Inspired by the cult classic Twin Peaks, emerging producer Maurice Uzzan is exploring the dark side of electronic music under his Whitesquare alias. "My initial releases were club oriented, but at this point, my sound has become much more melodic and experimental," he says.Since adopting his moniker in 2012, the Italian artist has a bouquet of releases on many notable labels including Defected, Noir, and Ministry of Sound. "I have been producing since I was around 17, but back then, it was more of a hobby," he says. "I got more serious when I launched the Whitesquare project—the first few EPs were inspired by the deep house scene that was coming alive at the time. I did some bootlegs to Joy Orbison and Dean Blunt, and got really good feedback. From then on, I began to focus on my original productions."
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As the latest signee to the Leeds-based imprint 2020 Vision, Uzzan is ready to move forward with a new collective and a new sound. "I was exchanging some promos with iO Sounds and came across his release on 2020 Vision. The EP sounded amazing and I'm a huge fan of the label, so I asked him to introduce us. I sent them like 20 demos or more and from there we started to compile this first EP," he says of the collaboration.
Uzzan's strong Middle Eastern roots are among his diverse influences. "I listen to a lot of music before hitting the studio, mostly world music rather than dance music. It helps me approach producing in a more original way," he says. His latest offering, Peaks, is a compelling effort of emotive house and techno. The EP's title-track has a strong, percussive structure and a deep mood. You can listen to it above.Often found drinking beer on his nights out in Rome and Tel Aviv, Uzzan treats these cities as his favourite party destinations. "The scene in Rome is pretty good. We have many clubs hosting amazing artists year round. In Tel Aviv, the clubbing phenomenon is widespread and the bars are open every day of the week until late. In addition, we have the Block, which is one of the most important in the Middle East and it has a great lineup every weekend. Electronic music plays an important role in Tel Aviv," he says.Following this month's release of Peaks, Uzzan will complete a second EP for 2020 Vision later this year. He also has two other projects on the backburner. "I've been working on a full-length album since January, and just launched my new record label Lyase Recordings with my good friend NT89 (aka Dar Shirazi)," he says. Lyase Recordings aims to showcase a unique, exploratory sound Uzzan and Shirazi have been developing for over two years.With multiple projects in the works, Peaks is just the beginning for Whitesquare. Until it gets its twin.Peaks is out July 6 on 2020 Vision.Whitesquare is on Twitter // SoundCloud // Facebook