Lucy

Under the alias Lucy, Italian producer, DJ, and label owner Luca Mortellaro rose to prominence as a defining presence in the late-noughties surge of Berlin techno. Born in Palermo, Italy, Mortellaro absorbed old-school hip-hop and jungle during his formative years. At eighteen, his growing interest in percussion, drumming, and rhythm led him to Siena, Italy, for formal study. There he mastered the tabla and immersed himself in Indian classical music, elements that later supplied a core rhythmic basis for his productions. Several years afterward, relocating to Paris marked his initial foray into electronic music; a demo discovered by British producer James Holden forged a lasting friendship that proved influential. In 2007 the first two Lucy EPs surfaced—Glass Computer and Open House—both shaped by minimal techno and electro. The next year brought The Liar EP and Downstairs on Ercolino’s Meerestief Records. After shifting from Paris to Berlin, Mortellaro encountered fresh sonic influences and, in 2009, launched his own imprint, Stroboscopic Artefacts. He conceived the label as a platform spanning the full range of electronic music, modeled after the pioneering British imprint Warp Records. Lucy’s inaugural release on the label, the 2009 single Why Don’t You Change, incorporated touches of dub techno and IDM, establishing a hybrid aesthetic that became central to Stroboscopic’s catalogue. As the Berlin sound gained momentum, Mortellaro’s productions and remixes attracted widespread demand, resulting in appearances on major techno outlets such as CLR, Perc Trax, and Mote-Evolver. In 2011 he issued his debut album, Wordplay for Working Bees, which wove together his accumulated influences while straddling domestic listening and club environments. The accompanying remix collection, Beelines for Working Bees, featured reinterpretations by Tommy Four Seven, James Ruskin, Truss, and Peter Van Hoesen. The following year saw the EP Banality of Evil, a renewed collaboration with Singapore producer Xhin originally issued on CLR, and the Curle Recordings single Finnegan. Early in 2013 Mortellaro revealed plans for the joint EP History Survivors with American producer Silent Servant, slated for Mote-Evolver.