Roberto

Roberto started his musical journey in January 2000, at the age of 16, using his precious savings to buy his first set of turntables. He was introduced to drum n bass through mutual friends at school in Leicestershire; and hasn’t looked back since.

After perfecting his craft for a few years he decided that production was the way forward, so he enrolled on a music technology class at Leicester College. The summer of 2002 opened doors for this budding young DJ/producer when he spent 2 months at Formation records gaining work experience. This enabled him to build key contacts into the local scene and soon after he was performing at nights in and around Leicester.

In 2003 Roberto made a conscious decision to move to Manchester to study acoustics at Salford University.

After three years he had made waves in the North West scene playing at some of the more prestigious nights alongside some of the scene’s greats. He also slowly built his own studio and perfected his sound.

At the start of 2006 Roberto hooked up with Rob Sparx of Grid & Z-Audio recordings. Sparx gave the push that Roberto needed with his production.

In 2007 after sending his productions to Subject 13, he was instantly signed to the Vibez/13 Music camp. He also had two tracks signed to digital label Momentum Forward. Roberto’s productions have been supported by Simon Bassline Smith, T Power, Futurebound, Jaquan, Loxy, John B, Nookie, DJ Deval, Rob Sparx, Stunna, and many others.

In 2008 Roberto took a year away from music, this gave him a chance to reflect on the direction he was heading musically. During this time he was heavily influenced by deep house producers such as Jimpster, Ben Watt and Milton Jackson. He also got into the tougher sound of Dubfire, Steve Rachmad and Samuel L Session, and found that Techno could have soul with the likes of Derrick May and Funk D’Void.

In 2009 Roberto hooked up with an old school friend Chris Wood to start Kai-Zen promotions. This would be an opportunity to play Techno music –largely uncatered for in the area– at parties in and around Roberto’s hometown of Hitchin in Hertfordshire. The events were a great success, which encouraged Roberto to get back into the studio. With a short break from Kai-Zen over the summer, Roberto, Chris Wood and new partner Kieran Baker re-launched Kai-Zen at the world famous Techno club Public Life in Shoreditch. It was a huge success. From here Kai-Zen moved to its current home, Inigo in Clapham.

Roberto describes his DJ style as deep driving techno with soul. This is also reflected in his production, which has attracted interest from Richie Hawtin’s label M_Nus. Clubbed Up Recordings and Griminal Recordings have also snapped up a number of tracks from Roberto. His debut EP is now available on Clubbed Up, which can be purchased through Beatport and iTunes.

Two EPs are forthcoming on Architronica Records later in the year, showcasing different sides of Roberto’s production style.

With an ever increasing production portfolio and the ongoing success of Kai-Zen the future looks bright for Roberto!