Luca Testa and Head Studios present their latest project in exclusive interview

In an increasingly competitive industry, which has significantly evolved from the days of Nicky Romero and Hardwell being label owners apart from being artists in their own regard, it is becoming evermore difficult for artists to remain just artists. While big artists are opening labels to provide a platform to upcoming producers, Turin resident Luca Testa, a DJ and production virtuoso on the rise, has the answer to both – the problems that restrict him to being just an artist and the one that keeps young producers from realizing their full potential. He brings to the industry the very unique and status-quo challenging concept of Head Studios.

Under his ownership in association with a few others working with him, Head Studios is a concept wherein services which are either closely related to music production or artist management are provided. These services of the first category involve mastering, mixing, production, recording among others while on the other hand, services of the second kind include things that are surrounding the music such as finding a singer, promo responsibility and placing the track out there. To properly understand this exceptionally interesting new concept and to know about his own venture into a previously uncharted territory of making producers self-dependent, we sat down with Luca and the Head Studios team itself for an exclusive interview on their views and ways.

Tell us about the studio in general. What is the list of contents (equipment) you have there?

I have a lot of different equipment : analog as well as digital equipment. To begin with I start from a Windows PC and 2 hard disks of 1 terabyte. I have the UAD plugins from Universal Audio. As you can see in the photos, I have two analog racks on the desk. The left analog rack is composed by recordings elements (compressor, noise gate, Pre-amp, patch bay, and FX) and the rights analog rack is composed by mixing and mastering elements (mastering compressor, EQ, maxi-miser and enhancer)

What is the importance of having such studio as an aspiring producer? What are the benefits you have as an artist having all that equipment lined up for your needs?

Having a good studios is very important for upcoming DJs and producers; it is very important to have a comfortable place where you can sit and relax before making music. You can make good music also with a normal laptop on the road (as I always do) but when I have to finalize the tracks, I need a studio with good speakers, good acoustics and good instruments. Having these kind of instruments is a benefit because you can do all the mixing and mastering stuff on your own and experiment

What is the idea behind building such as studio? What brought you to that decision?

All my old tracks were made at my home studio with just a laptop and speakers, after 3 years of sound engineering schools I decided to build a studio to have a good place to make music to focus my 100% on this. I have decided also to make really good partners with a lot of agencies to offer services for DJs and producers in terms of mixing and mastering, assistance in productions, promo, track placements and many more.

 What’s the most essentials services you offer?

The Head Studios project was born to help up and coming DJs & producers to build their career. We are 5 people who work here, everyone has their own job. I personally focus on all the technical stuff i.e. Mixing/Mastering/Production/Recording and the others are focusing on all the other services that we offer such as track placement, promo services, finding a singer and more. I’m really proud to have such a great team!

What’s the approach of building that studio, how did you know exactly what kind of equipment would you like to be there?

Building a great studio is very hard, first you have to know all the most important things before you start. I had to learn at school how exactly build a professional studio. Starting with the isolation and then to the acoustic treatment. I personally used rock wool, lead rubber and drywall for the isolation and for the treatment I used the Vicoustic panels. I think I’m going to make a video of how to build a professional studio very soon!

 What is more important – idea or equipment?

When you are making music, it is very important to have both – having a good idea can be the solution but having the good instruments with the good idea is the perfect combination! When you are building a studio (as in for producing music) it is very important to have first an idea of what type of studio you need it to be and then put the best equipment that you can have!

Did you go to a sound engineering school or did received external consulting before approaching the built of the studio?

When I finished the high school, I decided to make music the focus of my life. I studied in 2 different music schools, the first one in Turin, my home town, where I studied music production. The second one was in Saluzzo, where I studied for 2 years as a Sound Engineer and where I learned playing piano and guitar.

Pick one producer you’d like to host in your studio, and why?

There are so many good producers that I would like to host in my studio because there is always somethings to learn from other producers but if I have to choose one I think it would be Deorro. He is one of the most renowned producers I ever meet and his new album is testament to his production talent.

For how many years do you think this studio will satisfy your productions’ needs? Is it an individual addiction or do you see this as essential studio for every musician/producer? What advice would you give to those who can’t afford it? What kind of equipment do they need as a starting point?

As I explained before, making music is not so complicated like it was in the past. Everyone with a laptop and 2 good speakers can make somethings really cool, but at the same time I suggest there should be a place where you can finalize your project with good acoustics to make sure of the mixing and mastering aspects. It is also a place where you can take inspiration from – having inspiration is very important for making music.

Lastly, what does the future hold for your career as a producer now that your new studio is finished? What about Head Studios’ future projects? Could you give us some hints at interesting collaborations? More releases under Deorro’s wings?

At the moment I’m working on a lot of new tracks and couple of big collaborations. Although I can’t say more about them but what can I say is that some of them will be released on Deorro’s Panda Funk! At the same time me and the Head Studios team are working on lots of new music and partners! For people who are interested in having more info about our team can write an email at [email protected] and the team will get back as soon as possible!

You can access Head Studio’s website from here. Their presence on social media is accessible here on Facebook and here on Linkedin.