Interview: A Casa da solo with Home Alone (interview + free exclusive tune!)

Boba continues his journey into the progressive and melodic depths of worldwide breakbeat.
If you have not come across a Home Alone track yet, then it’s time to wipe the sleet from your eyes and take the pillow from your head. The gates were opened 11 months ago and since then a tidal barrage of original material and remixes have been let loose.
With original material on Dead Famous, Vim Breaks and Ego Shot, plus remixes on Dusted Breaks, Breaks.sk, Yellow Finger and Scarcity to name a few, you will get a massive variety of styles and sounds. To me the Home Alone sound has many elements from all breakbeat branches, and this is what makes every release and remix interesting. I know Home Alone is only just getting warmed up, so watch this space for an onslaught of future productions.
Below you can check out his latest remix of MDK's Our Plan on Digital Sensation UK and a couple of future tracks to be released on Big Square Records (6th December) and Ridiculoud Records (30th November).

DSUK017 - MDK - Our Plan (Home Alone Remix) by Digital Sensation UK

Home Alone / High Eight / 601 - The Chameleons preview by Big Square Records

HomeAlone - Awake [RIDIC011] by HomeAlone

For the people who don’t know you, who, where and what is Home Alone?

My name is Dino. I'm Italian, I'm based in London, I'm a graphic designer with a massive passion for music in general and for electronic productions when it comes to making my own stuff.

Tell us a bit about your background before you were making breakbeat?

Before breakbeat I used to be a bass player. My style of choice was mostly rock, heavy stuff but not only. In my records shelves there has always been a big variety of styles and genres. I love all kinds of music. I grew up listening to metal, grunge, new wave, indie rock and pop. Seventies hard rock is my real cup of tea (Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin above all). That is what started awesomeness in music imo.

How long have you been making music, and what made you start producing breakbeat?

I started making music long time ago. I moved into electronic productions when I found myself without a band and without the time to put one together. So I bought myself a nice drum machine, a few synth sequencers and later I installed Ableton Live on my computer. I got hooked in the process. Producing breakbeat and techno came natural. Those acid sounds could only lead me to those styles which I've learned to love deeply.

You have had a massive assault of original and remix material come out over the last year. What’s in store for the future?

Trust me, it's not over yet! hahahah. In the immediate future I have countless releases piling up, both originals and remixes. I'm having them released on different labels simultaneously. I'm finding it hard to keep up, but I'm having an awesome time! I am also currently working on a collaboration with Robosapiens, and am about to start one with Llupa. Would love to finally go out and play some live sets.

You really do have your own Home Alone sound. What is your production set up? Which piece of equipment could you not live without and how does it work for you in the studio?

Thank you for your kind words. I must say that every piece of my production set up is something I can't do without at this point. I use a Jomox XBase09 (drum machine), a Future Retro Revolution (clone of the (in)famous 303) and a Roland MC202. My DAW of choice is Ableton Live with countless VSTs. Ableton live is controlled by an Akai APC40 and a Novation Remote SL.

The process of producing is always different, but if I had to summarise it I'd say I often start with a basic beat (which I later arrange and develop) and I spend most of the time looking for the right bassline and putting together an idea of structure for the track. Once these three things are there, the rest of the process is tweaking, adjusting, layering, arranging, adding leads, stabs, melodies, percussions, creating dynamics and trying to make the track sound at its best. Once I'm happy I spam all the labels looking for the one to release the track with heheh.

What's a typical day in the life of Home Alone?

I go to work every day from 9.30 to 6 and I'm lucky enough to love my job and the people I work with, so those are often some awesome hours. Then back home (alone for a couple of hours) to do some beats and keep up with all my social networks and stuff. On the weekends, sometimes I go out for a boogie sometimes I stay in, it depends on how lazy I feel.

Name three big tunes that are blowing you away at the moment?

Blackout by Yanix and Ghettface, love the beat! Hard Flaw revamp by Elite Force, love the acid! Neurodriver's Snake Charmer remix by Luqas, love the production skills.

And some final words from your good self?

Thanks very much for interviewing me, this past year in music has been a massive one for me and I'd love to thank everybody who believed in me giving me a chance to come out with my music starting with Ian (Daniella Downs) for finding me and loving my music so much to sign two original tracks of mine to Dead Famous when Home Alone was just the name of a shitty 80s movie. Grigoris at VIM Breaks for believing in me and constantly following me since the beginning. Then Mesmer (Scarcity), Ghettface (Ridiculoud), Duane Berry (DSUK), Adam Retroid (Ego Shot), Big Nick D (Big Square), Lee Martin (Dusted Breaks), Macho (Breaks SK), Rumbler (Yellow Finger), Jaime Orebeat (Distortion) etc for giving me a chance to be part of their music families. All the DJs that gave my music a spin and the radio shows who hosted my mixes and played my tracks in their sessions, and all the producers who remixed my stuff adding their awesomeness to it. I love cheese! Hahahahha