Even though we’re in the thick of the Winter season complete with a snowstorm to close out the end of January, we all dream of warmer days ahead which includes lighter layers, eating outside, long nights, and enjoying our favorite music festivals! We caught up with Giorgio Ortenzi aka HYPATON, an EDM DJ/Producer who has been making music that includes some of our favorite classic songs remixed and giving it club life vibes!

We wanted to find out more about his passion for music, his approach to creating his style of music, working with mentor David Guetta, and upcoming dates as well as music that we should have an eye out for!

ATHLEISURE MAG: We’re a little jelly as we’re connecting with you here in NY and you are in Dubai right now! It’s really cold here in NY and we wish that we were in Dubai right now!

HYPATON: The weather is so nice right now! It feels like Summer! It’s going to be a trauma tomorrow when I am back in Italy!

AM: Haha yeah, here in NY it’s 18 degrees at the moment.

H: That is very cold!

AM: When did you first fall in love with music?

H: It was easy because I grew up in a family where music was a little bit of the center of everything! Even my parents, who are not musicians, music was really important to them. At the age of 4, I started taking lessons for the electric guitar.

AM: With music being such a big deal in your family, you were also in the family business of dentistry as well! So how did you transition from that to being an EDM DJ/Producer?

H: It was fun because I was always in the mindset that I would be a musician in my life – an artist, a DJ, and a producer. I literally started making music everyday right after school and then I went to University, and the activity was the same there as well. After I finished the University, I went back on to the music. I always tried to do 50 and 50 – music wasn’t taking over, University was not taking over.

AM: You had a nice balance!

H: Exactly! I’m here thanks to social media of course – Tiktok and IG. Everything started with social media and everything went so fast. I’m lucky because I had the chance to go from 0 to 100% right after University.

AM: That is insane and we know that your cousin, Giuseppe Ottaviani is a renowned trance DJ and producer as well. How did that influence you?

H: It was and it still is really important. He’s part of the family and I always listen to him a lot. As I say, I started with the electric guitar, and then the more that you see your friends going to the club, you see the cool pictures and you say to yourself, “woah, I have Giuseppe in my family let me talk with him about the electronic music scene!” He started giving me a master class, helping me to choose the right plug-ins, the right sound, and then we go!

AM: What can you tell us about what Future Rave Rework means?

H: Future Rave Rework is, of course, at the core of the rework is taking a big track – it doesn’t matter if it is from the past –

AM: Like the really past!

H: Yes, the really, really past. But the core is having one of those really big hits where people can sing the hook, lyrics and then turning them into a club work with all of the big energy without losing the soul of the original track – this is really important!

AM: When you’re doing these, because you’re known for working on 90’s classics, where do you start when it comes to doing these kinds of projects.

H: First of all, I always start by looking really precisely at the vocals. I like big tracks that have meaning – always filled with happiness and love – this is the secret sauce. So vocals comes first and then around vocals, most of the time, I start pitching them up and down and kind of exploring. Sometimes I start chopping the track and I reverse it and make a bit of a mess with it, and then I develop the full picture with a lot of energy and club elements.

AM: With all of this, you caught the attention of David Guetta which is amazing! How did that happen and what do you enjoy about having him as a mentor?

H: That was probably one of the best days of my life! The amount of happiness I had on that, I can’t even scale it! I wish that everyone could experience that happiness once in their life because it’s really amazing and it happened on IG actually.

AM: Of course!

H: I woke up one day and I saw that he sent me a DM and at that point –

AM: It was off to the races!

H: Oh yeah!

AM: What was it like for you to make your DJ debut with him at Hï Ibiza? Once again that is such a phenomenal moment!

H: Yeah it was really amazing and it was kind of a test for me, because I had never DJ’d before, and it was my first show ever to play in front of a crowd. So he was telling me that I could do that. I was like, “I know David, but you know –“ He kept saying that I could do this and that he trusted me. If you trust me, then you’re my mentor and I’m going to make you proud of my work, and I trained so hard every day, I don’t know how many hours, but I did it every day, every week. Then we smashed the night!

