For those of you lucky enough to catch the ViVa MUSIC pool party in Miami this past week the name Leon should be very familiar. The Italian future star has been making waves worldwide since his breakthrough in 2009 and has gained the support of the world’s biggest names. Aside from gaining the approval of his peers, Leon has also built quite the release resume. With releases on Cecille Numbers (Nick Curly’s label), ViVa MUSIC (Steve Lawler’s label), Inmotion Music, and many others it is more then apparent there is much to look forward to from the young Italian.
Adam Port – Symphony (Leon Remix)
Full interview after the jump!
EO: Hey Leon, thanks for interviewing with me today, for our readers what is your full name and where are you from?
Leon: Thank you bro, big pleasure for this interview. My real name is Di Gianvito Ruggero and I’m from a small Italian city called Teramo near Rome.
EO: Can you talk about how your career started, what was it like being taking under the wing of Steve Lawler and ViVa Music?
Leon: I’ve been a DJ for 15 years, then around 2004 I started producing tracks and my first bomb was taken by Steve, it was very emotional. He then invited me to play at the Sunwaves Festival in Romania and we became very good friends, he really helped me, believed in me from first day!
EO: You also have releases on big labels like Nick Curly’s Cecille, what are some of your future releases we can look forward to?
Leon: I just finished my first album, it will be out in May on Viva Music. I also have an ep on Waveform, Victor Calderone’s label. I have some remixes on Saved and Rawhentic as well as a new project with an Italian friend of mine called SUPERHERO which came out of Noir Music and is currently climbing the Beatport charts now.
EO: Your career has taken you all over the world, playing some of the biggest clubs on the international stage. What is your favorite venue to play?
Leon: Not a simple answer, there is a lot anyway!!! Space Ibiza and Amenesia in Spain, Beatparty in Italy, Cielo in NY and Stereo in Montreal are my favorites.
EO: This past summer you played the Identity Festival which is primarily an electro/dubstep and a more commercialized music show, what was it like to pretty much educate a monstrous crowd that had not been exposed to your type of sound?
Leon: It was not easy. Steve and I were the only artists to offer tech house! But it went well, people responded well, had fun, and for us it was a very nice experience and unique.We were able to mix our style with others such as electro, drum& bass, indie and it was very educational for people.
EO: What can we look forward to from you this year? Any big collaborations or projects?
Leon: I am very focused on my album, it’s really important to me. There will be a tour, which starts in Dublin with Carl Craig with stop overs in Brazil, the U.S. as well as a new Ibiza residency in a very cool club.
Superhero – It’s Not For You
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