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LUCKY 7: RUI DA SILVA

Rui Da Silva's Lucky 7...

Over the coming months Portuguese producer and DJ, Rui Da Silva, is working on three exciting and evolving projects. One will be his own forthcoming ‘clean meets dirty’ releases through his own influential and highly revered label Kismet. And as the summer starts to unfold Rui is performing a live show with his long-time compadre DJ Vibe. 

They’re reforming their '90s Underground Sound of Lisbon entity, playing old hits and some new material in an entirely visual show, “a mixture of Daft Punk and Kraftwerk”, he tells DJ Mag. “It’s looking really good actually, we’ve been given a nice budget to put the show together.”

Simultaneously he’s been working with a fellow Portugese producer, also living in London, called Danny de Matos; their Lisbon Kid project is steeped in downtempo beats, “kind of like Air, Zero 7, songs and electronica mixed up”.

Currently he’s working out of a legendary studio in London’s Soho that’s been a haven for the likes of the Sex Pistols, Elton John and the Klaxons. Handy as well, as it’s a hop, skip and a jump away from where he lives with his gorgeous wife and label partner Gilly and their two kids. 

What’s the track that reminds you of your childhood?

“There’s one that springs to mind, it was probably one of the first albums that I ever had, because my dad had gone to New York in '77 or '78 and he came back with two albums, one was ‘Outlandos d’Amour’ from The Police and the whole album is very relevant to me because I was very young, but I would have to say ‘Roxane’ is the strongest track from that time. In those days we used to listen to the whole album, from the beginning to the end.”

What was the first record that you bought?

“The first single was ‘Born To Be Alive’ by Patrick Hernandez. Disco, very, very uptempo disco track. And as an album it was ‘It’s Alive’ from the Ramones. I remember going out with my grandad and I had some money that he had given me. I dragged him into the record shop that I used to pass by, but that I could never go into and couldn’t afford to buy any music.”

What’s the cheesiest record in your collection?

“I’ve got nothing in my collection that I would consider embarrassing because it’s just a path of my journey enjoying music. But the things that might shock people the most are records by heavy metal bands. I can’t comprehend why I was into heavy metal. It’s not my favourite genre. I progressed to rock and I was into AC/DC very briefly, and then moved out of that and moved into electronic music with Kraftwerk, and stayed there for a long time. I would say Iron Maiden ‘Number of the Beast’.”

What’s the track that’s guaranteed to make you cry?

“I’d would say there are many songs that are very emotional, but for me it would be a song from a classical composer called Arvo Part and it’s ‘Cantus In Memory of Benjamin Britten’. It’s probably one of the most intense pieces of music I’ve ever heard. It’s just that if I play it to myself or I play it to anyone else, it’s impossible to follow with anything else. It brings a deep sense of grief, really strong.”

What’s an album that you’re currently into? 

“There’s a few of them. I’ve really been enjoying Jon Hopkins' ‘Immunity’, I think it’s really brilliant what he’s doing there and it baffles me some of the sounds he achieves. It makes me want to go back to the studio and start all over again.

“I’ve not worked with him, I’d love to work with someone like him yeah, people that are pushing the envelope in music, they really interest me. I rediscovered ‘Starsailor’ from Tim Buckley just about a week ago, and I’ve been enjoying it and how cutting-edge the album actually is, and it was made in the middle of the '70s I think.”

What’s the record in your collection that you most treasure?

“I think one of the records that’s quite special to me, quite valuable, I would say is from Walter Murphy, ‘Disco Symphony’, not only is it rare and quite valuable it’s special to me. The sounds and the textures of the arrangements on that album sound quite special. Disco with classical music is quite interesting.”

What is your all-time favourite track of all-time?

“I could say ‘Raspberry Beret’ from Prince. I would definitely choose a song from Prince, and that would be one of my favourite tracks. He was playing next to my house yesterday. People had been there since 10 in the morning and he only came on at midnight. I’ve seen him three times live, I would have loved to see him but I don’t have the ability to spend the whole day queuing up. It went all around the block.”