Nicolas Leonelli [Interview]

Hailing from the progressive house mecca of Argentina, Nicolas Leonelli has found favour with the genre's premiere tastemakers Hernan Cattaneo and Nick Warren, while boasting a resume with releases via Clubsonica Records, Droid9, Mango Alley, The Soundgarden and UV. This week sees Nicolas making his debut on Praveen Achary's Juicebox Music alongside Juan Buitrago with 'Sword of God / Exilium', backed by excellent remixes from Influence (IN) and Claudio Cornejo.

Progressive Astronaut caught up with Nicolas to learn more about the release of 'Sword of God / Exilium', his background, creative process, DJing, and more. Enjoy.

Hi Nicolas, thanks for joining us. What is your current mood and what was the last piece of music you listened to?

Hi! Thanks to you for the invitation! Now I'm travelling to Uruguay and I was just checking all the tracks of my new EP on Juicebox and I can say I'm really happy with the result It's just a great solid EP and that was the last piece of music I heard, haha!

How has the start to the summer season been in Argentina and what are your plans for the coming week?

The hot days are just beginning here in Argentina, for now I am calm, preparing for the upcoming dates, going to listen to some of my favorite DJs at outdoor parties that I love in the summer and producing a lot, in fact, this weekend I plan to stay producing. I’m making a lot of new material for next year.

You started DJing very early, at the age of twelve, so do you consider yourself a DJ or producer first? And which do you enjoy more and why?

Obviously I consider myself much more of a DJ than a producer, my whole life I was a DJ from a very young age and I started producing later because we all know how the music industry works nowadays, it is very difficult to be successful if you don’t produce and I understood that If I want to live from this I have no option, I enjoyed playing music much more than being in the studio, I prefer to be in a nightclub connecting and dancing with the audience than making a track, I always say that if it weren’t essential today to produce I wouldn’t do it and I would dedicate myself Only DJing, I do it to be able to make a living from this, contribute something to the industry and give people something different than just DJing.

How did growing up in Argentina influence your music taste and direction? Or did it all?

I think it was not so much the country if not the family where i grow up. my father have been djing all his life and I grow up listening to electronic music since I was a child.

When we ask most artists what is responsible for the popularity of progressive music in Argentina the overwhelming answer is Hernan Cattaneo, would that be your feeling also? And if so please speak on that, also to add to that, who else from Argentina inspired you when you first discovered the music.

For sure, Hernan is a big inspiration for me since my first steps and not only for me. If not for most djs and producers that love the genre, he’s an icon, a pioneer and the person that’s responsible to make progressive house is so popular here in Argentina! Yes, I have one to mention and Its Marcelo Vasami, I remember the first progressive house gig I had gone he was playing and he is the reason i have felt in love with the genre, that night I started to like progressive house.

You have been a recognized DJ in your country for some time, performing alongside Oliver Koletzki, Tinlicker, Artbat, Matador, Nora En Pure and many more, so if you were a tour-guide for nightlife in Argentina, what would be the clubs you’d take the people to see and what local DJs do they need to hear?:

For me, the best club and party here in Argentina is 2GTHR. I highly recommend going there! In addition to having a place in my heart and where I have done all the dates you have mentioned and have the best memories and experiences, then there are other good places and parties that I would recommend such as The Bow, PM, Palacio Alsina, Desert In Me and Savage. Regarding the DJs that I would tell you to listen to, there are many local talents. I really like Simon Vuarambon, Ezequiel Arias, Nicolas Rada and Mike Griego.

You also started producing at the young age of sixteen, did you have someone helping you in those early years? Or are you self-taught and what would you recommend new producers do to help with the learning curve of production?

My dad taught me the first things with FL Studio, then I took classes with several producers with experience in Ableton Live and also a lot of self-taught on the internet, nowadays on the internet you can find a lot of quality information. I would recommend that you look for an experienced mentor from whom you can nourish yourself and at the same time gather information on your own day by day, in the world of production you never stop learning.

You have a new EP ‘Sword of God / Exilium’ written alongside Juan Juan Buitrago ‘Esporas’ out now via Praveen Achary’s Juicebox Music. Tell us a bit about the release and how it showcases your sound.

That's right, an EP will be released on Praveen Achary's Juicebox Music and it is a release that we are very happy with Juan since we consider that it represents our sound a lot, which is why we also merged to put together the EP, we like Progressive house with a lot of groove, with a tinge of darkness, very hypnotic and with fat bass perfect for the dance floor.

Let our readers inside your studio for a moment, what is your current setup and what studio tools are featured heavily in your recent productions and more specifically your EP for Juicebox Music?

