Fans of turbocharged Italo, it’s time to rejoice – Black Spuma are back.
Since 2015, the German/Italian duo of Philipp Lauer and Fabrizio Mammarella – each a serious producer in his own right – have released a handful of sparkling EPs, remixes and one full-length album, while their latest offering, the four-track Megamix EP, is out on October 9 via Mammarella’s own label Wrong Era.
While Black Spuma’s music has always been based around the bright melodies and vintage sonics of Italo disco, the new release features some of their toughest music yet, from the gritty acid of Das Ende and Megamix to the colossal, near-industrial kicks and snares of Glutamania. There’s a measure of respite with the shuffling groove and ecstatic sonics of the closing You Might Be Lonely Up Here, but with all four tracks pushing 130bpm, Megamix is unquestionably as intense as Black Spuma have ever been.
We’re not exactly in nosebleed territory, in a world where dancers are used to tempos in excess of 140bpm, but things have clearly moved on in Black Spuma’s world.
“Exactly, I guess we’re not immune to the zeitgeist,” Lauer admits with a laugh. “Tuff times!”
His production partner Mammarella adds: “It’s just a side of the music we like and play in our sets. We thought it was a good idea to make an EP for the peak-time hours.”
While the pair have been releasing music together as Black Spuma for a little over 10 years, their relationship goes back a further decade, fitting in around their busy solo careers, DJ work and other collaborations like Lauer’s Tuff City Kids (with Gerd Janson) and Mammarella’s EYE-BM (with fellow Italian Bottin).
Lauer has released five full-length albums since 2012 on Running Back and Permanent Vacation, as well as more than 40 EPs and countless remixes, while Mammarella, while not as prolific in terms of releases, has been busy carving a niche with Wrong Era, specialising in synth-heavy dark disco and electro from artists like Curses, Adrian Marth and The Revolving Eyes.
So what keeps them coming back together to make new music?
Lauer puts it simply: “I’m a fan of Fabrizio and I enjoy spending time with him. And making music is what we do, besides making food.”
“Same,” says Mammarella. “Spending time with Philipp is always fun and it’s an honour to be able to make music with such a genius.
“I’m not as musically skilled as Philipp is and this is definitely an element I love to include in our Black Spuma productions: great melodies, solos and chord progressions, Lauer is the man.”
It works both ways, though, according to Lauer himself: “Maybe I tend to noodle too much and Fabri has his foot on the brake for that, keeping an eye on club efficiency.
“I guess one of the coolest things about the music world is that you meet so many nice people, or versions of yourself and your friends in other cities. And especially in the early days of us being music guys – we met in 2006, I believe – it was just normal to do stuff together once you clicked. We were interested in the same type of music which was a bit more niche than it is today – everything was minimal techno and minimal house.
“The basic idea behind our project hasn’t changed much, I’d say. Usually we meet up in my studio, Pyramide 3, just play around with gear and record stuff. Refining those ideas is mostly done remotely by sending stems back and forth.”
“The way we share ideas is very free and with no limitations,” says Mammarella. “I guess we trust each other 100%.”
As experienced collaborators as well as successful producers in their own right, both agree that there’s a lot to learn from sitting in the studio with someone else.
“Of course,” says Lauer. “Learning about simple production steps from just being together in the studio, seeing routines and stuff – win win.”
Mammarella: “I’ve also learnt from Philipp about being more focused on the studio time and respecting the working hours as much as any other day job.”
As for the new EP, Lauer reports that all four tracks came together in one studio session, using an array of vintage gear like the Quasimidi Sirius synth from 1997 (“which sounds very 2000,” he says), the Alesis HR-16 drum machine from 1987, an Akai S612 sampler from 1985, and the Crumar DS-2 – an ahead-of-its-time hardware synth from 1978.
Mammarella adds: “Yes, all of those, but also real acoustic percussion and drums, and our vocals of course.”
Looking to the future, Lauer promises “no stopping” – he’s soon to launch a label of his own as a home for his productions, while Mammarella teases collaborations with Franz Scala, The Hacker and Italo Brutalo, as well as more remixes.
As for Black Spuma themselves? We won’t have to wait long, as Lauer confirms: “The next session is already planned.”
Black Spuma’s Megamix EP is out on October 6th via Wrong Era. Follow Black Spuma on Instagram.