Artist Spotlight
“Working in two is not easy. But for us, it felt natural. I am the black, he is the white. I am the night, he is the day. We combine a good contrast of ideas and concepts to work together well. We love Acid music and try to put those sounds in our tracks… We balance our sounds, with one of us being more minimal, and one of us having deeper darker sounds.” The Italian duo, Adne, works to bring dark, minimal sounds back to their home country. As natives of Florence, Adne has been making a name for themselves for a decade. Despite having a lengthy career under their belts, they recognize that the local scene for their sound is not strong. “About 10 years ago there was a huge scene in Italy… the techno is strong but the minimal scene is pretty non existent… South Italy has more of a minimal scene but here in Tuscany it’s scarce.” They first met 10 years ago in Florence. Coming up as promoters, hustling to make a buck selling tickets for any club that would allow them, the two decided to give DJing a try. They landed a residency at a club in Florence called Hedonist. For four years, they honed their craft and learned the ins and outs of the music industry. “We got an understanding of what it means to be a DJ… it’s more than just playing for people you love, you’re flying all the time, playing shows in countries you don’t know… the club was called Hedonist. It was our first project together, it was a boiler room type vibe with an amazing sound system and a DJ booth right in the middle of the floor.” Studying that tight-knit crowd gave them intimate knowledge of not only what people wanted to hear but how to deliver their sound effectively. An essential part of the Adne project is their complete rejection of the standard methods of music production and performance. Although they are more than capable of performing with CDJs or vinyl, Adne prefers a live setup using a plethora of synthesizers and analog boards. This method mirrors itself in the studio. “It always felt like something was missing… We invested some money and time into learning synthesizers and how to use them live as well as analog sounds… The process changed a lot as we learned. Changing cables while you make music can be stressful but at the same time, the sounds and feelings are incredible. When we do it this way, every live set is completely different and the sound quality is supreme.” For Adne, the desire to be different stemmed from the desire to have freedom. After years of resident DJ warm-up sets, and having their performance dictated by the headliner, Adne wants the ability to present their music in its most pure form. “We really just want the ability to play our own music in the exact way we envision it.” Adne’s unique vision was recognized early on by one of their biggest idols, Seth Troxler. They met Troxler four years ago at a party in Italy, and after talking with him and showing him music, he was sold immediately. Soon after, Adne released multiple tracks on Seth’s iconic label, Play It Say It. The sign-off from such a major player gave Adne’s career the jumpstart it needed. Although they have only been releasing music for two years, Adne is a name to watch in the minimal scene. Purists in the studio, the Italian duo are quickly on the rise and will be headlining stages globally before we know it.
