Enzo Siragusa + Loco Dice's Under 300 Tour

Back in 2008, Enzo Siragusa and two like-minded friends, dissatisfied with London’s distinct lack of Sunday daytime parties where they could continue their debauchery from the night before, formed Fuse.  Fuse has quickly established itself as the definitive daytime party in London, amassing a considerable following of discerning and loyal regulars.  Such success and hard-work has not got unnoticed by the electronic music elite, and Enzo Siragusa was given the honor of being asked to be the resident DJ for the London leg of Loco Dice’s Under 300 tour. This tour comprises of 12 intimate dates across Europe in small venues (holding only 300 people), with only Dice and a handpicked resident DJ performing on a vinyl only set up.  Pulse caught up with Enzo Siragusa, now living in Berlin, for a frank and in-depth chat covering a range of topics from the upcoming Under 300 tour to why the resident DJ is the most important and underrated role in clubland….

Pulse: Before Fuse there was a distinct lack of daytime parties in London, especially on a Sunday. Is this something you had in mind when you first started Fuse, or was it simply an after-party for you and your mates?  Enzo: It was a bit of both really, it was an after party for me and my mates essentially, but it was borne out of the fact that there was nothing to do. As well as a DJ I was a raver who loved to party, and me and my mates used to crack on ever weekend and Fuse started when we thought ‘let’s do something’. It would start at 10, 11 o’clock in the morning and go on till 10.30 at night, a proper after party!

Fuse has quickly become an extremely popular party in London with a very loyal following. Why do you think this is, is it the fact that it is free guestlist only event, or do you feel that it is the deeper and dubbier sound that the night pushes?  I think it’s the consistency of the party. The guestlist thing is obviously a really important part of it because we have a door policy, and we pick the crowd on the vibe. It’s not how you look and how you dress, it’s all about the vibe of the party, and when you come to Fuse the vibe is consistent, it’s always the same and it always go off.  If you just open the floodgates like when we first opened, then it becomes a bit of a raucous affair every Sunday and it just becomes diluted by people who don’t really know why they are there, which is the same as every party that becomes popular. So the door policy is important.  The deeper dubbier sound we have been pushing, that is just our sound. Providing that on a good soundsystem week in week out, that consistency where you know what the atmosphere is going to be like and you sort of know what the music is going to be like, the night is built on that really.  Week after week, and we only have 2 weeks off a year, we have just battered it into people’s heads I guess (laughs). But the sound is important and Fuse is built on that and the quality of the party week in week out.

You have previously held parties at Ushuaia in Ibiza. Ushuaia used to be a smaller, very underground party that has transformed into a much bigger and more flashy club and hotel. How do you feel about this change, have you been back since?  It doesn’t really bother me, I mean it doesn’t work for us as Fuse to be in that kind of environment because I don’t think the music would really work for the masses, but I’m all for change and you can’t stop it.  Ibiza has changed a lot since I first went there many, many years ago, and that is just the nature of the beast, and when there is money involved some people just go down that route, and it opens up opportunities in other areas for more underground stuff.  This year we did DC10 and Sankeys, and did 2 parties at Sankeys. Sankeys is a amazing little club, a proper club and when I look at Ibiza now, it is a lot of big clubs and hype but Sankeys is a small dark club with low ceilings and a big sound system. It’s more of a UK looking kind of club and it’s intimate. That works for us.

You have had so many amazing guests at Fuse, from tINI, Nima Gorji and David Squillace to Martin Buttrich (live) and Loco Dice. What is your policy when booking these artists and has anyone in particular really stood out for you in 2011?  I look for DJs first and foremost. I notice a lot of clubs and promoters out there, and no disrespect to them, but they book a lot of big names, and names that have a lot of hype, which I typically associate with production. But I look for DJs not necessarily producers. That is first and foremost.  I also have quite a few residents so I look to make sure they play the majority of the sets, which means there aren’t many DJ sets going for our guests.  So I look for experienced DJs, apart from Buttrich who you mentioned because he plays live. But when a producer is a good producer and they do a live set that’s great and he played for about 3 hours when he came down which is ridiculous!  That is the kind of guy he is and his music along with Loco Dice, their early productions are almost the cornerstone of our sound really and are what we really got into. So they stand out as guests.  Onur Ozur played recently and he was amazing and really stood out. He’s an amazing DJ. And Tini is absolutely smashing it, she annihilated last year and the first time I heard her a few years ago I was blown away. She has become one of my favourite DJs really.

