Current state of mind?
I feel extremely grateful for everything that I have, and in small steps I’m rebuilding a part of me that I have neglected for too much time, I feel serene!

What inspired you to become a DJ? Was there a situation that became a turning point for you to start dedicating your life to DJing and making music?
I was in Riccione, Italy. I was working as a dancer at a really beautiful party during Easter, and I saw Scarlett Etienne on set. I saw her so strong, sure of herself, but at the same time simple, like she was born for that. I spent the next two hours staring at her, she literally hypnotized me. I came back home and I thought I wanted to feel like her, and I asked a friend to help me, teach me, explain to me a little about the world that for me was so new and totally different from everything that I had been doing so far.

You grew up in the periphery of Naples. What kind of music were you exposed to during your childhood, do you think you still bring something of these inspirations to your sets in any way?
I was born in Naples, grew up in Scampia, a tough area of Naples where, at the time, it was very easy to give up and choose the wrong way. Music has always saved me and still saves the young people who live there. Music is an island to take shelter every time you want to and dream of doing big things, waiting for the real occasion for actually doing them. I was spending the afternoons with my father listening to his vinyls; and all that music from the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s can be found in my productions full of melodies, never straight, never anonymous… for sure you remember that.

Do you think being a dancer before playing and making music has influenced your sound?
I was hoping yes, but then, when I started DJing, I was shivering anyways, like it was my first time in a club. It was a completely different job, a different task. When I used to dance, my only thought was which bikini colour I had to wear.

Also you were trained as a fashion designer but then you went into music, does your relationship with fashion continue somehow?
The truth is that I like fashion but only when it’s the other people who are doing it, and sometimes not even [that]. I became that type of person that buys 5 identical trousers, because they are comfortable and doesn’t want to change that. I couldn’t become a designer with these prerequisites for sure!

What was the first rave you attended? Were there raves back in Scampia or around the area?
I have never been to a rave. When I was 19, I started to work as a waitress in clubs, therefore I have never really been a clubber. I went from being a waitress to a barista, from a barista to a dancer, from a dancer to a dj, without ever really hanging out in the clubs.

What is a typical day like for Deborah De Luca?
I am a creature of habit: when I don’t travel, I wake up around 10am (not really later but not really early either), I spend a lot of time with my dogs and those from the shelter that I help, then I go in the studio if I have a project to finish; I like cooking, being at the beach with the dogs ( I live by the sea); I love laying for hours on the couch watching Netflix, all this because I spend whole weeks where resting is a miracle, so when I’m at home I act like a bear, I go in hibernation, and I go out rarely!

How is your process to make a song? Do you think about the audience, how you will mix it with other songs, or do you start from scratch and see where the track takes you?
I never think about the audience when I choose a song to construct, just because I think about what I like and about the emotions that I feel. I think of the audience just when I decide to test [the song] and realize if there are some things to change; but usually we have the same tastes, in the sense that, who comes to listen to me loves everything that I do, because it has a logic sense; I have never done something that is completely opposite to who I am, I wouldn’t feel comfortable with myself.

What about the process of putting together a set?
Actually I only prepare the first 4 tracks of the set, those that I need to get me focused on the audience and not on looking for what to play for the first 20 minutes of the set. In those 20 minutes I understand where I am and what public is in front of me and, then, I find the right way for them to have fun.