Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us!

Thank you, guys, for having us!

Congrats on your new EP that was just released in June, as well as your label debut on the Anjunabeats Rising series! Can you give us an idea of what has gone into this release and how your relationship with Anjunabeats came about?

Thanks a lot! So, this EP was all about bringing some “old skool” sounds back into our projects, but with modern production. Particularly with “Higher”, we really wanted to capture those 90’s euphoric “Rave” moments and we have to say we were super happy with the results. Anjunabeats first came about when we decided to take a chance and send our track “Time” to them for some feedback. It was the first track we did where we decided to take a different approach to our usual progressive trance style and try something new so we weren’t 100% sure how it would be received. And actually, whilst we were waiting for some final feedback on “Time”, we created “Are We Dreaming” & “Higher”, and again decided to send them to Anjuna as well. In the end they took all 3, and of course, we couldn’t be happier about this!  

It's exciting to see that your track, "Time," is being supported by artists such as Armin van Buuren, Markus Schulz, and many other huge names!  You've also seen a couple of your tracks in the Beatport Trance Top 20.  That's amazing! What are your thoughts on this?

Yeah It’s amazing to see so much support for our music… Seeing big established artists playing and enjoying our tracks feels very rewarding. We were delighted to watch our new EP climb the Beatport chart, and of course, we were over the moon when we scored our very first top ten as a duo. Not that we’re all about charts and that kind of stuff, but in the end it’s a tangible sign of appreciation and we’re grateful for all the support we received by the whole community of fans and artists.

Can you tell us about how Alex Sonata and TheRio was formed and where you draw your inspiration/sound from?

It was the typical “collab bro?” situation hah! It all started back in 2018, as we first got in touch on Instagram after supporting each other’s tracks for a while. We talked about music a lot and finally we decided to give it a try doing something together. We actually realized that we worked really well, so we planned another one straight after. Before we knew it, we had made like four or five tracks, so we started discussing the possibility of making our partnership official which we eventually did a few months later. Recently with our sound, we’ve both been drawing inspiration from early warehouse “rave” scene, but trying to put a more modern spin on it. Riccardo has a solid techno background, whereas Alex comes from more trancy roots: we gave it a try combining these styles and after a few attempts we can finally say to have found the sweet spot. What we’re working on at the moment is to make this sound as much as our trademark as possible, something that we can be uniquely identified with. We want people to hear a track and say “oh yeah, that’s some proper Alex Sonata & TheRio stuff!”

Just recently you were both able to play together in person for the first time. "No cardboard involved." How was that experience?

Haha yeah the cardboard cutout was a lot of fun! For the ones who have no idea of what we’re talking about: back in April, when “Time” came out, Anjuna asked the artists involved in the EP to put together a dj set to stream on their channels. Back then there were very strict travel restrictions going and it was just impossible for us to meet in person. So, we arranged to shoot the video in Cagliari, Riccardo’s hometown, with a beautiful seaside background, but we still wanted Alex to be present in it, in a way or another. After some brainstorming sessions we came out with the idea of printing a full-size picture of him on a self-standing cardboard cutout and place it next to Riccardo. No one expected that, it was a bit of a surprise for the Anjuna team too, but it has been fun reading all the comments during the live streaming. The cardboard has now found its safe place in Riccardo’s studio: it might look a little bit creepy the first time you bump into it, but after a while you get used to his watchkeeping presence haha!

Fast forward to the end of June, when travel restrictions were softened, we’ve been able to fly over to Milan and meet halfway. It has been a very good feeling to finally meet in person after 3 years of video chats, and on the plus side, we got on so well with each other - which is probably quite important! Of course, we were both a bit anxious when it came to performing together, as neither of us had performed as a “duo” before. However, everything seemed really natural and flowed really well between us, nothing felt forced for us and we genuinely enjoyed performing together. And we’re looking forward to the next time we can get behind the decks!

Without actually playing together, what has your creation process looked like and what have been some challenges you've faced? Also, now that you've had the opportunity to play together, do you foresee any changes to that process?

When it comes to us creating our tracks, things can get a little time consuming, as we both use different DAW’s and we’re never in the same studio together. So we spend a lot of our time bouncing and sending audio stems back & forth. And unfortunately, due to us living in different countries for now, that process is meant to remain the same. Surely playing together to a crowd will be inspiring as we’ll finally have the chance to road test our music and see what works better on the dancefloor. We genuinely can’t wait for that to happen, not really for the production process that as we said before will most likely remain as it is, but we’re sure it will bring in fresh ideas.

August 14th was an important date for you, as you made your live debut at the legendary Ministry of Sound Club in London for a sold out ABGT 450 Warm Up Party! What does this mean to you, especially with everything that's been going on with Covid?

This really has been a dream come true for us both, being able to make our live debut in such a legendary club. We never played together in front of an actual crowd before that, the excitement was tangible as we stepped into the DJ booth. Being in a nightclub for the first time after 18 months felt surreal and even if we were up for the closing set, we came over early to enjoy the night at its fullest and it was magical! All the artists played great sets, and it was great to see our fellow Anjuna Rising mates doing their debut as well!

COVID has really hit this industry hard, and is continuing to do so right now – latest example is ASOT where were supposed to play in just a few days, which has been moved again to next year due to government restrictions. Of course we’re so happy to be getting a few bookings, but we’re also just grateful to be able to get back out socializing, dancing and sharing our love of music with everyone, that’s not to be taken for granted these days.

What else can we expect from you here in the near future?

Well, we’ve got another EP and a remix forthcoming on Anjunabeats later this year that we’re very excited about. Also, a collab we made with a well known trance name is set to release in September, but we can’t spoil any further on this one… Meanwhile we are unceasingly working on new music, we already have a couple of new tracks finished and we can’t wait to test them out there. On top of that, we’re taking part in the Anjunabeats Rising Residency, a brand new radio show born from the ashes of Anjunabeats Worldwide, which will see us in the line up for the next four months alongside other great Anjuna emerging talents such as Amy Wiles, GVN and Nourey. Something is moving on the touring side as well, with a bunch of gigs pinned down for 2022 already, but again, we’ll have to wait and see how the pandemic will go in the next few months for that. Fingers crossed anyway!

Thanks again for meeting with us! Is there anything else you'd like to say to our readers before we go?

Thank you for having us! Stay safe and hopefully we’ll see you around soon!