Tue, 22 Mar 2011  /  Post a comment
Leo and Omar Omv welcome to Soundwall. You presented yourselves with the pseudonym of OEL&Polygon. What made you change to Re-UP?

Thanks Marco, greetings to all the readers of Soundwall.it. Good question, finally we are able to explain why we chose that alias and the evolution that took us to the name Re-UP.
Our first project as producers had the name of OEL (Omar e Leo). This was completely developed in Italy between 2004 and 2005. The following year we moved to Barcelona where we met a local artist called Polygon and started a collaboration which we called OEL&Polygon. In 2008 Leo and I decided to go back to our origins and explore new sounds and experiences we gained from our time in Barcelona. At this point came the time to decide whether we returned as OEL or find a new name to give new life to our partnership.

How did you both meet? And why during the course of the years and experiences gained as Dj’s you decided to move from Venice to Barcelona?

Let’s say that Veneto was kind of a “magic island” for the people born in the 70’s where it was possible to listen to great national and international Dj’s supported by quality venues of a great technical and organizational level.
Like minded musical taste and the urge to start producing music brought us together. It is a shame that the period of 1999 to 2009 was slightly grey for us in my opinion because a lot of club owners found out that the club could become a money making machine and stopped concentrating on the research of new artists and styles and started channeling their proposals towards a more cheesy and cliché direction.
Starting from this consideration and adding the need to find new musical inputs made us think that Spain and in particular Barcelona could be the right place to be. This is basically what got us there.
We had the opportunity to play in the best clubs of the city, some of the parties connected with Sonar and in some of of the biggest festivals known in Spain such as Electrosplash (Valencia) and UFF (Barcelona).

More than house your sound tends to be techno, where does your inspiration come from? Who is your inspiration muse?

The list is big. From house masters such as MAW, Knuckles, Humpries, Tedd Patterson, Danny Tenaglia to techno gurus like Ricardo Villalobos, Richie Hawtin together with Loco Dice and Luciano. These artists allowed us to understand how techno and house music together could be the elements of a unique musical experience.
To be sincere, there was a club in particular that opened our minds. This was DC10 in the year 2004 which we will never forget.

You have played in some of the biggest clubs in Europe such as Panorama Bar, Tresor, Rex Club amongst others. Which one made you feel more at home and which crowd excited you the most?

At an emotional level Panorama Bar, Rex and Ambassada Gavioli have been the strongest experiences. You can feel the magic of these clubs. The crowd is used to listening to the biggest artists, have a well trained ear and expect the best. You have to give your 200% because this is what people expect.
Talking about intimacy and warmth, with all the respect to other venues, we feel that Tag Club is the best.
I don’t know if it is the home feeling that it gives us or the fact that it is one of the only clubs and after remaining in Venice, but playing there makes it impossible to forget.
Ask any of the other artists that have experienced it and they will all answer the same.

What about the future? Where will it take you?

The future will take us to Berlin (where we are currently residing) and Ibiza. We moved to Berlin because the main office of our booking agency (Upon You Records) is here and also because it is a city that never sleeps and dedicates a lot of space to arts and culture in general.
We also plan to move to Ibiza because there is a lot of work and collaborations waiting for us there. This will be a very long summer!

An unusual question. Why don’t you tell us something special or new initiatives that I haven’t asked you about?

In July we will release our first album as Re-UP in our label Kina Music which will be followed by remixes from artists such as Marco Resmann, Dani Casarano, Marc Antona, Sebastian Lutz and John Dimas amongst others.
We would like to talk more about projects that have been developing in the past weeks but we can’t give away too much at the moment. Be patient and you will soon find out.

To end this, a suggestion to the readers of Soundwall. Try to find your own musical identity, develop your own musical taste without letting yourself be influenced or limited by sterile opinions and trends.
We will say goodbye with “una tonteria” like we say in Spain. In these days we have recorded a really funny video for the night organized from Club T as part of this year’s Off Sonar parties. Soon online in our page. Check it out!