There’s a moment in every artist’s story where the side projects stop feeling like distractions and start feeling like one continuous body of work. For David Castellani, that moment seems to be right now. Between the release of “Obia”, his long-awaited three-track collaboration with Ken Ishii, running his label Noetic, building hardware through his instrument company Anti-Kulture, and co-running the fashion line After Infinite with his wife Brittney Vandal, he’s less a producer with side hustles than a full-spectrum creative operating on several frequencies at once.
His path here wasn’t a straight line. Born in Italy, raised in Chicago, shaped by jazz-fusion drumming years before electronic music entered the picture, and now settled into a newly finished studio in Lisbon, Castellani’s story is really about lineage. The people, cities, and chance encounters that quietly built the foundation for everything he’s doing today. We caught up with him to talk about the making of “Obia,” his roots, and why, after years of chasing the next thing, he’s finally ready to just sit down and “make love to frequencies” again.
Your new EP is a collaboration with a fellow techno heavyweight, Ken Ishii. How did the idea for working together first come about?
Ken and I have been working together for a few years now. He first did a remix for me on Hyperstop, which came out on the label, and that really opened the door for a creative connection between us. After that, we stayed in touch, and I eventually had him out for one of our Noetic showcases in Los Angeles a few years back. That naturally led into a studio session where we started exploring ideas and shaping the sonic direction for this release. After a lot of hard work, experimentation, and creative flow, we found ourselves with a finished record that we were both really happy with.
What’s the story behind each track and how did the process of creating the EP look like?
The tracks came together pretty organically. On the first day, we spent a good amount of time in the studio going through different recordings and testing sounds, just exploring without any pressure. We tried everything from modular synths and desktop boxes to software plug-ins, just following whatever caught our ears in the moment. Once we found a few sparks that felt exciting, we held onto those and let them point the way forward.
After that, it turned into this steady back and forth, sending sessions online between Tokyo and L.A., each of us nudging ideas along. It wasn’t rushed, but it never felt stuck either, kind of like sketching, then revisiting with fresh ears, letting the ideas breathe and evolve. Even with the distance and time zones between us, it stayed a smooth, easy exchange of ideas.
You were born in Italy before moving to Chicago at a young age, what memories or influences from your Italian upbringing still surface in your art?
I guess some of the most memorable moments I can recall are of my father playing guitar for me when I was very young. I even have a tattoo of him playing guitar, and we’ve got this photo blown up in the studio, of him playing to me when I was just two months old. His influence was always present in my life. He wasn’t the most technical guitarist, but he had a few songs he played really well, and a couple of those I still love today. Those moments planted the very first seed of music in me, and it’s what pulled me toward this path. I’ll never forget them.
You started out as a percussionist focused on jazz-fusion in Chicago. Of all cities, Chicago has such a specific relationship to house and dance music history. Take us back to the beginning, what first pulled you into electronic music, and when did you know you wanted to make it your life?
My musical path really started when I was around 16, when I fell into jazz fusion and funk as a percussion player. I didn’t find my way into electronic music until almost a decade later. After years of playing in bands and hauling drum kits and PAs around, I started getting more into sound while I was in school.
That led to learning digital audio, recording, Pro Tools. At the same time, I was playing in a hip hop group with some friends, and a few years later, all of that started to nudge me towards making electronic music. The real turning point though was my collaboration with my old partner in Chicago, when we started the group Mia Wallace. That was my deep dive into electronic music, where I really started understanding the differences between dance music and more traditional forms.
It was a big learning curve, but also a really exciting time, because I was discovering a whole new way of thinking about music. And honestly, a lot of that foundation came from my partner at the time, Mike Azrikan… He’d been in rave culture since the 90s and had a ton of knowledge that I got to soak up. I owe a lot of my understanding and growth in that space to him and that chapter of my life.
You’re now based in Lisbon, after living for a while in LA and Chicago. How did each scene shape you both in terms of sound and community?
Both Chicago and Los Angeles carry deep histories and energies that have grounded me. Chicago is obviously one of the birthplaces of house music. That origin story matters. It reminds us that this culture was built from community, from DIY spaces, and from people making something joyful and powerful with what they had. It’s a place that instills a kind of toughness and persistence. You learn not to make excuses. You just show up.
