Splitting their workload between Italy and the United Kingdom, MFS Observatory are preparing for a massive year in 2019 following releases with Roush and Witty Tunes. Catching the duo on our Inflyte Radar this month we decided to have a chat with the guys about what they have in store for the next few months, including their own Observatory imprint. Grab the full interview below.
Hi guys, you are on our Inflyte Radar this month, how are things?
We are very well, and 2018 has been a very satisfying year for us. We had our second release on Roush Label, a release on Nastyfunk Records and with our label Observatory and we had a lot of great feedback on our releases from DJs such as Groove Armada, our friend Maya Jane Coles, Butch, Karotte and many more. Alongside this there’s been some great feedback from radio and music magazines. And we’re hoping 2019 brings more of the same!
You’ve now released with W&O Street Tracks, Flashmob Records and Roush, what’s the process you go through when putting a track out with another label?
Well usually we’ll go with our instincts: if it feels right, it typically is. But we’ll always do an analysis of the label and make sure we’re all on the same wavelength. Often the label manager will contact us directly to get an EP, as was the case with Steve Lawler and his label, VIVa.
And how about your own Observatory Music, do you receive demos for it or reach out to artists directly?
No, we don’t accept demos at the moment, mainly because Observatory Music is focused on M.F.S tracks only for now. But from the next year we will start to keep track with artists we hit up directly, and we will continue the concept of the alphabetical-order release schedule.
What do you have in the planner for your own music in the coming months?
We are nearing completion of some new EPs. We will go out in January with our new EP, ‘T’ on Observatory music. Also, we signed a new release to BumpCut Records, the new label from Hector Couto, and have also signed to Natura Viva — and are also close to signing music to Smiley Fingers. We also signed an EP with Ronnie Spiteri to his label, Kenja. Watch out for that one: a house EP with deep voices, synths and massive drums!
And for Observatory Music?
With Observatory Music we will have a lot of news for 2019. We’ll sort a new EP from a female duo who’ve released on Relief and Kittball Records and that one will feature massive remixes from two prominent artists and ourselves. We’ll also sign an EP from an artist from Desolat, Snatch and Moon Harbour too. Also, we will start to run our label event in London in February. More details on that one soon.
As a duo, is there a specific process that you have found works in the studio or DJ booth, certain things one of you can do better than the other for example?
There is not really a specific way [to work]. We usually split the job in half, but with Mattia focusing on the vocals and melodies such as synths and pads.
Francesco prefers to work on drums, basslines and effects. We generally work in symbiosis – if one starts the project the other for sure one is going to complete it so we literally compensate for each other.
I [Mattia] live in London and Francesco lives in Naples, meaning it can be difficult to find a way to communicate, but so far so good.
Thanks for taking time from your schedule to chat with us, we hope you have a massive 2019!
2018 has definitely been a great year and we do believe that we can keep up with the next one or we might improve even more. Thanks a lot, we hope to get in touch again soon!