Los Angeles-based producer Durante has a cool way with groove. His tunes are intimate but energetic, a mood that fits late-night hangs on dance floors or your friend's back porch. His latest tune "Restless" makes the night-owl life sound chic, with echoing acid synths and a steady house beat, while a vintage cut-out video brings wild dimension to the sonic tale.
"I recently went to Italy and visited the house where I grew up until I was 4," Durante tells Billboard Dance. "When we arrived, it was completely abandoned, but the door was open so we walked in to take a look around. I ended up finding a bunch of these really old travel magazines from the '80s, like an Italian version of National Geographic. I really liked the photos in these, and at the time I had no idea what I was going to do with them. I grabbed a huge stack, and I spent an entire day cutting out all my favorite photos."
Back in LA, the DJ and producer got with his good friend and label mate Amtrac to brainstorm a video for "Restless." They thought about Sven Barth, an artist with whom they'd worked before.
"He's always done stop motion with construction paper, but never with photos," Durante explains. "We all sat down for dinner to discuss the possibility of doing the video. I showed him the photos and said something like 'I'm not sure if it's something you'd want to do, but it's an idea.' Sven turned to both of us and said 'You can't talk me out of this one now.'"
The end result is an alluring array of images, some recognizable and all of them wonderous. It makes a real journey of the music, fitting the song's chill yet excitable feel. The clip is due for release on the Openers label Friday, Nov. 22, but you can catch an early peek below, exclusively on Billboard Dance.
