Gio Santi on His Roots in Brooklyn and Early Musical Influences

Avoure and Gio Santi have teamed up for a new single called Always On My Mind, out now. The track started as a rough instrumental sitting on Avoure’s hard drive for over a year before Gio Santi added his vocal ideas and helped bring it to life. The result is a clean and effective blend of melodic house production and a focused vocal performance built for club play.

In the interview below, Gio Santi explains how the collaboration came together, what made this track different from his past work with artists like Maceo Plex, and what the writing process looked like behind the lyrics and harmonies. He also talks about the direction of his current projects and the creative momentum that’s come from reconnecting with producers across electronic music.

Gio, could you tell us a bit about yourself and what or who inspires you the most?

Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, I was first introduced to music by listening to my father play 50s rock ‘n’ roll/Doo-wop records. I used to sing along to those tunes.

There were so many great artists during that era, and I truly believe that’s what gave me my sense of melody. I started writing songs in my teens and working in the New York City nightclubs, which exposed me to incredible DJs like Frankie Knuckles, Larry Levan, David Morales, Junior Vasquez, and of course, Johnny Dynell. During this time, I was fortunate enough to meet the President of Sire Records, Seymour Stein.

I played him my demos and was given a record deal. It was a great moment for me, particularly because Sire Records had a medley of artists that I admired — The Talking Heads, Depeche Mode, Madonna, The Smiths, Blondie, The Pretenders, and the list goes on.

Can you share your first impressions when you heard Avoure’s demo of “Always On My Mind”? What emotions did the track evoke, and what was your immediate reaction?

He sent me two demos that were brilliant.

When I heard the first instrumental, which ultimately became “Always On My Mind,” I was very impressed! Electronic dance music takes on so many forms and styles, so it’s always a challenge to come up with a melody and lyrics.

There was no doubt in my mind that I was working with a very talented and passionate producer in Avoure!

You’ve previously collaborated with Maceo Plex and Mariano Mellino. In your view, what makes this project with Avoure different from your previous collaborations?

Working with Maceo Plex was a great experience, particularly after spending some time away from the music industry. Collaborating with him was my re-introduction. Maceo Plex was a fan of some tracks I did back in the day, which led him to seek me out and record “Revision.”

After that, he urged me to start an Instagram. I did, and that’s what led to other DJs/producers contacting me to write lyrics and melodies to their songs, one of them being Mariano Mellino. Along with Emi Folgar, we recorded three songs in Argentina, one being “Never Enough,” which was picked up by Atlant Records.

Working with Avoure was stylistically different. As I mentioned before, producers have different styles and approaches to their sound. In order for a collaboration to work, you have to adapt and compromise. And he brought out the best in me.

I know you write your own lyrics. How long does that process usually take for you, and what was it like in the case of “Always On My Mind”? Did you experience that “flow state” while working on this song?

Yes, I do!

The process could either take 15 minutes or a couple of weeks, particularly when you’re working with instrumental tracks that you didn’t create yourself. “Always On My Mind” was tricky. Avoure wanted chants, harmonies, and obviously a hook. So he pushed me to get to that place, and I’m so thankful for it.

There are so many beautiful nuances and accents to this song, particularly the first harmony part in the intro where I sing, “It was you and always you” — one of my favorite parts 🙂

Putting the lyrics aside, what do you hope listeners will feel the first time they hear this track?

I hope the listeners immediately hear that beautiful melodic sonic rhythm that Avoure so creatively put into this production.

Now that we’ve talked about the listeners, I’d like to know what this song means to you personally. And more broadly, what are you looking for in the creative work you do? Is there a particular feeling, experience, or idea that you try to capture when you write new songs?

“Always On My Mind” gave me a platform to be more creative with my songwriting. I try to write and sing differently with every track I’m presented with. Dance music takes on many forms, and producers have their own styles when they’re creating it. If you listen to my other tracks, particularly “Never Enough” with Mariano Mellino, you will hear the difference.

As far as what direction I want to go in musically, I have a couple of projects I’m working on that lean more towards the pop side. One in particular is called “Chasing the Sun,” which I hope to release soon on an EP of four to five songs.

As far as I know, Avoure lives in Los Angeles and you’re based in Brooklyn, New York, so you worked on this track remotely? Yet “Always On My Mind” feels like a complete story, where the music and lyrics come together in a unique way. How do you think you managed to achieve that?

Hey, the Los Angeles Dodgers use to play in Brooklyn! Ha! I feel when two people with respective talents come together and share ideas… Magic can happen.

And finally, could you tell us a bit about your upcoming creative plans? Do you intend to release more solo material, and are there any artists you’d like to collaborate with in the future?

As I mentioned before, I’m currently working on music and lyrics for a project that I hope to release soon, which demonstrates a different side but is not too far off from what I’m currently doing in the realm of dance music.

As far as other producers, it would be great to work with Rufus Du Sol, Mark Ronson, or Martin Gore from Depeche Mode. But I’m always willing to work with up-and-coming producers or artists who inspire me with their sound.