Then in Los Angeles, the scene feels expansive, free, and open-ended. It’s a little wild but also deeply cared for by promoters and artists who protect the vibe and the values. Even though Europe is often seen as the epicenter of electronic music now, it’s important not to lose sight of where the foundations were laid.
Those roots in Chicago remind me that electronic music isn’t just a sound—it’s a lineage, it’s community and a shared heartbeat. And a sense of belonging that we carry forward no matter where we go.
You run your own label called Noetic. What made you decide it was time to launch your own imprint and what are the plans for it?
After moving to Los Angeles and taking some time away from music because of family matters, I eventually felt ready to come back with a much clearer sense of purpose. I wanted to take things to the next level, sharpen my focus, and create a space where I could express myself more intentionally and move in the direction that felt right for me.
Running a label is something I think a lot of electronic musicians dream about at some point, but timing is everything. It has to happen when you are ready for the responsibility, the vision, and the long-term commitment that comes with it. Looking back now, it’s pretty amazing to see how many years have passed and how far the label has come.
At the same time, I still feel like we are only scratching the surface of what Noetic can become and how much we can express through it. The label has grown into more than just a place to release music. It has become a vehicle for ideas, identity, collaboration, and community.
Now we are starting to open Noetic up to new artists and build more of a collective around it, which feels like a really natural next chapter. I’m very excited to see where that leads and what the future holds.
You founded an instrument company Anti-Kulture and released your first module the Precision Disrupter, which can be found in the studios of some of electronic music’s most influential artists, including Richie Hawtin. Can you tell us more about the process and your plans for it?
The module was always something that grew out of a real passion for hardware and for the process of working with these instruments. It was kind of a naughty little love child that came out of that interaction, and then gradually developed into something much more serious.
Thankfully, we put a lot of work into making sure it had a clear purpose and actually brought something meaningful to the space. It’s been really rewarding to see it accepted and enjoyed by so many musicians.
Right now, we’re working on an expander that will give it more functionality and a bit more depth, and we’re also developing a number of new instruments. We can’t say too much about those just yet, but there’s definitely more coming.
You’re a man of many virtues! You also run a fashion line After Infinite, is there a connection between the brand and your music?
After Infinite is a love child of art and fashion, a collaboration between myself and my wife, Brittney Vandal. It’s our way to express ourselves through different mediums. Yeah, fashion’s a tough, cutthroat industry, but for us it was never just about being a “fashion brand.” It’s just another creative outlet, a way to explore different directions.
Right now, it’s more on the back burner, but it’s still part of the bigger picture, and we definitely plan on returning to it when the time feels right.
You write your music, perform live, run a label, an instrument company and a fashion line. What does a typical day look like for you?
Every day is a challenge, to say the least. But it’s hard to complain when you get to do what you love. I’m very fortunate to have a strong support system around me—friends and family who understand what we’re working toward and who are pushing in the same direction.
As we’ve grown, we’ve taken on more whenever we can. Of course, things have to be prioritized, and every now and then something falls through the cracks, but when I look back at the last few years, we’ve managed to accomplish a lot.
One of the biggest steps was moving all the way across the world to Lisbon and setting up a new studio and office where we can handle much of the day-to-day work. Now that the main studio is finally finished, I can bring my attention back to the reason I started doing all of this in the first place: making music.
I’m really looking forward to putting my head down over the next few months, getting back into that creative rhythm, finishing more music, and continuing to push Noetic forward.
Looking ahead to the rest of 2026, what are you most excited about and what could you share with us?
The most exciting thing right now is finally completing our studio build here in Lisbon. After years of dreaming about creating the right space, we’ve finally reached that point. The studio is built, it’s humming, and now I can actually sit back down and make love to frequencies.
That’s really why I started making music in the first place. At the core of all of this is that intimate relationship with sound, and the ability to completely immerse myself in what music brings into my life.
From there, everything else follows naturally. More releases, more music to share with the world, and more opportunities to discover new artists and help push the people I truly believe in toward the foreground of our scene.