Ilario Liburni discusses his Invade Records imprint and new EP 'What is Time Travel'

Invade Records has now been operating for well over a decade and hasfeatured names such as Ricardo Villalobos, tINI and Dan Ghenacia alongthe way. Looking back, what achievement with the label are you mostproud of, and was there a particular release or moment where you feltInvade had really established its own identity?

Honestly, I’m most proud that Invade still feels authentic after all these years. Inever tried to follow trends too much, just focused on music I really believed in.Working with artists like Ricardo, tINI and Dan definitely helped shape thejourney, but I think the biggest achievement is that people still recognize thelabel’s sound today.

Your own catalogue stretches across labels including Adam’s Bite, IntoThe Wizard’s Sleeve, Defected, Noir Music and of course your own Invadeand Cardinal imprints. How have those different label environmentsshaped your approach in the studio, and have any collaborations or labelrelationships left a lasting impact on your sound?

Every label brings a different energy. Some push you more towards club energy,others give more room to experiment. Releasing on different imprints definitelyhelped me grow and see my own sound from different angles. Running Invadeand Cardinal also taught me to trust my instincts more. Collaborations andspending time around certain artists definitely left a mark on me too.

Across your productions there’s often a balance between functionality forthe dance floor and more nuanced, hypnotic details. Do you consciouslyaim for that tension when writing music, or is it something that’sdeveloped naturally over the years?

It just kind of happened naturally over the years. I always want the tracks towork in a club, but I also love adding those little details and textures that peoplemaybe don’t notice straight away. I think that’s what gives a track more depthand keeps it interesting over time

You’ve worked alongside and shared musical space with respected artistsincluding Thomas Melchior, Rhadoo, DJ W!LD and Sascha Dive. Are thereany experiences or conversations from those circles that fundamentallychanged how you think about underground electronic music?

Definitely. Artists like Thomas Melchior, Rhadoo or DJ W!LD all have their ownstrong identity, and being around that mindset teaches you a lot. You naturallyget inspired by the people around you, but at the end of the day it’s importantto trust your own taste and direction. That’s the beauty of underground music,it gives you the freedom to really be yourself as an artist.

Invade has remained committed to groove-led, stripped-back house andtechno despite constant shifts in trends. Has it become harder to preservea clear label identity in today’s landscape, or do you think strong curationmatters more now than ever I think curation matters more than ever now. There’s so much music out therethat having a clear identity is important. People should immediately understandthe vibe and direction of a label when they see a release.

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Your new EP What Is Time Travel feels conceptually intriguing even beforehearing the music. Where did the title come from, and was there aparticular idea around memory, perception or movement through time thatinformed the record as a whole?

The title actually came from digging really deep for interesting vocal samples. Icame across these spoken vocals talking about time travel and perception oftime, and that immediately sparked something creatively. The main title grewfrom that idea and became the starting point for the whole EP atmosphere.

The release moves through different moods, from the warped spoken-word energy of What Is Time Travel to the buoyancy of TranscendentBeauty, while Alexander Skancke offers his own interpretation of the titletrack. What made him the right fit for the remix, and what surprised youmost about his version?

Alexander felt like a natural choice because I’ve actually been following hismusic for a few years now. We met a while back during ADE and connectedreally well from the start. Later on I invited him to play together with me andMassimo Girardi at Ampere, and we had a really great time there. So asking himfor the remix felt very natural. I really liked how he gave the track his own twistwhile still keeping that deeper vibe alive. Many thanks to Alex!

Having built labels, released extensively and remained active in theunderground for years, what still motivates you most today, is itdiscovering new artists through Invade, refining your own productions, orchasing those rare moments where a track genuinely surprises you?

What still motivates me is simply that music has always been a real passion forme. I genuinely love being surrounded by music, connecting with peoplethrough it, discovering new artists and spending time in the studio. At the endof the day it still feels like something fun to do, and I think that’s reallyimportant.

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