Ever since he and his band of madcap mates set up Fuse in late 2008, Enzo Siragusa has become somewhat of an icon for East London’s burgeoning party scene. Initially set up as an after-party to cater to their friends’ insatiable desire to keep on dancing, Fuse has morphed into one of the capital’s most popular parties, respected internationally for its distinct sound and unwavering dedication to the cause. Today, Enzo is a force in his own right, regularly taking his seasoned mixing skills to clubs worldwide. Ahead of their milestone 200th party and 4th birthday, MEOKO caught up with the DJ to discuss all things Fuse, and music, related.
Hi Enzo, thanks for talking to us. How are things? Good summer in Ibiza?
Yeah very well thanks. I’ve had an amazing summer, it’s been real manic. I think this week is the first time in about four months that I’ve actually had some time to myself during the week. We ended up doing eight Fuse parties in Ibiza, as well as all the regular London events. Plus I was playing quite a lot of gigs independent of the party, at Richie Hawtin’s night Enter at Space, with Tini on the beach and a few others.
How was the Hawtin party?
It was incredible. I’ve been going to Space for years and he’s really managed to do his own thing with the venue, it totally made me see the club in a new light.
November is shaping up to be the biggest month in Fuse history with the 200th party and 4th Birthday. Did you plan for them to fall within 2 weeks of each other?
Not really to be honest. These celebrations have always happened to fall in November, we did the 99th party and then the 150th party and then the birthday is in November as well. It’s a big month but we’ve had plenty of big months! That said, having Martin [Buttrich]play the 200th event on the 11th will be special as that dubby, rolling groove has had such an influence on us both as DJs and Fuse as a party.
It must feel good to have reached 4 years, it’s quite a serious achievement.
Yeah of course. It’s been hard work but we’ve loved every minute of it. When you see the same people coming week in week out, that’s an amazing feeling. I mean Fuse is like a religion to some people, and it is to us as well. It’s been tough but never has it felt like a chore in the slightest. We all absolutely adore the place, I mean you’d have to to do it for 50 Sundays out of the year!
You play all over the world but it must be special when you play at Fuse. Could you try and describe what it’s like to play there for you?
Well when you play in different cities, each club is different, each crowd reacts in different ways to different things and you have to adapt accordingly. At Fuse however, it’s home. It’s a place where our sound has really evolved from the club, from the dance floor. The crowd, the music, the dance-floor, the soundsystem – all of them have helped mould our sound and the way we DJ.
So you feel Fuse is a space where you are free to experiment?
Definitely. If you’d have heard Rich NxT’s set last week – I mean he blew my mind, never mind the crowd’s. I’m standing there going ‘what the hell is this music?’ I don’t hear this music anywhere else. I get messages from people all over the world saying they’re in London for the weekend but they’re not about on Sunday and is there anywhere else they can go to hear the Fuse sound. Or the London sound as they sometimes refer to it. It’s funny.
How have you seen the party change over the years?
Well when we started it was a very different thing, it was an after-party for one and a very messy one at that. I know I for one was caning it a bit too hard back then. We used to do a weekly party on a Saturday, party all the way through and turn up there at 10am. It was just a small crowd of friends looking for something to do but these days we start at 3pm, we’re a party in and of ourselves, not just an after-party.
I was thinking, what with the huge rise in popularity of Crosstown Rebels and Hot Creations over recent years, house music has very much become the norm and is now attracting a wider crowd, especially in the East London area, that it hadn’t before. Has this affected Fuse in any way?
Not really. We’ve always just stuck to what we do. Our sound is our sound and it’s always been that way. Of course, the music is more popular and for that reason we have a door policy at Fuse, to protect the vibe of the party. Now, as things become more popular, be it house music in general or Fuse itself, you have to protect the original feel of the party. Back when we were in our infancy and the party grew so rapidly out of control we did have to stop and think ‘hang on a minute we have to do something here because otherwise the party could drastically change.’
That’s interesting because you guys do pursue a very specific sound with Fuse and invite many of the same DJs to guest multiple times. Are there any DJs you want to book but have never managed to?
