With a hell of a debut record under his belt, San Francisco resident Dominique Leone has been living hectic times since last November, when Norwegian man-of-the-moment Hans-Peter Lindstrøm finally celebrated him joining the Feedelity posse with the heavily spotlighted “Dominique Leone EP”. Its cornerstone was a 12-minute epic jumble coined “Clairevoyage – A Medley By The 16th Rebels Of Mung”, a magnificent piece that counted on the studio support of Hans-Peter, as well as on the Mungolian Jetset’s impressively larger-than-you-thought gang. “Conversational” – another staggering “Dominique Leone EP” delicacy – ended up being licensed for Lindstrøm’s “Late Night Tales” installment for Azuli Records – and released among songs by aces such as Carly Simon, Dusty Springfield and Sly & The Family Stone.

Holding a music degree from Texas Tech University, the Pitchfork contributor and hat collector Dominique is healthily and continuously feeding on sources such as Todd Rundgren, Beach Boys, Harry Nilsson and Abba to engage in preparing his “minimalist prog disco pop” premier album, due in March on Strømland. Meanwhile, he travels US for live solo presentations, eventually joining forces with fellow multi-instrumentalist MaryClare Brzytwa as a duet.

Given signs of how intensively the nerdy-beardy clairevoyaging laws are taking-over, Boogie Central urged to unveil the Leone world of wonders and caught up with the fast-rising Texan-born to find out what else is in pipeline for his 2008 run.

keep loving Leone

Tom “Diepvries” Schaek is the Belgian multi-man behind the Flexx record shop, label, blog and mix provider, investing italo electro-disco with the status of very much cult and still in-demand. With a now solid reputation built upon re-releasing the likes of Crazy Gang, Ozo, Pinneaples, Mr. Master, Twilight Ritual and Bobby Davenport, among others, Flexx hails from the small town of Turnhout, a mainly residential spot that is not exactly part of the Belgian three-city basic dance music circuit, which includes Antwerp, Brussels and Ghent.

Although the 26-year-old only started releasing records in 2005, it was 2002 when the idea of opening a shop like Flexx first stroke a then tired Tom, bored of doing a job he didn’t care for. “This was something I always wanted to do and I noticed Belgian record shops only sold ‘new’ music, so I wanted to fill the gap. It was just before the italo and disco revival over here”.

Licensing

Seeking vintage talents and labels with a similar taste did require some special efforts, though. “We’re always happy to find that the original artists still own the license to their songs. Usually when you have to deal with a major the project ends because for them the administrative burden in terms of obtaining the necessary consents, issuing parts etc. need to be weighed against the income likely to be generated by the licensing deal. In most cases, it’s not worth it for them, which is sad because there are lots of good tracks owned by majors that will never get pressed on vinyl again”, he declares.

more on Diepvries

Synth-disco maestro and Boogie Central amico Salvatore “Casco” Cusato chalks up incredible 25 years since he first released his cornerstone 1983 song “Cybernetic Love”, perpetuating the particularly emotional sci-fi inspired vocoder, chronically catchy basslines and emotional synthesized flava embodied in the name of italo disco.

Currently living in the tiny francophone town of Martigny, Switzerland, Cusato wakes up about 12 pm to split his exciting day-by-day “between spaghetti and music”. “I was born in deep southern Italy, in Kroton, the city were famous mathematician Pythagoras was born. As I hate mathematics, I relocated to Genova, in northern Italy, where I found no numbers to deal with; just good music. Afterwards, Martigny has become my permanent address since it’s a beautiful and very calm landscape”, he tells us.

As the head honcho for Music Control, an artist agency and digital label, he represents artists such as Santa Esmeralda, Leroy Gomez, The Gibson Brothers and Bobby Farrell, the wacko-dancing icon of legendary band Boney M. He’s also been busy readying tracks for Eurodance emergent pop acts, collecting travel adventures from around the world with the artists he manages and scanning for songs on his very own classic Wurlitzer jukebox. “When I have some spare time, I do exactly the same things that I do when I’m busy. I surround myself of musical activities, except playing instruments, as I can’t play any of them”, he grins.

caughting up with Casco

Spanish disco-hero of the moment Barna Soundmachine has just released the second vinyl on his OCSID label - Barna vs Porto EP, where he joins forces with An Der Beat, also from Barcelona, and the Portuguese guys from the Social Disco Club, who make a lovely work on their website. They deconstruct gems such as Gino Soccio’s “Try It Out”, Jacko’s “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough” and Glen Adams Affair’s “Just A Groove” on a limited 4-track 12 inch. Get cracking and buy your copy!