Is it true that Loco Dice was a surprise guest who just turned up unannounced and played at Fuse?  Yes he did. He played unannounced which was pretty amazing and he absolutely tore the place apart, I’ve never seen Fuse like that before. I mean we have had amazing parties week in week out, but that party in particular was absolutely sick!  

In Fuse you have a successful brand with a unique sound and a crew of strong residents. An agency and label was the next logical step, how is this all going?  Very well! The label has to be natural and organic, I don’t want to feel any pressure to make a certain type of music, or music that sells, I just want to make music that I like to make.  But the label is doing that and all the boys are making our kind of music so it is going really well. Our music is different as it has that deeper dubbier sound but I don’t feel any pressure to put out any type of music, so it’s nice that it is going in the right direction.

It must be a real honor to be involved in Loco Dice’s Under 300 tour. You are the only warm-up DJ for the London gig. How did this come about?  I suppose it is through a long-standing relationship with Dice and the Desolat guys really. I’m good friends with a lot of the guys on the label and have worked with them for quite a long time so I suppose he looked at London and made his decision on who he wanted to play.  He’s played at FUSE and he knows what we’re about and I think FUSE and the Desolat crew have very similar principles on sound and music.  It really is an honour because I have always loved the music Dice has made, and when I was at DC10 he was always my favourite DJ to see, so play alongside him in the past and now has been a great honour.

With regards to your set at the Under 300 event, have you thought about what you’re going to play as it is a vinyl only event?  I’ve never really been one to prepare my sets but maybe I should do, it might make my life easier. I keep stressing about it, I don’t know why at 33 years of age, DJ’ing for nearly 20 years, that I still shit myself whenever I turn up to a gig, even at my own party.  I am going to take loads of dubplates for this. It is an important gig and I haven’t played vinyl for a long time as when I play at Fuse I typically play on CD’s. So I am having to think about this one a bit more because it is a vinyl only event, so there are tracks that myself and our residents have made and I will get these tracks mastered and pressed for the gig.

Loco Dice said that warm-up DJs are “the guys and girls who do the groundwork for so many things. They are able to break records; they keep people dancing week after week. This is fundamental.” Do you think resident and warm-up DJ’s are often overlooked in clubland?  They are! I had this conversation with Dice about a year and a half ago and we were of the same opinion. I view myself as a warm up DJ and he still views himself as a warm up DJ!  He was everyone’s warm up DJ, and to me it is still the most important set of the day. I drill this into my guy’s heads at Fuse and I make them do warm-ups for a long time as it is part of the DJ education. You need to be able to take an empty room where people walk in, and you have to play warm music that is engaging and to get people’s feet tapping and moving to a groove. It is amazing to be able to do that. It is easy for any DJ to walk out and smash it to a busy room , but it is the DJs before who set the tone.  Programming is the most important thing at Fuse and I want warm up DJs really. Everyone who plays the main set, even the guests have to be able to warm up as well. That’s what I meant earlier by saying proper DJs, DJs that understand the art of warming up.  It is overlooked by a lot of people, because it's only though when they get on the decks is the glory. But it’s not really about that, it’s about the experience and the warm up is important as it is the flow of music from start to finish.

Finally, I saw in an interview with you that tINI is your favourite DJ. Who would you tip to be big in 2012 DJ wise?  I’d say Tini because when I play back-to-back with her, I just get a really good feeling. She always plays for the crowd reads the dancefloor really well.  My background is a clubber so at the end of the day DJs that get you going, that’s what it is all about! But doing it in a subtle way, I’ve always been into the deeper sound and tINI has that sound, it’s dubby and emotive and she is going from strength to strength.  A few of the guys in my camp as well will be big, maybe it will take longer than the next year…. there are so many talented DJs out there at the moment but tINI is still the one for me.  Hopefully there will be a few more from London though, from the UK.

Catch Enzo on the London leg of Loco Dice's Under 300 Tour on February 18th 2012.  For tickets and info, head here

For more information on Fuse parties every Sunday at 93 Feet East, head here

Listen to Enzo Siragusa on Pulse Radio