No Label (aka Carlo Megighian) is a young Italian producer, composer and multi-instrumentalist from the small city of Padua. Recently partnered with Red Bull Records, his music came to the attention of the label because of his unique experimental style. One moment he can delve into maximalist glitchy electronica, then the next he will flirt with languid ambient textures…all informed with a leftfield hip-hop sensibility from his roots producing for Italy’s biggest Trap/Rap artists.
After recently dropping his maximalist production ‘MEGA’ , No Label returns with his more restrained second instalment ‘TORAZINE’ which was premiered by COMPLEX.
No Label says… “TORAZINE is a dreamy / ethereal track that plays on a hyper-swung rhythm that evolves during the song. This mixes with elements derived from UK Drill, arpeggiators that take up the distorted sound and hyper-effected vocal samples to create a sort of ‚Wall of sound‘ .TORAZINE was actually the name of an Italian underground magazine linked to the rave/clubbing circles of the 90s. I have never read it, having only been born in 1999, but recently discovered its existence and was struck by its crazy aesthetic. I dedicated the name of this track to the title because I felt a closeness between the acidic and eclectic sounds of my track and the stroboscopic aesthetics of the magazine.”
To celebrate the release No Label will be livestreaming on the Red Bulls Records YT Channel May 18th. The live performance will include notable new releases MEGA and TORAZINE as well as some surprises. Filmed at a warehouse owned by Italian street artist Ravo (http://www.ravo.art/). No Label will also give viewers the chance to win some exclusive merch items only available for those who tune in:
No Label – Livestream
18th May 2021 – 7PM CET / 6PM BST / 10AM PT
Red Bulls Records YT Channel
No Label wasn’t surrounded by music growing up. His journey began late in school learning classical guitar on a dusty old relic belonging to his mother. Music was a welcome distraction in the unexciting industrial province of Northern Italy. An epiphany was realised when he came across Nirvana whilst surfing on YouTube. After hearing the initial riff of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” he, like so many budding musicians before him, promptly asked his parents for an electric guitar. Still only 14 years old, No Label quickly formed a band, Animal Farm, with himself on guitar, and friends on electronic drum machine bass and vocals.
Despite not lasting long, being in a band gave him a taste for producing, mixing genres and experimenting with arrangements. At this time he was becoming increasingly fixated with the gnarly sounds of Italian Trap with its banging 808s and tales of crime culture. It was at this point that his No Label alter ego began to take shape. “I just thought they were cool and the memes were funny, so as a joke I started making beats, but people kept asking for more and more of them. I didn’t take it seriously at first and even used an automatic name generator on google which came up with No Label and that has stuck”.
Slowly he began to explore beyond the confines of Trap. Whilst expanding his horizons he was drawn to artists pushing the fringes of electronic music such as Flying Lotus and SOPHIE. As a result of his ever-evolving style No Label’s production skills became increasingly noticed. A chance encounter led to leftfield Italian hip hop label Pluggers persuading him to create an album. The self-titled opus was released in late 2019, and this is where No Label fully expressed himself, weaving, chopping and pasting his way through a multitude of styles.
No Label’s unique production style was now being recognised by major Italian Hip Hop / Trap artists, who began to tap him up for his services. 2020 saw No Label work on productions for Egreen (“Idee Chiare”), Dola & Ugo Borghetti (“Pepita”) and Joe Scacchi ( “Bitch”). Producing for other artists is something No Label does with great pleasure… “but I always have to balance my ego with other people’s artistic vision. When I make my own music, I’m free to make weird tempo changes or crazy transitions“.
2020 the world was brought to its knees. Instead of succumbing to the monotony of the enduring lockdowns, No Label kept himself busy by pushing ever further with his musical explorations and honing his production style. As he experimented with new sounds he was soon stacking up demo after demo. This dedicated work ethic did not go unnoticed as in late 2020, No Label partnered with Red Bull Records, with whom he has further developed and shaped his sound.
With “TORAZINE”, the second of his two Spring 2021 releases, No Label is the latest in a series of global artists to release singles through Red Bull Records.
