Italian DJ duo Havoc & Lawn have fast been on the rise as one of the most exciting acts to come out of Italy in a minute, now they’ve landed headfirst on Toolroom with an absolute gem of a debut. Teaming up with Dutch power house GUZ, both artists have pushed their production skills to the max on ‘Come Back’, mixing a stomping House beat with an eclectic chopped up vocal loop, layered with lush piano chords elevating this release to a whole new level…

To help introduce Havoc & Lawn to our wider #ToolroomFamily, we caught up with them to find out more…

 

GUZ, Havoc & Lawn – Come Back

Hey Havoc & Lawn! Welcome to the #ToolroomFamily and congratulations on your debut collab with GUZ – ‘Come Back’ How are you both doing and where in the world are you right now?

Hey, it’s wonderful to finally be a  part of the #ToolroomFamily!  Thanks so much for the love, we are both well! We are based in Italy, and at the moment we are in London for some intense studio sessions with some amazing artists and top-liners.

Talk to us a bit about the record itself, how did the collab with GUZ first come about and what was the inspiration behind record?

‘Come Back‘ is a record that came out very spontaneously, we’ve been playing with the hook for a while now but couldn’t quite find the right solution for it. One day while we were talking with GUZ, who’s a real legend and inspiration in the studio, we played him the idea and he fell in love with it and took it to the next level!

What are the origins of Havoc & Lawn, when did you both first meet and how long have you been making music together?

We come from the same small town in the north of Italy, Reggio Emilia. We’ve known each other practically forever but we started producing separately, then when we realised that our music taste was quite similar, and our skills really matched each other so we decided to start making music together. Havoc is the musician, Lawn is the software master.

How did you both first get into music? Has it always been a passion of your or was it something that developed later in life for you? 

We both loved music since we were little kids. Havoc has been playing all sorts of instruments through his teen years. Lawn started as a DJ and as a promoter of events when he was in high school. Havoc also started DJing at Lawn’s events and when we decided to join forces things started to shift quickly from a passion to what we wanted to do in life.

How did the local scene in Italy help you both develop your careers as DJs & producers? 

Well as mentioned earlier we come from Reggio Emilia, which is the same town where Benny Benassi comes from, he’s definitely a huge inspiration for us, not only because of his amazing music and career, but also because he’s the nicest guy on earth and made us believe that it was actually possible to turn this passion into a full time job.

What venues, clubs, events did you frequently go to when you were younger, and both cut your teeth in DJing?

When we were teens we started going to clubs in our hometown, then we started to move around Italy and select the best clubs and events around the north, from Cocoricò, to Tenax, till we finally started playing in the events and clubs we dreamt about when we were kids. Some of our best DJ sets in Italy have been at Cocoricò in Riccione, at Qùn Party in Vicenza and at Nameless Music Festival, one of the few international festivals in Italy.

What tips can you give aspiring artists, DJs, and producers to maintain motivation and creativity when creating music?

If we had to give a tip to aspiring DJ producers, it would be to try to do their own music, without following the trends and create something they are proud of! To achieve what you want you first need to be fans of your own music.

More on the specific production side we would suggest learning to keep only whats necessary in the track, and get rid of all that extra stuff that we all tend to put into tracks which often just makes things messy, less is more, not always, but pretty often.

What are your 5 all-time favourite House Records?

Hard question but the first 5 that comes to our mind are:

 

Azari & III – Hungry For The Power (Jamie Jones Ridge Street Remix)

MAW feat. India – To Be In Love (MAW ’99 Mix)

Patrick Topping – Be Sharp Say Nowt

Fusion Groove Orchestra – If Only I Could (Liem Remix)

Louie Vega & The Martinez Brothers with Marc E. Brassy – Let Go

Who are your top 3 Italian artists, DJ’s & producers we should be keeping our eyes on for 2022?

Another hard question! Even though there are so many incredible artists too chose from, if we had to pick only three we’d probably say:

 

Astrality – Alone Together (feat. Georgia Blackwell)

Blackchild – Groover Dealer

Alaia & Gallo – Who Is He? (feat. Kevin Haden)

To wrap things up, what are your plans for 2022? 

We have a lot of exciting news for 2022 that we’ll share very soon! For now, we can mention that our next track, in collaboration with fellow Italian bro Piero Pirupa, will be out via Repopulate Mars before the end of the year. So stay tuned for that and until then, keep on streaming and playing ‘Come Back‘ and thank you so much for the support and having us!

GUZ, HAVOC & LAWN – ‘COME BACK’ IS OUT NOW ON TOOLROOM