I really have a very minimalist setup to produce. You don't need big things to have a good sound nowadays. I produce with a Mac with Ableton Live 11, Audio-Technica ATH-M30X headphones and JBL 306P MKII monitors with an Universal Audio board from which I use some plugins in particular. I use the Arturia packs a lot, the Diva, the IHeartNY which is a very good compressor, the Tantra 2 is also another of my favorites to generate some very interesting unique effects, the Raum from Native Instruments to add to the atmospheres is also a tool that I'm using a lot lately, The Repro by U-he, emulator of the well-known Prophet-6, Hive, the Soundtoys plugins and the Valhalla Bundle are other essentials in my last projects and almost everything we use in the Juicebox Music EP.

Collaborating is always an interesting way to bring something new to your own productions, so i’m curious how do the tracks you worked on with Juan for Juicebox differ from ones you would make in solo capacity?

This answer is quite simple, I believe and I always say that two heads think more than one and that when you merge with another person that capacity doubles. I think it's a wonderful way to push each other's limits with the other producer and stretch your creativity to the fullest. I think that the best tracks I made were made in collaboration with another artist and not alone.

What is the task you enjoy the most when producing and what would you prefer someone else to do?

What I enjoy most about production is the creative and composition part, I find the mixing and mastering part somewhat tedious but I almost always do it all by myself. Only sometimes I send the tracks to my mastering engineer to give them some final touches and master them.

As mentioned earlier, you have been a DJ for quite some time, please tell us your approach to DJing.

As a DJ I always try to give people something different, I don't like to lock myself into just one genre. I have sets that I get super progressive and hypnotic and sets that are much more melodic or more techno, some more house or more organic, it depends a lot on the time, the place, the date and the other DJs with whom I have to share the booth night but as I said before I always try to be versatile and innovative when playing to be able to stand out from the other DJs, also obviously playing several of my songs in the middle of the set for show some of my personal imprint.

How much prep do you put into the tracks you choose to play? Or are your sets totally spontaneous?

I usually prepare the sets before according the time, place, date or DJ with whom I have to play, I try to have my entire set listened so I can know the music I have, the intensity and the moments and emotions I have to generate with those tracks. All the tracks that I put before I listen to them in their entirety since the development of the tracks is very important, a piece of the track may be good but overall it is not, it has happened to me to choose a track listening to a small piece and saying it is great. I put it on and when I heard it live it seemed like it wasn't working, that's why I took that little job. Likewise, I always take another folder with extra songs in case I have to change the mood of the party and what I prepared was not in accordance to the party, which has very rarely happened to me but just in case you always have to had that extra folder.

Can you tell me a bit about how your work as a DJ has influenced your view of music, your way of listening to tracks and perhaps also, your work as a producer?

Obviously my daily work as a DJ leads me to always try to stay at the forefront both as a DJ and producer, always trying to push myself to the limit and trying to differentiate myself from the rest of the artists at some point, currently I try to maintain a futuristic and modern vision both in my presentations and in my tracks.

If you could set up an event with a line-up of five artists of your choice, who would you book and what set times would you ascribe to the artists?

If I could organize the festival of my dreams with my favorite artists it would be Hernan Cattaneo, Guy J, John Digweed, Nick Warren and Sasha. I would love to see a 12 hour B5B set with those names, it would be anyone's dream hahah!

If you are not DJing, producing or socializing at clubs, where do we find you? And doing what?

When I'm not producing, DJing or socializing in clubs I try to spend time relaxing with my girlfriend, my family, my friends, doing some sports or going for a walk in the park, that clears my mind quite a bit.

If you were not a DJ/Producer what do you think you’d be doing with your life?

I think I wouldn't give life the option of doing something that doesn't make me happy, but in a parallel world, if I wouldn't t dedicate myself to DJing, I'm sure it would be something artistic, I feel like I need to express myself and expand throughout the world in some way.

Current top five tracks?

This is my current top five tracks:

Nick Warren, Landikhan - Kids On Bikes (Extended Mix)

Dmitry Molosh - Prospect (Original Mix)

Kostya Outta - Space (Original Mix)

Maezbi - Talus (Original Mix)

Guy J - Drifting Memory Part 1

What are some of your favourite TV series?

I love ‘The 100’, ‘Avatar - The Legend of Aang’. Honestly, I don't really like TV, I prefer to play some video games or do some other things to distract.

Apart from music, what makes you happiest?

Spending time with my girlfriend, my family and my friends.

What does 2024 hold for you in terms of releases and gigs? Anything you can share with us?

For now I have my next date in December at 2GTHR with John Cosani and Fernando Ferreyra and another date in January on La Caseta, Mar Del Plata with ZAC. Those are the ones I can tell you for the moment. And as for the production, I still can't tell you much more than that I have a lot of recently created music for which I have to find a family, but I am sure that I will be able to find it very soon and share it with you.

'Sword of God / Exilium' is available now via Juicebox Music: https://shorturl.at/uyKV8