Growing up in Rome, Adiel began attending Goa Club, an intimate space known for its special vibe and stunning soundsystem, located in the heart of the Italian capital. In need of work, she snapped up a part-time opportunity managing the club’s communications, requiring her to spend her weeks there too. “I was there almost three days per week, listening and dancing to all the artists that the club was promoting,” she recalls. At this point, she had little knowledge of music, especially of the electronic variety: “I wasn’t looking for it but somehow it found me,” she adds.

One evening, aged 20, she headed down to see a set from Giancarlino, the owner of Goa and now a close friend. “That set opened my mind, completely; I was mesmerized by the feelings I went through during those two hours, and I was able to keep that energy and those emotions for a long time,” she recalls. It didn’t take long for her to begin working on her own vinyl collection under the mentorship of Giancarlino who, after recognizing Adiel’s skills in curation, encouraged her to pursue DJing as far as she possibly could. Often he’d open up Goa’s doors for her to practice to an empty club—so, a few months later, when the opportunity arose, she was ready to perform in front of an audience for the very first time.

Adiel has performed at every Goa Ultrabeat party since then, and the weekly event has proven to be the perfect foundation as Adiel’s reputation has grown. As word spread of her skills in inciting a deep ecstasy with her hypnotic selections, she began touring Europe, joining the likes of Ben Klock and Marcel Dettmann at their respective nights at London’s Printworks and Berlin’s Panorama Bar. She’s also performed at Amsterdam’s Dekmantel, Paris’ Concrete, and Ibiza’s DC10.

As a producer, Adiel is also making a name for herself. In 2016, she kicked off her own label, Danza Tribale, with Anatomia Del Cavallo, a three-track EP that urged listeners to join in with her musical fantasies, where swirling melodic motifs, eerie atmospheres, and entrancing 4/4 rhythms coexist. The label is intended as a landing platform for techno dynamics both obscure and profound, alternately wild and held-in, instinctive and sophisticated, functional yet far from merely tool-esque. She’s since released four more EPs on the label, the latest, Cavallina, coming in collaboration with Donato Dozzy and formed by a mind-bending mosaic of delayed drums, stealth acid accents, and rolling bass moves.

Adiel’s XLR8R podcast is aimed at showing her more varied selections. Over the course of the 90-minute set, Adiel favors atmosphere over drive by veering away from the more straight-up selections that form the foundation for most of her shows; instead, she presents an array of more nuanced, subtle cuts from the likes of Levon Vincent, Aphex Twin, and DJ Qu. It’s a different, but no less enjoyable, side of a rapidly rising Italian artist.

What have you been up to recently?

I’ve been traveling a lot in the last months. It’s something new to me but sharing music in different places is fulfilling my life in many positive aspects.

How did you find your way into music?

Electronic music came as a flash in my life. I wasn’t looking for it but somehow it found me. My mind and ears were completely fresh and new to these sounds when I started. Goa Club has inspired me since the beginning to approach music in so many different ways and it has taught me the most important value that electronic music has: to connect people blindly and unconditionally.

You’re a resident of Goa Ultrabeat parties in Rome. How much has this shaped you as an artist?

Feeling connected to the club, as I always say, was probably the best school I could ever have had. I started going there with my friends but after a while, my interests were growing more and more, and I decided to take part in the communication group of the club. I was there almost three days per week, listening and dancing to all the artists that the club was promoting; I never thought that one day I would be in that booth, but it was quite a nice feeling when it happened because I wasn’t expecting it!

How did you become a resident of Goa?

The moment I discovered I wanted to be a DJ wasn’t so clear to me but it happened. I was 20 and I was dancing to a special set from Giancarlino, owner of Goa Club and one of my favorite DJs. It wasn’t actually my first night out, it happened after a while. That set opened my mind, completely; I was mesmerized by the feelings I went through during those two hours, and I was able to keep that energy and those emotions for a long time. That’s when the inspiration started for me; in that same moment, I think I said to myself that I wanted to try to give the same feelings to others.

At the age of 21, I started collecting vinyl and that man who inspired me was the same one who saw something special in me, trusted me, and gave me the opportunity to enter his house, Goa, where I had the immense luck to practice my sets even for seven or eight hours while the club was closed. That’s how I learned to play: listening and practicing. But it’s even a matter of taste. After a few months, he told me to get ready because my first night at the club would happen soon. From that moment on, my life changed and my residency began!

What were the first records that you bought?

The first record that was given to me was Burial’s first album, Burial, released in 2006, and it’s still one of my favorites.

Where and when was this mix recorded?

This mix was recorded at Goa Club. I recorded it especially for XLR8R about two months ago, and I selected it to show a more eclectic and deeper side of myself.

How did you select the tracks that you included in it?

I don’t have a logical way of selecting my tracks, I select the ones that really inspire me and go with the flow.  I think it really depends on the way you are feeling and where you are while listening to it.

What are your favorite places to shop for new music?

My favorite places to shop for music are Ultrasuoni Records in Rome (always in first place), Rush Hour in Amsterdam, and Disc Union and Technique in Tokyo.

What’s next on the horizon, as you look forward?

In the works now there is a collaboration with Anthony Linell (a.k.a Abdulla Rashim). We’ll be releasing our new EP, Raso, in November 2019 on Danza Tribale.  There will be a new track on Dystopian’s 10 Year compilation in the Autumn, and a new solo EP at the beginning of 2020 on a key techno label I really like.

XLR8R has now joined Mixcloud Select, meaning that to download the podcast you will need to subscribe to our Select channel. The move to Mixcloud Select will ensure that all the producers with music featured in our mixes get paid. You can read more about it here.

Tracklisting

01. Basses Terres “Wilfred Docet” [BFDM019]
02. Aphex Twin “Cirklon 3” [Warp Records]
03. Sergej Nicolaj “Libellula” [Illegal Series 09]
04. Aphex Twin “CheetahT7b” [Warp Records]
05. 2@P “Different Ways” [Opia]
06. Unknown artist “Unknown” [Unknown]
07. Steve Murphy “Polaroid” [Metal Position]
08. Marcel Dettmann “Linux” [50 Weapons]
09. Claro Intelecto “Thieves” [Modern Love]
10. Serjey Nicolaj, E.s.c. Soundwork “You Lead” [Illegal Series]
11. Neel & Natural Electronic System “Mira” [Tikita008]
12. Reptant “Freq Accident” [Pe004]
12. Unknown Artist “Unknown” [Unknown]
13. Sleep D “Shark Tempo” [Kudos Records]
14. Dj Qu “Party People” (Levon Vincent remix) [Deconstruct Music]
15. Ethyl & Flori “Shorthand” [Sudeen DropUDDEN DROP]
16. Polar Inertia “Inland Return” [Fundamentum001]
17. Levon Vincent “Solemn Days” [Deconstruct Music]
18. Front De Cadeaux “Something Wrong” (Fabrizio Mammarella rework) [Slow Motion Records]
19. Freddy Fresh “Freestyle 808” [Spazio Tempo]
20. Luke Hess & Sascha Dive “Polyphonic Minds” (Tobias remix) [Minimood]
21. Radionasty “Heisenberg” [Tortured Records]