Nic Fanciulli has more than occasionally been billed as the “next big thing” in house music. Along with his One+One partner James Zabiela, he’s part of what was pretty much the last of the crop of DJs who emerged as talents in their own right, rather than many since then who’ve enjoyed success off the back of their productions. But that’s not to say he hasn’t proven his worth as a producer: along with studio partner Andy Chatterley he forms Skylark, recently dropping the I-Panik LP, and as a solo artist he’s recorded on Renaissance, Strictly Rhythm, Yoshitoshi along with upcoming releases on both Dubfire and Josh Wink’s imprints.

Living up to his “next big thing” status, Fanciulli has been steadily working away and achieving since his teens. Quality productions, his Saved Records label, several memorable mix CDs as well as a new project slated for mid 2009 with none other than Global Underground; these things all point towards the fact that Faniculli is a big thing in house music. Now it’s time to enjoy himself. With his Australian tour in full swing, ITM talks to Nic Fanciulli.

Your outings on Renaissance are well-respected. Any plans to do some more mixes for the label?

They’re a great group of guys to work with and I had a lot of fun doing my compilations with them. We are talking about putting another single out in the summer.

I believe you’ve got a Global Underground project coming up. Tell us about that.

Yeah I’m going to be doing a Nic Fanciulli mix comp for them. They are a label that I’ve always wanted to work with so I’m really happy it came together. The album should be coming out in April and it will have a full range of music, from deep house to dubstep.

One (very good) Skylark album and remix package down. More to come?

It was a really interesting project to work on. At first it was only gonna be an EP, then it just escalated into an album. The great thing was to get all our mates and people we respected to remix the package. I think we’re going start some more singles soon, so who knows?

Saved Records – it’s a very good label. Any new signings?

It’s a label I took my eye off when I was doing the One+One tour with James, and it suffered loads. Labels need full care and attention otherwise you can’t assure ‘quality control’. We have signed some great acts for 2009 which include Rolando, Joel Mull, Matt Nordstrom, Mark Broom and Spencer Parker. I’m really happy with the way the label is going now.

Who are your favorite producers at the moment?

Joris Voorn is always consistent and everything he does I pretty much play. Other acts such as Matt Nordstrom and Joel Mull are people you need to keep your eye on.

You have a few production projects under different aliases. How are they different and why?

I think there was a point were there were 5 Skylark mixes coming out in one month. I just felt like people would get bored too quick, so we invented the Buick Project. Plus it also meant we could take a different approach on the musical style.

Who do you plan to work with in the future?

I think when I decide to do a studio album I would love to work with the likes of Laurent Garnier, Tracey Thorn, Beth Gibbons and DJ Zinc. If I pulled that off I would be happy.

Your house sets are often influenced by the sound of classic house tunes of the late 80s and early 90s. Is this a favourite era for you?

I wouldn’t really say classic, but more house music based. I’m not really a fan of trends, so I just play what I like, really anything that fits in that bracket.

You’ve done a few cracking remixes in your time, especially the Buick Project remix of Damage. Which one are you most proud of?

It has to be that one really. We were given really good parts to work with so it was a bit easier than a usual remix. I’m still shocked that it got nominated for a Grammy against the like of Coldplay and Madonna.

After touring for several years, I bet you’ve got more passport stamps than Jason Bourne and James Bond combined. Do you have a favourite destination?

Los Angeles has to be one of my favourites. It has great weather and good food, plus the gigs are always solid. Tokyo would have to be one too. It has the best club in the world called ‘Womb’.

At some stage in your career you have obviously made the transition to CD DJing. Would you say this has made you play in a different way than vinyl-only mixing?

I think the great thing about CDs, were that you can take double the amount of music with you than vinyl, and it always turned up! The only downside is that music has become more disposable and I miss the way I used to pick records by remembering the sleeve color.

I believe you’ve also moved over to Traktor for DJing. Why switch to this format? Again, how has it affected your DJing?

Traktor for me is one of the best programs invented. It means I can still use the hands on approach to DJing, I just use my laptop as a digital cd wallet. It also gives you a great range of internal effects which you can control by a midi controller.

You’ve gone on record saying you hate e-mail interviews. Why is that?

Because my English is pretty bad and you guys seem to do a better job!

Nic Fanciulli tour dates…

6th Feb- Hardware & Darkbeat, Melbourne
7th Feb – Playground Weekender Festival, Sydney
7th Feb – Chinese Laundry (Night) Sydney
8th Feb – Electric Field, Adelaide