Magnetic Mag Presents: Riva Starr & Mat.Joe + Interview
Magnetic Mag returns to the bay area for our second installment at Halcyon SF!
If you’ve been around for a bit, like tech-house, and enjoy a good party, chances are you’ll need zero introduction to Riva Starr. He and his label Snatch! have been a staple on many lineups and in many record bags. This week, Magnetic Magazine and Halcyon SF are proud to have him as our monthly guest and to kick things off, we have an exclusive interview with the globetrotter about his love for The Bay.
You’ve been rocking crowds for quite some time now, and have seen things ebb and flow. In all your years of djing, what about San Francisco has stayed the same, and what has changed?
What I like of San Fran is that it’s quite an eclectic city, it’s not a case that Dirtybird had the chance to develop in here. Hip-hop is quite a big thing and that influence a lot the club music too… I think at the moment house and techno are growing big time and I’m now excited to play again in town!
Building off that, are there any places you go every time you’re in town? Maybe record shops or restaurants? Any we must visit?
I had my favourite Italian place from my friend Alessandro Jacobellis, but sadly he left back to Europe so gotta find another one now! I really like the food markets tho!
If you were to have a day off in San Francisco to just enjoy yourself and the city, where might one find you about?
In the Bay of course! Or running up and down on a tram LOL
Your label has just recently reached 100 releases, and the big one zero zero is with none other than Green Velvet. Can you describe your relationship with him and how that came to be?
OWe have been friends for some time now… I did a remix for his Percolator track and then we did a few collabs (like ROBOTS on his album and a few more for my album on his CAJUAL label). So I really wanted to try and have him onboard for this big milestone. He has been kind enough to make it happen 🙂
Speaking of green, if you had to attach a color to each of the tracks on the 100th release on Snatch, what would they be and why?
Well GREEN to Keep Pushing cause green for me is the colour of life and this track is kinda of a hymn to push things forward in life or, if you want, to never give up and fight for whatever you think it’s right to fight!
For I FEEL GOOD I would say Blue like the sky cause it’s one of the things that make me feel good when I experience it 🙂
Let’s also talk about your Hyperloop project. You recently had a release on Adam Beyer’s Truesoul records. What is the focus behind Hyperloop, and what made you decided to create that alias?
Well with Hyperloop I just want to explore a more basic track structure with some Detroit and Chicago influences but mostly I’d like to recall what I was experiencing in Naples during the techno takeover back in the days… Naples has always been a techno and funky city… and the combination was just deadly on the dancefloor!
Will there ever be any cross-project remixes?
I don’t think so, I just wanna keep the two things separate and not influence each other.
Back to San Francisco, how would you describe the sound of the city compared to somewhere like Los Angeles or NYC? Do you play differently between US cities?
I would say MIAMI and NEW YORK are definitely the cities where I play more “technical” whereas in cities like SAN FRAN or LOS ANGELES I try and show my more crossover hat (seen also that I come from a Dirtybird background)
You’re about to play Halcyon for the first time. What is it like to play at a new club in a city you’ve played before? Will there be any Hyperloop sightings in your set?
It’s quite exciting, I’ve been wanting to play there for a minute now. I always play some hyperloop in my sets and definitely, there will be lots of exclusives like my forthcoming ep with DAJAE on Relief!
Halcyon is also a smaller club compared to some others in the city. Can you tell us what makes the smaller club atmosphere so special? Do you prefer them to bigger clubs?
I somehow prefer the smaller clubs because of the connection you manage to create with the crowd… I’m enjoying the smaller venues also cause you can afford to play with a bit less pressure than the bigger ones and try a different set too… let’s see this weekend I’m always unpredictable 😀
Halcyon is also a smaller club compared to some others in the city. Can you tell us what makes the smaller club atmosphere so special? Do you prefer them to bigger clubs?
I somehow prefer the smaller clubs because of the connection you manage to create with the crowd… I’m enjoying the smaller venues also cause you can afford to play with a bit less pressure than the bigger ones and try a different set too… let’s see this weekend I’m always unpredictable 😀
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