A Credible Eye Witness: The Mystery Man Revealed!
Sometimes, those things that seem to be rare are exactly the things that we think of as gems; those that come unexpectedly and take their time in bringing their gift to fruition. In the case of A Credible Eye Witness, this is exactly what we find, an artist whom we rarely hear from, yet always there hard at work, refining themselves as they continue to evolve ever so slowly and gracefully...and so it is without further ado, that we introduce you to this mysterious and fascinating Electro artist from Italy. Chris Nexus 6 sits down with him to find out more about his story.
Chris Nexus 6: You seem to be as rare as you are discrete. Please tell us more about you. Can you introduce yourself? Where do you come from?
A Credible Eye Witness: My name is Emilio Urbano. I was born in Rome, but for a period of time I lived in Los Angeles. I love California and especially L.A.
Tell us about your musical background? What are your main influences, and who are your favorite artists past and present?
I started to play piano at the age of 9 and at 12 I got the conservatory diploma. I only loved to play music by Beethoven in those years but I had to study and play other classical composers as well, which I did not like. I then got tired of playing the piano and started to race motorcycles. In that period I also started to go clubbing in the afternoon at the age of 14 and Acid music was starting to be heard in some venues. I was really impressed by the rhythms and weird sounds of that never heard music and I had no idea how it was actually made. My main influences were therefore definitely Acid Techno and early Acid Chicago House, and I fell in love with Fast Eddie and Tyree Cooper. I also branched out to Rap music in the early 90's, but always followed the evolution of Electronic Music through artists like Aphex Twin, LFO, Autechre, Anthony Rother, D.I.E, Umwelt and many others.
Do you have any non-Electronic musical influences as well?
My all time favorite is Nick Drake, a folk artist, but I also love Blues and Howling Wolf is my favorite one. I also like some songs of Bill Fay (City of Dreams).
What's the story behind your A Credible Eye Witness moniker?
I was always locked up in my studio making beats, and when I created my first proper tracks I did not yet know how to call myself. One day I went with my first record to Marco Passarani, who was the man behind Final Frontier Distribution back then, and he really liked it. He then proposed to distribute my record and asked my artist name…I did not know what to call myself. He then took out a book about aliens he had in the office and we found a story about a "credible eye witness" that saw aliens and flying saucers, so we decided to go for that name.
Very interesting...Tell us about your label then? What are your intentions with ACEW? What is the imprint's artistic line?
My label is only me really as no other artists ever appeared on it, so it's very personal I guess. I hope I will release more episodes in the future, but do not really know when. All my records have a dark imprint and obscure vibe…I love darkness and as Nick Drake once said "Darkness can give you the brightest light".
You've been in the electronic business since 1999, but so far you've only committed 4 E.P.s on your own. Is this by choice or a lack of time perhaps?
To be honest it would be too long to explain, but besides personal reasons I am also rarely 100% happy with my music and only release stuff I am really satisfied with.
How would you describe the Italian Electro scene? Are you familiar with MaxDurante, Lory D and other infamous artists out there for instance?
The italian Electro scene used to be quite huge around 2000 and I was very involved in it. I know Max and Lory D, and we also hung out for quite some time in those years.
ACEW Seems to be a vinyl-only label. Which importance do you give to vinyl in the music process? What do you think about digital music? Should we oppose digital to vinyl?
ACEW is definitely only a vinyl label, yes…I think that digital lacks a lot compared to vinyl and honestly my music is oriented to DJ's, and for me a real DJ is someone who spins vinyls.
What advice would you give to someone who'd like to launch his or her own label, in particular a vinyl one?
Keep it real and do only things you really like, regardless of the market.
Tell us more about the next releases scheduled on your label ACEW, when do they come out?
For now there are no other releases scheduled, but who knows…
To end, would you mind giving us a play list of ten of your all-time favorite Electro/Techno tracks via YouTube?
ACEW:
Suburban Knight - Maroon
Dopplereffekt - Myon Neutrino
Cybotron - Clear
Plastikman - Korridor/Psyk/Pakard
Dexter - Intruder
Lory D - Abruct Interruption
Model 500 - Night Drive
Bobby Konders - Nervous Acid
Anthony Rother - Destroy Him My Robots
The Aphex Twin - Isoprophlex
Il.Ek.Tro - Tune in to the system
Thanks for your time Emilio, it's been an honor sitting down with you to talk about your story, keep rockin' the beats!