We asked Funclab Collective to make our worlds collide, and they did this chilled mixtape.
We’ve got in touch with Funclab Collective last year for the first time, when we saw their installations made of wood shelves and old technology. Amazing. Almost cracked televisions, transmitting analog images synced with fresh music. Once again, the old and the new, as a ghost, comes back to these pages. This time in the shape of music. We are glad to have Funclab Collective joining the Wood’d Vibes column, our weekly selection of mixtapes, if you don’t know about it. Boys and girls, children of all ages, no need to say any further, just pump up the volume, and enjoy the vibes. Ciao!
Ciao! In a few words, what is Funclab and what you guys actually do?
Funclab Collective is a crew made by young designers with different skills and passions. Some of them are already working, some of them still studying. The diversity of background among the team members is what makes Funclab what it is, a creative hub made of music, sound design, film-making, photography, graphic design and illustration.
How did you start with music?
In Funclab we have 3 DJs, each of them with different skills and listenings. Tommaso grew up in a house stuffed with vinyl. After a first try with percussions, he found his way in DJing and, lately, producing. Michele had pretty much the same experience, but with guitar and audiotapes. He’s now a great digger, and loves playing vinyl during his DJ sets. Giacomo shifted directly from bass guitar to producing and DJing, thanks to his pals Michele and Tommaso.
What are the main influences on your sound?
Our sound finds his roots in a wide range of styles, from ’70s funk, disco and early hip-hop to Chicago’s house, UK garage and nu-jazz.
What are you currently listening to?
Right now we are totally into Berlin’s nu-jazz/raw house. Northern Europe has always been a great source of inspiration to us. Most of the music we buy comes from Berlin, Netherland and Sweden. Don’t get us wrong, Milano seems to be in a better shape day by day, and we’d like to think that projects like ours are helping our country to grow. For this mixtape, instead, we’ve selected a lot of Jazz from Britain, another scene we love listening to.
Where you draw your main inspirations for this mix?
Wood has always been a dear inspiration to Fanclub, the most of the installations we’ve done are based on it. So we drew inspiration from it, from the warm feeling only wood can give.
What have you prepared for Wood’d?
We’ve mixed some jazz and soul tunes with some dub vibes, a different rhythm, different intensity. The aim is to merge the classic style of Wood’d with the polyhedral soul of Funclab.