Vibing at maximum frequency

Mr.Q8 is a pretty well-known name at Speedcore Italia events. For many people, his music is more than just sound, it's a vibe to get into another state of mind. Let's have a chat with this eccentric gentleman to find out how he became this exclusive artist.

Mr.Q8, aka Fulvio, describes himself as a producer, DJ (back in the days) and live performer from the Milan area in Italy. "Old enough to have seen the last 30 years of evolution of the core scene with my own eyes, but too young ro retire already" he says.

Setting the environment

During his childhood in the nineties, Fulvio always spent his time into electronic music. He's always been attracted and fascinated by this genre, especially the British panorama with artists like The Prodigy, Aphex Twin, The Chemical Brothers, The Future Sound of London, and many more. At the same time, he always appreciated genres like metal, industrial metal, and hard rock music of that period, especially acts like Sepultura, early Slipknot, and Marilyn Manson. "My mates and friends were much more into easy listening, pop, and dance music. But I was no ordinary kid; I wanted something different, something harder and stronger."

Fulvio approached the hardcore scene due to its extreme popularity in northern Italy during the late nineties and early 2000s. "Countless clubs hosted hardcore parties as main events, with artists from all over Europe. Mainstream radio channels played hardcore tracks and hardcore CDs and vinyl were available in every record store. And basically, everyone in town was wearing hardcore-related clothing and merchandise." Thanks to his first computer and internet connection - something that in that time was substantially unknown to most people in Italy - he was able to get in touch with the underground side of hardcore. "Much more focused on raw and industrial sounds, and with the musical culture of northern Europe which proposed a harder and more extreme subgenre: speedcore. It was love at first listening!" After this, checking out the websites of United Speedcore Nation, Mascha Records and many similar pages became his daily source for this new kind of music and he immediately realized: "I want to be a part of this".

Giving the feeling a form

The Mr.Q8 project was officially born in 2001. The beginning was not easy for Fulvio: "I lacked proper gear, just a home computer with old school tracker-based programs, a bunch of low-quality samples, and no support or tutorials available. The early years were just a way to experiment with sounds and basically kill the time. But, despite this, perseverance and a clear vision of what I wanted to create allowed me to find my own way and obtain results that were satisfactory to my ears. As time went by, everything got easier; I gained experience, updated my gear, gained direct contact with exceptional artists and feedback from the crowd during my gigs. All this has made it possible to obtain a constant improvement and evolution to my sound."

As becoming an artist, Fulvio needed a stage name. This became Mr.Q8, a name that's easy to recognize, but also lets people guess where it comes from. "No, it's absolutely not from the gas station. Although I would love to be sponsored by the well-known oil company or at least own their stock shares. It also doesn't come from the car manufactured by Audi. I might even consider suing them, because they definitely stole it from me!"

"Anyway, the real origin of my artist name comes from back when I was at school. For no logical reason, I started writing 'Q8' on my desk several times, completely covering the desk with it. Years later, it was the first thing that came to mind as an artist name for my first musical productions. It's short, easy to pronounce and to remember, so I never changed it."

Add to the environment

Fulvio always tries to obtain a sound as unique as possible and avoids proposing a copy-paste product. "For this reason, I don't think I've been directly inspired by other artists or copied what someone else did, even when they did it much better than me. Probably the music genres that inspired me the most are ambient and drone music, but life itself always has been a source of inspiration for me.

School, friends, work, random people, life itself, everything had an impact on my music. And somehow, it helped me develop a certain sound. This is why over the years, I felt the need to create other musical projects - like Bleikt Naglalakk and Ixy - that were dedicated to my musical productions of other genres than my usual speedcore and extratone stuff. Everything around me has contributed to my music and the most beautiful thing about being a so-called artist, is being able to transform emotions and feelings into sounds and noises.

My sound has always had the creation of an atmosphere as its central and most essential point. The atmosphere allows you to tell a story through your tracks and during the live act, by making the mind leave the body and transport it. From my point of view, atmosphere is the essence of speedcore and extratone and I always try to bring it to the highest levels."

Same wavelength

Mr.Q8 started playing at events in other countries. This also brought him an important moment in his career. "I think it was in 2016 that I played at a speedcore party in Berlin. Suddenly someone approached me speaking Italian. It was Valerio, aka Nekrosystem. He told me about his newborn project named 'Speedcore Italia', that he set up with his partner Muisz. He asked me if I was available to play at one of their upcoming parties. They made a great impression on me, especially their determination and clear vision of what they wanted to create. So of course, I accepted his offer without hesitation and the rest is history."

As a long-time member of the Speedcore Italia family, Fulvio really appreciates the chances joining this gave him: "Speedcore Italia gave me the opportunity to have a real and constant artistic evolution over the years. I'm really grateful to the SCI crew for this. It allowed me to connect with different artists and maintain a constant connection with the crowd through my live acts. If Speedcore Italia didn't exist, there probably would've been a totally different Mr.Q8."

Bring up the vibe

The third edition of Nekrosystem's Forbidden Zone will once again be held in the Mikroport Club in Krefeld. A place Mr.Q8 is very familiar with: "The tunnel itself, the crazy sound system, the environment, everything about the Mikroport Club is special. It's our home!"

"It's the perfect mix of club culture and German brutalism, which I loved so much during my years playing in Berlin. Every time that I play at Mikroport feels like it's the first time again. Same place, new emotions."

For Mr.Q8, the symbol of a successful set is when he sees more people with their eyes closed shaking their body, than when they're holding a smartphone. A view he also wants to see during Nekrosystem's Forbidden Zone 3. What he also expects of this night? "Having a great time with the crowd and artists, spinning furious tracks at 1200 BPM right in your face, causing the migration of your soul. People never get used to this!"

When we ask him for any last words, his message is clear: "No more questions please, it's time to produce new stuff for my next live act! More terror, more speedcore, and more extratone too!"

Thank you Mr.Q8 for this great insight and go on back into your studio. Interested in what he prepared for Nekrosystem's Forbidden Zone 3? Come to the event and find out yourself!