NERO
EFFECTA
A pulse of his own.
Nero Effecta on G-Prog, Hard Bounce and the patience it takes to find a sound you can truly stand behind.
HARD BOUNCE
One successful transition, a drive of almost 300 kilometres and a second-hand controller: that is where Flo’s story begins. As Nero Effecta, he has worked his way from the Psy scene around Innsbruck towards his own combination of G-Prog and Hard Bounce. He tells us why a track can take years, how his wife helps shape the project, and what he wants to take beyond Tyrol.
One transition changes everything.
Before there is a track of his own, there is the experience of a night out. Psytrance opens up a new world for Flo; a friend’s controller turns a listener into someone who wants to shape the music himself.
Your SoundCloud story starts with a friend’s DJ controller. Soon you wanted to make your own music. Do you remember the first moment something came out of your speakers and you thought: yes, that is exactly what I was looking for?
That moment was formative for me. Back then I started going to Psytrance parties myself. The energy, the music and the atmosphere of that scene were completely new to me and fascinated me immediately.
When I saw a friend’s DJ controller, I asked whether I could mix my two favourite tracks of the time into each other. When the transition worked perfectly on the first attempt, I fell in love on the spot. That same evening I found a second-hand controller almost 300 kilometres away, drove there and bought it. A few weeks later I took a week-long production course with a well-known Israeli DJ and producer, who then signed me to his label. That is how my journey into music production began, around ten years ago.
But I did not find the sound I was looking for overnight. My ambition to achieve the most perfect result possible took me through extreme highs and lows over the years. My style kept evolving. My wife in particular, whom I met seven years ago, supported me musically, helped me reinvent myself and remains an integral part of Nero Effecta.
Over the past four or five years, I finally made the first tracks that still fully convince me today. Now I can say that I stand behind my sound one hundred per cent.
Between the categories.
G-Prog’s freedom becomes his starting point. But a sound between 160 and 190 BPM does not fit neatly into every night. Hard Bounce offers a new direction without erasing his earlier influences.
Over the years your sound has developed from New School G-Prog towards Hard Bounce. Which elements of your musical past still shape you, what fascinates you about your current sound, and what makes a track unmistakably Nero Effecta?
For a long time G-Prog was exactly what I had been looking for: a genre without rigid rules, fixed tempo limits or clear instructions about what music should sound like. I was particularly drawn to the modern approach shaped by the Brazilian scene and the creative possibilities with basslines and tempo. At the time I also brought many influences from the Tekno scene into my productions, developing a sound that deliberately moved between genres.
Over time, however, I realised that this musical openness did not always make it easy to find my place in the scene. My sound at 160 to 190 BPM was often too hard for traditional progressive Psytrance parties, too soft for pure HiTech events and too individual for Tekno parties.
About two years ago I discovered a Hard Bounce face-to-face set from the circle around 240 KM/H Records. Its energy, sound and dynamics immediately grabbed me. That was a decisive turning point and the beginning of my current focus on Hard Bounce, into which I continue to bring my earlier influences and my own musical identity. At the moment I mainly produce a mixture of G-Prog and Hard Bounce at 165 BPM.
When producing, it is particularly important to me not simply to copy an existing sound. I enjoy taking inspiration from other artists, but I always want to develop my own signature. When I begin a track, I usually have a very specific mood in mind. Ideally, 80 to 90 per cent of the creative foundation comes together in a single session. Then come refinement and quality control.
It can take days, weeks or even years before a track feels truly finished to me. I only release my music when I stand behind it one hundred per cent. My goal is to combine the energy and character of Hard Bounce and G-Prog with my own creativity and previous musical experiences, creating a sound that is unmistakably Nero Effecta.
A track can wait.
On “India Rave”, musical inspiration meets the search for an individual signature. The track already works at parties when Flo decides to rebuild it from the ground up.
Your SoundCloud includes original tracks such as “On a Mission”, alongside reworks and DJ mixes. If you were to introduce one of your own tracks to us, which would you choose, and what story lies behind it that listeners might not hear?
That is a difficult decision, because I could tell a special story about several of my tracks. But if I have to choose, it is definitely “India Rave”. That track began a completely new era for me and my project.
My wife introduced me to Henrique Camacho at the time. I think “Ganesha” was the first track of his that I heard. That kind of music was completely new to me and inspired me on several levels. Both the structure of his tracks and the creative visualisations in his music videos changed how I approached producing music and presenting it to an audience.
With “India Rave”, I wanted to establish a clear starting point and show what Nero Effecta stands for. Although the track was already a huge step forward for me and I played it at several parties, I only released it well over a year later.
I felt that it did not yet fully bear my signature. So one evening I sat down with the project again, reworked the entire structure, redesigned the main drops and replaced the bassline. That made the track much stronger and turned it into what I had originally seen in it.
I recognised its potential from the beginning. That is exactly why I did not want to release it before it met my own standards. I think you can hear how much love for this music and how much detailed work went into the result.
A dancefloor becomes home.
Queens Club and the Psybox nights represent both a beginning and his eventual arrival behind the decks. Today his role is changing again: from resident to someone shaping smaller events of his own.
How do you experience the Psy scene around Innsbruck from the inside? Was there a night, a place or a group of people that made you feel: this is where I belong?
Being present in the local scene, keeping in contact with other artists and organisers and actively taking part are important to me. I see a scene that really works to keep the culture alive. DJs, organisers, decoration teams and music lovers work hand in hand here to give every party its own character.
Queens Club was a very special place for me: it was where everything began. At eighteen I went to the Psybox events there for the first time and was immediately fascinated. I admired the DJs, their sets and the atmosphere, and had a strong desire to stand up there myself one day as one of the “masters of the ceremony”, guiding the audience through the night.
A few years later I actually became part of the local Psybox DJ crew. I experienced unforgettable nights there, played alongside many of my former role models and made personal connections.
Unfortunately, the club no longer exists, and that also brought my time as a resident DJ to an end. Even so, those years shaped me more than almost any other period of my career. I remain incredibly grateful for them.
These days I play in other clubs in Innsbruck and have recently started organising smaller events of my own together with a club operator. Being able to decide which artists to invite and how to shape a party means a great deal to me.
Beyond the music.
Production, mastering, artwork and visuals now belong to the same project. His next step should take him beyond Tyrol. Flo also talks about the people whose support makes that possible.
What would you like to try next with Nero Effecta? Perhaps a musical direction, a collaboration or an event of your own — something that is particularly on your mind right now.
My next steps are quite clear. After spending the past years focusing intensely on producing, developing and finishing my own tracks, and mainly playing in the local scene, I now want to become more involved internationally.
As an artist today, however, you have to be much more than a musician. Because I want to keep my project as independent as possible, I have taught myself many skills over the years: producing, mixing and mastering my tracks, creating cover artwork and visuals, and releasing and monetising my music. I am proud of that, because doing all of it professionally takes a lot of time, knowledge and dedication.
At the same time I have realised how important marketing, social media and direct contact with promoters and organisers are for developing your career. To be honest, I paid too little attention to those areas in the past. Good music alone is often not enough today: you have to actively draw attention to yourself, build contacts and consistently work on your presence.
That is exactly where I want to focus next. My goal is to play festivals and parties outside Tyrol and Austria in the near future, while continuing to develop my own events. I want to take Nero Effecta to the next level, both musically and as a project.
Finally, I would like to give special thanks to my wife and my closest friends. I see them not just as people who support me along the way, but as an integral part of Nero Effecta and the team behind it. Without their backing, support and trust I would not be where I am today. They make it possible for me to continue on my path and truly enjoy what I have built over the years. I am infinitely grateful to them.