Not particularly. Of course, there are people I’d love to have down the club but that’s something we’re always working on. Most people we’ve wanted to book in the past we’ve eventually managed to get. It takes time though, what with it being a Sunday and it being a small party. I’d love to have Zip in the club soon and there are a lot of great Romanian DJs still coming through. Our main thing however is that we focus on the residents because they’re all coming on leaps and bounds. The likes of Ittetsu, Stuart Hawkins, Samuel Bellis – all these younger artists that are coming through and so the priority is to give them the exposure on the decks and forge the next generation of Fuse DJs.
I respect that and I mean I can’t pretend to know the ins and outs of it but Fuse has been one of the most popular parties in London almost since it began in 2008. There must have been opportunities to upscale to a bigger venue and really push the brand to more dizzying heights?
Trust me, the offers have been there. We probably could have taken that golden ticket but it wouldn’t have been true to what we’re about. Fuse has always just been my platform for playing records – I’m a DJ man, I just love playing records. I spent a lot of time when I was younger not being able to play records so I wouldn’t want to change that, I wouldn’t want to risk damaging something so special. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. At the end of the day I’m not a promoter, I’m a DJ and with Fuse we’ve got a good thing going on. My focus is more on the label which is going to grow and then I’m going to start a new label for the younger generation of Fuse fans and affiliates. That’s where I see the future of Fuse, rather than bigger parties in bigger venues. In this case, bigger isn’t necessarily better.
I agree. So you’re trying to create a kind of Fuse Academy?
Yeah, something like that. Like Man United or something, stick them all in the DJ training camp.
Exactly, get them doing their daily beat-matching drills. You mentioned Fuse London the label. It’s just had its 6th release courtesy of Luke Miskelly & Ittetsu. How has that been received?
The feedback to that EP has been great. Other artists have really been behind it, I saw that Jamie [Jones] played it at DC-10, it was getting played everywhere. The EP is wicked, those boys are making some great music.
And more generally, how is the label coming along?
Yeah it’s all good man, it’s doing its thing organically. I mean I haven’t got a clue how to promote a label so I just started it, got some tracks, pressed some vinyl and that was it. Thankfully we’ve sold out of every vinyl release we’ve ever had and digitally things seem do well. But again, it’s all organic, we don’t shove things down people’s throats, it wouldn’t work anyway with the dubbier, deeper sound we’re pursuing. We push it a lot through the club and it’s just a great platform for the guys and myself.
You collaborate with Chris Lattner on the remix. Are you feeling comfortable in the studio at the moment?
Well I haven’t had any time over the summer to do much if I’m honest. I’m in the process of building my new studio and hopefully getting some more music out there and some more collaborations. I’ve had a track which I’ve been sitting on for two years which is coming out, that’s a collaboration with Liefke from Afrilounge and there are some other bits I’ve done with Seb [Zito], but it’s all stuff we were working on before the summer. I’ve done literally no music these past months, just a couple of loops on a plane on my laptop so it’s time to get focused and work on my ideas.
Do you find you’re a natural producer?
[Pause] No, I’m a DJ first and foremost. I’ve gotten into production that way round but I’ve taken my time and it does sort of come more naturally to me now. Not necessarily to make lovely, beautiful music but to make stuff for the dance-floor, grooves that get a crowd moving. I’m not musically trained so I just know my way around Ableton and Logic. I’m still learning.
Well keep at it. Finally, I assume you pursue music full-time and have done for a while. Where do you see your own career progressing in the next few years?
As I mentioned I’ve been playing a lot independently of Fuse. I played Enter, I played at ADE with the Desolat guys and I’ve actually been playing a lot b2b with Tini, which is nice because that’s a relationship which developed through Fuse three or so years ago. I reckon there will be a little bit more of that in the future. But yeah, I’ve got a fair few bookings keeping me busy outside of Fuse at the minute, which is great.
tiNi b2b Enzo Siragusa - Fuse @ 93 Feet East
But I sense Fuse remains your number one priority?
Always man. I’ve had to take a little bit of a step back from playing every week just because it’s not possible to balance that and a solo career, and also because it’s hard to find enough tunes I want to play at the club. It sounds mad but what makes that party special is the fact that we’re playing so much of our own music as well, so I need to focus on that, just like the boys have been recently. I’m playing there once a month, well twice this month because I’m the lucky one, and then just concentrating on keeping the party rolling, keep playing as much as possible elsewhere and concentrate on getting back in the studio in my time off.
By Carlos Hawthorn
