#5 TSVI
On ramen for breakfast, his focaccia obsession and vegan pizza worth forking out for
‘Forward-thinking’ is a term that gets banded about a lot when it comes to musicians, but with TSVI it rings especially true. His thing, you could say, is cutting-edge drum programming, which he does across many projects. The Italy-born, London-based producer and DJ co-runs the always-on-point Nervous Horizon, operates under his Anunaku alias, and is one half of A+A with Avalon Emerson. He’s an avid collaborator, having dropped projects with object blue (whose Salt Fat Acid House you can read here) and Loraine James.
Most recently, TSVI surprise released Stella Remota, a project that he originally lost the files to during a failed Dropbox backup. Three years of work were wiped out, but he found the demos again while going through a difficult time when his mum was unwell. Listening back to the music he thought was “a light guiding me out of the darkness,” he said. Fragments of drill, Gregorian chant, trance and dancehall feature across 19 tracks, which are less club-focused and more ambient than his previous work.
“Lots of people really connected with it, I was very surprised,” he says, speaking from his Hackney home where he’s lived for 10 years. The tracks are “not to be played out in the club,” he adds, explaining that when he’s going through difficult moments in life, he tends to completely switch off from four-to-the-floor music.
When we chat, he’s recently been touring Australia with his good friend object blue. “We enjoyed DJing and stuff there, but mainly we liked the food!” he says, enthusiastically mentioning the large quantity of Asian restaurants in Sydney. Below, TSVI talks about his Italian heritage shaping his consumption, his minimal rider choices, and why Japan is his favourite place to eat.
You have Italian heritage, were you raised on lots of pizza and pasta?
My parents were – and still are – not the classic Italian parents. They converted to Hinduism before I was born, which affected what we ate. They’re vegan, so growing up I didn’t eat that much meat at home. If I was going to my grandparents’, they would cook me the standard Italian cuisine stuff. Even now, my parents are both retired, they love to cook but don’t cook traditional Italian food. They have a garden at the back of their house where they grow vegetables and fruits. They try to be as self-sufficient as possible. That was always their dream. So now they’re retired, they have this nice little house in the middle of nowhere, 20 minutes from Pisa.
Is that where you lived growing up?
Yeah, and there is nothing around at all. You drive like 15 minutes to get to the first supermarket. It’s kind of isolated. But they love this kind of life, they always wanted that.
Being a vegan in Italy sounds tough…
For sure. It’s got better in the last couple of years. There are more options, lots of shops are bio, natural, even in small villages. So I think people are becoming a bit more open-minded. But yeah, there are certain places – Sicily, Rome, Naples, where it’s quite difficult to oblige to the vegan diet! But [now] I eat everything. My grandparents fed me well, so I never thought about becoming vegan. My girlfriend is, though, so when we’re together I have to compromise. But when I’m touring or by myself I eat whatever. And I like cooking as well, I cook pretty much every day when I'm at home.
What do you like to cook most?
I like everything bread-related. Focaccia, schiacciata [a thinner, crispier version of focaccia]. Lots of carbs! During the pandemic, I was making focaccia almost every week. Sourdough, as well. I like with focaccia you can slice it in half and fill it with stuff, like mortadella. Also you can put toppings on top. It reminds me of my childhood, I’d eat it at my grandparents’ as a 4pm snack. Also, I love to make homemade dumplings – the round, Chinese dumplings. I fill them with chives, vegetables or vegan meat.
Where around the world have you had the best food when touring?
Yeah, I think Asia… Japan. Whenever I go to Japan, because of massive jet lag I always end up having ramen for breakfast, or gyoza at like 8am. In Japan everything is open 24 hours, especially in Tokyo. I like the [ramen] machines where you don’t have to speak to anybody! What I like about Japan is it’s a country for introverts. I’m not really a social person so it’s quite nice sometimes. You can go and eat by yourself and there are plenty more people doing that.
What’s on your rider, anything to eat?
No, just drinks. I’m very low maintenance! So I don’t need much – I’ve got orange juice, sparkling water and two local beers. I don’t have any fancy beverages.
Where do you like to go out for food in London?
To be honest, I don’t really go out to eat out as much as I used to, me and my girlfriend prefer to cook at home. But there is a vegan pizza place in Canonbury, which is really good, and the dough is gluten-free. It sounds really bad! But the pizza is made by chefs that used to have Michelin star restaurants and now have this amazing pizzeria – it’s called Plant Club. A regular margherita costs like £20, which is a bit crazy, but all the ingredients are imported from Italy, so it’s on the expensive side but is really good.
Finally, here are some Salt Fat Acid House-recommended bumpers, slappers, slammers and ticklers to keep your week afloat: