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We met at ADE 2019 during a Technic Fabrique event in Amsterdam. We hit it off instantly and couldn’t stop talking. This week in MY FIRST GIG: Italian DJ/producer Christian Di Stefano a.k.a. Involuntary Movement. "Despite my stage experience as an MC, I found it nerve-wracking."
“We can say that I was born with music. I started going to the conservatory at a young age, studying classical guitar and solfeggio (music theory). In my teens, I got into hip-hop and became an MC. I teamed up with a friend, and we made several EPs and performed live all over Italy.”
Resident DJs
“At seventeen, electronic music and DJing started to come into my life. Together with some friends, we rented a small venue and equipment, creating our own little party. This event quickly outgrew its space, and after a few months, we became residents in a big club in my hometown, Ivrea. The club was called MAIGAD. It was quite a large venue for a town like Ivrea with just a thousand to fourteen hundred inhabitants. We put on many parties with artists like Tomcraft, Francesco Del Garda, and more. This was in 2006/2007.”
‘Dance Floor Bombs’
“My first DJ gig was at MAIGAD when I was nineteen. I was super nervous, and despite my stage experience as an MC, I found it scary. In the end, it was fantastic! The crowd was very diverse, from sixteen to forty or fifty years old. I had half-prepared my set at home. Back then, I played with CDs. I bought a ton of them. When it comes to DJing, I never really have a complete plan beforehand. I make sure that all the tracks I have are ‘dance floor bombs’. Once I’m in, I just follow the vibe.”
‘Real Job’
“When I started DJing, my family wasn’t really on board. They thought I was wasting my time and needed to find a ‘real job’. Luckily, my friends have always supported me. They think what I do is awesome. Back then, I didn’t have a mentor, but now I do. His name is Igor Lessio, also known as DeStrict. He is a producer and the owner of Opium Music.”
Professional
“Eventually, all my friends and my then-girlfriend were at that first gig. It went fantastic. At that first party in MAIGAD, eight hundred people showed up, and the number kept increasing weekly. I was happy and satisfied. Fortunately, I didn’t make any big mistakes. I always try to be as professional as possible. That first time, I learned that the most important thing is to have fun. If you, as a DJ, have fun and are relaxed, the audience feels that. You set the tone for the best vibe!”
Vinyl Only
“Since then, I have shared the stage with many big artists. Everything I do makes me happy. Four years ago, my goal was to start my own vinyl-only label and release tracks from some of my favorite artists. That has been achieved. I now have artists like Denis Kaznacheev, Andrea Frelin, Hector Moralez, and Dorian Paic on the label.”
“In 2012, I came to Amsterdam to fulfill my musical dream. In Italy, it was impossible to do what I do here: start and run a label. In the future, I want to expand my label, Involuntary Movement. By the way, that name came about in a special way. I have a tic, an ‘unvoluntary movement’. (laughs) “Additionally, I hope to play all over the world.”
This interview with Involuntary Movement was originally published in November 2019 on This Is Our House.
Who is Involuntary Movement?
The vinyl only label and alias Involuntary Movement (INMO) are born at the end of 2015 after a meeting of Christian Di Stefano with DeStrict, who is the manager of INMO label and owner of Opium Audio.
The genre Involuntary Movement strives for is a kind of minimal jazz house with influences of techno characterized by important grooves and a very new sound. Surely, it’s a recognizable sound but different from what is mainstream. Involuntary Movement also likes to involve artists coming from other musical worlds in the project.
Involuntary Movement’s productions see to the use of modularism to have as much sophistication and sound experimentation as to distinguish themselves from what is the market of the moment.
