MUSIC
From the decks to the track.
Music was the first place where the urge to create became a method: listening, experimenting, releasing records and eventually building a space for other artists too.
LISTENING AND DJING
Before making music, I searched for it.
Music entered my life early. As a child, thanks to my brother, I grew up listening to heavy metal. I was fascinated by the energy of that music and the visual impact of the concerts we watched on television. It was not a direct route into electronic music or DJing, but my first encounter with the power music could carry.
DJing came later, by a different route. I was fascinated by the way a selection could change the energy of a night. I looked for records, built sequences and learned to listen not only to each track, but to what happened between one track and the next, watching how each choice changed the way people on the dance floor responded. The decks became the first instrument through which I tried to give that curiosity a form.
FROM SELECTING TO PRODUCING
When selecting was no longer enough.
At some point, bringing other people's music together was no longer enough. I wanted to understand how a track came into being and turn something that existed only in my head into sound. That was one of the reasons I chose to study sound engineering, computer music, synthesis and production.
During my studies, I took some of my earliest compositions to the personal studio of Franco Cleopatra, my computer music teacher. He listened carefully and told me that I had the ability to do this professionally. Coming from a musician and composer I deeply respected, those words carried far more weight than a passing compliment.
It was Franco again who entrusted me with a remix of Sotra's Over & Over. That work became my first official release. It preceded my first record under my own name and, for the first time, turned a creative exercise into something intended for listeners I had never met.
Many of my earliest productions and releases were created in the small studio I had built in a garage. I remember the CRT computer monitors, alongside the instruments and equipment through which I was learning to turn ideas into finished tracks. It was a simple space, but an important part of my development as a producer took shape there.
THE FIRST RECORDS
When a track leaves the studio.
In 2007, The Loneliness EP became my first release under my own name. More records followed, including You Can't Stop, which still means a great deal to me because of the response it received, and Bitransducer, which reached Beatport's Tech House sales Top 10.
Releasing music digitally was already rewarding. Seeing my work pressed on vinyl meant something different. For someone who had grown up searching for and playing records, holding one of my own completed the entire journey: from listening to DJing, and from the first idea to a physical object.
Years later, I created a remix for Joe T Vannelli. Following a misunderstanding, he called me while I was working at Cat Sound. The misunderstanding itself mattered less than the sincere praise he wanted to give me for the track. Like Franco's words before it, that moment stayed with me because it came from someone whose experience I deeply respected.
Early releases
Over & Over
Sotra · Gianluca Luisi Remixes
2007 · Ego Music
Vinyl + digital
The Loneliness EP
Gianluca Luisi
2007 · Secret Weapon Rec.
Digital
You Can’t Stop
Gianluca Luisi
2007 · Oryx Music
Digital
Mahamoti EP
Gianluca Luisi
2008 · Qepo
Vinyl + digital
IRON MOUTH
Iron Mouth.
Among my releases, Iron Mouth holds a particular place for me. It was created during two weeks in hospital after an accident, while my fractured jaw was immobilised with metal wires. I had my computer with me and kept working: the entire record took shape there. Its title also came from that condition, becoming an almost literal description of it.
It was later released on vinyl by Go!Freitag, a label associated with German DJ and producer Alex Bau, whose work I greatly admired. A difficult period had turned into a finished record and one of the milestones I value most.
ENGAGE RECORDS
Creating a space for other artists.
Distinct identity, carefully curated sound and attention to detail, without sacrificing power, immediacy or impact.
While working at Cat Sound, I decided to start my own digital label. I called it Engage Records, drawing inspiration from the operational language of military aviation: to me, “engage” meant no longer waiting, taking action and starting something.
The first release in the catalogue was Fox One, a title likewise inspired by aviation terminology. I did not, however, want to create merely an outlet for my own productions. Engage also released music by other artists, and I personally oversaw every stage, from selecting the tracks to preparing the materials and publishing the releases.
Running the label meant balancing creative freedom with responsibility: choosing a direction, respecting the artists’ work and bringing each release to its audience. It was a small, independent project, but entirely my own.
Fox One
EGR001 · Gianluca Luisi
Collusion
EGR002 · Gianluca Luisi
Fuck The Bass EP
EGR003 · ARMYSTRIAL, Gianluca Luisi
Conflict 01
EGR004 · UNDERNOISE
King Of Paralysis EP
EGR005 · Alex Opteck
Rebellion EP
EGR006 · Gianluca Luisi, Undernoise
SELECTED LISTENING
A selection, not an inventory.
My discography includes original productions, remixes, collaborations, digital releases and vinyl. The records selected for this page are not intended to reconstruct the full catalogue. They represent moments when a personal search became a release, an encounter or a new direction.
The wider catalogue remains available on Beatport, while part of my personal archive can still be found on my old SoundCloud profile. Here, I would rather leave room for a selected listening experience and for the story each record carries.
Each listen is a 90-second excerpt.
Bitransducer (Original Mix)
Bitransducer
Now playing: Bitransducer (Original Mix)
Sintagma (Original Mix)
Sintagma
Now playing: Sintagma (Original Mix)
You Can’t Stop (Main Mix)
You Can’t Stop
Now playing: You Can’t Stop (Main Mix)
Ex-Groove (Gianluca Luisi Remix)
Ex-Groove - Joe T Vannelli, Dr. Feelx
Now playing: Ex-Groove (Gianluca Luisi Remix)
Goodbye Dad (Original Mix)
On The Ground
Now playing: Goodbye Dad (Original Mix)
Blow Your Mind
Fox One
Now playing: Blow Your Mind
Our Soul (Original Mix)
Our Soul
Now playing: Our Soul (Original Mix)
Truebrain (Original Mix)
Truebrain / Misplaced
Now playing: Truebrain (Original Mix)
Insert (Original Mix)
Mana Short EP
Now playing: Insert (Original Mix)
That’s All (Original Mix)
Cool Cats
Now playing: That’s All (Original Mix)
Iron Mouth (Freitag Mix)
Iron Mouth
Now playing: Iron Mouth (Freitag Mix)
Geister
Collusion
Now playing: Geister
CONTINUITY
The music never disappeared.
For several years, music production and my professional work in sound ran in parallel. As studio work became more demanding, the time available for making records gradually decreased. Later, working in the UAS field absorbed an even greater part of my energy and curiosity.
It was not an abrupt break. Over time, the pace and some of the dynamics of nightlife no longer matched the way I wanted to live and create. My interests were moving elsewhere, but what music had taught me, to search, build, listen and revise, continued to follow me.
The releases have stopped for now; the music has not necessarily done the same. After almost ten years, silence can be an ending, or simply a longer pause than expected.