AM: You did the remix of the iconic, Be My Lover, which we are fans of this song and we love your version. What was it like working on such a major song, having it blow up in so many ways, including Juventus playing it on their social platforms which is crazy!

H: Yeah! It’s an amazing feeling even the chance to work on those big records – big hits from the past! You get really nerdy about it. Having the chance to listen to the original master and the original stamp of the track is just so special. Juventus of course is my humble team so it was a mix of wow and crazy stuff!

AM: When we saw it, we knew it was a big deal! We had the pleasure of having Paul Pogba (il Polpo Paul - PogBoom) as a cover for our AUG ISSUE #80 in 2022 when he was with Juventus – so we know how massive this soccer club is.

What lessons have you learned from working with David Guetta, as it’s such an experience and relationship to have with him.

H: This is really good and I always love this question, because he’s teaching me the way of the hard work. It’s all about working, working, and working. Once you get your dream, you’re on a mission. The mission is to keep working on the dream, you can’t disappoint the dream, so you’re always working on the dream. It’s all about perseverance and discipline.

AM: All of those which David Guetta has in spades and he is always working!

So your remix of RAYE’s Where is My Husband with David Guetta, which is yet another one that we loved – it was added to our playlist the minute that we heard it. It’s so great to listen to when you’re out and about, working out or just hanging at home. What did you love about working on this track? It’s such a crazy song and you hear it everywhere!

H: First of all, thank you for listening, loving, and adding it to your playlist. It was fun because I was actually scrolling through my good friend’s IG and the track was everywhere – everywhere! It came up to my mind where I said, let’s try to do something with it. I did a short snippet of it like just 30 seconds and it went crazy on social, and then I sent it to David because I was feeling that it was really powerful and really cool. When he heard it, he was like, wow! So RAYE is his friend and so thanks to David, we have the remix accepted due to his friendship with her and we were able to release it super fast! I was really happy about that because normally when it is a remix or a rework, or a cover –

AM: It takes time!

H: Exactly and this one was like woop.

AM: It was fast! We downloaded the original and yours came pretty quickly after it! Although both are so good, yours is the one that is on constant rotation.

When you’re not DJ/producing, we hear that you’re an avid gamer which is amazing. Where did this passion come from, what are you playing, and how does gaming influence when you are DJing?

H: This is really fun because I’m not the guy that was going out every night. I was more the chill guy at home and of course, after doing my music, the way of relaxing was gaming with my own friends. That’s how it started actually and it has kept going for life and I’m not sure if I am going to stop gaming.

AM: Of course.

H: I can say that gaming when I am speaking about music, it is inspiring, but most of the time it helps me to disconnect from the world because I am so focused on what I am doing because I am not focused on music or anything. In this way, my brain and my ears can relax and can reset.

AM: In talking about gaming and music, we’re reminded of Father Guilherme Peixoto who is a priest and is known as DJ Padre. We first found out about him when he did the techno remix of the Super Mario Bros. theme song which was phenomenal! As someone who is a gamer, would you ever do a remix to a game?

H: I would love it!

AM: Right?

We can’t say how many times we have replayed it or looked at other places that he has played it as it’s crazy good!

So what is going on with you in terms of your schedule for upcoming dates? Will you be coming here to NY, in the States, etc?

H: We are working a lot on that and we’re still in the planning stages to make sure that everything is happening. This year, we are doing more than last year!

AM: Are there any festivals globally?

H: Yes, I can announce that my debut at Tomorrowland is happening!

AM: That’s amazing and of course, we can continue to watch your IG to see other places you’ll be at as well!

Obviously, you’re on the road quite a bit. What are 3 items that you like to bring with you in order to feel like you’re at home?

H: My sweatpants that is my pajama! My gaming controller so I can play from my laptop and my flip flops!

AM: You have to be comfortable.

H: Exactly, I feel like I’m in my home outfit and I’m more relaxed.

IG @hypaton

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | HYPATON