusiasm for this project, almost too much. We created 11 new tracks but realised we couldn’t use all of them; that we needed to reflect a wider sense of the label. We enjoyed that process; all of the artists on this record are good. DFTD is a new venture but it’s associated with one of the biggest labels, Defected, so there are big names here like Guti and Andrea Oliva. We just treated VLM02 like any other mix and we were allowed to express ourselves, which made it easier to do our stuff. 

Describe your ‘stuff’ – you appear to operate comfortably between under and overground?

We do have two faces – one underground, one crossover. We prepare our big releases carefully; on the other hand, we are DJs and musicians – as such, we like to express our ideas freely and well, wherever they take us. Take ‘Need In Me’, for example; that was an underground record before anything else.

So how would you sum up your style?

We’re in a new production period now and are open to new experiences. Flashmob’s music incorporates house and techno. For me, there’s not so much different between the two except different tempos, samples and bass-lines…various tweaks. If you look at artists like Loco Dice and Jamie Jones they’re in the middle of everything, which is where we like to be. Ultimately, it’s about quality. Otherwise, you might as well have slices of salami over your eyes; when you don’t see clearly you end up in a particular box.  We simply try and have fun and not do too much thinking, otherwise your energy starts to drain away.

You’re going to need that energy what with the upcoming DFTD tour….

We’re really looking forward to this. Clubs like Junk [Southampton] we’ve played many times before and wearing different vests. There’s added value in a lot of these clubs now; they have great second rooms pushing a wider range of house music. I shouldn’t forget that, our new ‘Water Floor EP’ – a reference to Watergate in Berlin – is also out later this month. We’ve been channelling our energies into so many things recently!


You’re not worried about burnout?

Not at all. Actually, we really pushed ourselves last year so that we’d be better positioned to handle a lot of the things we’re up to now. I’m based in Milan and Danny is just moving with his girlfriend to Bologna. We’re not far from each other but I think having that space will be beneficial for both of us. We’ve spent so much time together and now, because of the hard work last year, we feel we’re well placed to get on with things separately where we need to. There was a time after ‘Brick House’, probably for about a year-and-a-half, where we were clueless. We tried to follow the flow but it was difficult; we had a difficult time of things. We actually played out a lot because the studio was hard. But we’ve broken in the studio now and we’re in a great place. We’re on a different level and excited about everything.

We haven’t even mentioned the new record label Flashmob Music Group…

Right! The first release [Flashmob’s ‘Who’] was a little different to what will follow – we felt it needed to be absorbed by the normal industry process. The next release will see us going back to the roots in terms of how we sell, market, distribute, create….  We want complete control and, actually, that’s the same ethos as ‘Brick House’. In the beginning we pressed a few copies of that on vinyl, gave it to the key DJs in DC-10 we admired, took videos of them playing it and built the record’s profile. Alongside the main label, which will be for our music, there’s also smaller sub-label Flashmob Limited for our friends. It’s going to have a real quality vibe; the first few releases are from Julian Sandre, Memoryman [of Pasta Boys fame] and Felix Da Housecat & Michelle Owen.


Back to your name – it alludes to social media, which you’ve spoken supportively about before. How does this reconcile with your desire to keep people’s focus on the music rather than on your faces and lives?

Social media can be a distraction but I think we have the strength not to get lost in things. We are music artists and DJs and therefore we do have a particular style of life. It’s not always easy to stay humble but we know how important our audiences are, and how important the music we make is. We have new Facebook pages live now for the new label, for our merchandise and for the people – that last one, I’ve basically kept photos of the people from all the events we’ve done and uploaded them. All of the new pages have had record numbers of likes, and we’re using the channels in the right way. Yes, all of this is beneficial to our careers, and our business, but you’ll hardly ever see any photos of me online; it’s all about the music and our fans. We actually analyse the posts we put out, too, to make sure we’re speaking to people in the best way about our projects.

What do you make of the cult of the ‘celebrity DJ’?

At the end of the day, we’re all the same - playing for people who are often confused and looking to find their way in life. You have to be careful what you say to them; it has to mean something. Too often DJs focus on their image, and their fashion, and what they say changes to reflect that. We’re not like that. We realise that the girls, the drugs, the fame isn’t relevant to where we want to be in the future and so we’ve always focused on the music. Our new Flashmob People page is what it’s all about – it’s about the interaction with people; the bringing together of people for the music. Personally, I just like to talk to everybody and I’m very particular about approaching a fan or major artist in exactly the same way. Danny’s the same. We’re just working hard, remembering our place and making the best music we can. That keeps us happy and us… ‘us’.

Words: Ben Lovett

Flashmob play DFTD’s 2014 European tour over the coming weeks – check http://defected.com/events/ for more

'Water Floor EP’ is out 27 October on DFTD. DFTD VLM02, mixed by Flashmob, is out (digital) 9 November - order from iTunes