DE FEO is an Italian DJ, eclectic artist, and art curator based in Berlin, known for his exceptional mixing skills and ability to create immersive, multi-sensory experiences on European and Asian dance floors. As an entrepreneur, he owns three record labels—SMR Underground, TOBE, and Questline, the latter serving as a digital and physical creative hub in Berlin. He also hosts the podcast Mom, I Want to Be an Artist, now in its second season, where he connects with artists, musicians, and industry pioneers. His innovative approach to fast minimal techno and experimental music led to a collaboration with Flash Recordings in 2021, a partnership that continues today. In 2024, his notable performances included a live A/V set in Beijing, club shows across Asia, and a sold-out show at Alcatraz Milano. More than just a DJ, DE FEO is a researcher of context and experiences, constantly pushing the boundaries of contemporary sound and artistic expression.

 

DE FEO talks to 6AM about his evolving sound, recent Asia tour, SMR Underground’s growth, his podcast, and upcoming music and art projects for 2025.

 

Hi De Feo! Thanks for talking to 6AM group! How are you doing?

Hi! All good, thank you for inviting me! The past year left a lot of content, ideas, and inspiration to develop. So currently I’m putting everything together and pushing my creativity to release more music, planning exhibitions, and the next steps of my career. I’m going through a deep refresh of my sound, experimenting between groove and industrial with some dub influences from the past months and spending more quality time being focused on my creative flow and inspirations around Berlin.

 

To first start off you closed out 2024 with an Asia tour including Beijing, Tokyo, and Shanghai. What were the most memorable moments from this journey, and have these cultural experiences influence your sound or creative process? Anything about the different cities’ nightlife stand out to you?

Traveling always gives me more time to experiment and make music. Strangely, I find that hotel rooms and improvised studios sharpen my focus far more than sitting in Berlin ever does. For sure Asia left me a big pool of inspiration and understanding on how to develop my sound and how many possible things are still to be improved in our business. I think the many subconscious influences from all the countries I visited shaped my workflow first, and my perspective on what makes people dance, appreciate, and enjoy art. This tour gave me the chance to experiment and enjoy many shadows of my style and see how the soundscapes of different cities influenced me in the selection, the mix, and the production.

The contrasts between each city left a deep impression on me. Tokyo’s obsession with detail and its rich record shop culture refined my sound to fit the city's dub/psy trend. In Beijing, despite the first day of winter, the underground energy thrived, with many friends showing up. Taipei’s vibrant queer scene inspired a brighter, more playful set to close my tour. Hong Kong let me dive into house music, blending my past influences with the funky groove of Berlin. Nanjing’s four-hour set was the longest of the tour—an intense energy exchange that I’ll never forget. And then there’s Shanghai, a city of striking contrasts between tradition and the future, where experiments and high-quality mixing brought me to retouch my approach on the dancefloor, flowing into a two-hour set—now available as a 6AM Guest Mix from last December.

Traveling through so many cities and countries in such a short time was a privilege, and pushed me to explore as much of each culture as possible and dive into as many projects as I could. The energy of pitching ideas and making them happen moves at an insane pace, and that creative rush is what drove me through this journey—and will undoubtedly pull me back again.  

 

 

Your podcast, “Mom, I Want to Be an Artist”, is such a creative endeavor. What’s the story behind the interesting name? What inspired you to launch it, and how has it evolved over two seasons? Are there any particular guests or stories that you think have resonated most with your audience—or yourself?

Having a podcast has always been part of my vision. Since my first time in Berlin in 2017 and later in Italy, I have explored different formats of podcasts and streaming shows.. I hosted talks with guests, DJ mixes, interviewers, and even fun-light concepts like “Things You Can’t Bring to a Festival,” which was a blast to create! I've always enjoyed giving a voice to different perspectives and expressing creativity through conversation.

Then in 2023, inspired by the opening of my PopUP record shop in Berlin, I officially launched “Mom, I Want to Be an Artist” as a community-driven event for the space. 

The name comes from an Italian art book, but in my case, it is used more like a provocation to the artist personally, and not to the relation with the family. What I’m gonna take in words is more intimate and related to the moment the guest chooses to become an artist and all the challenges that will come afterward, behind the scenes, to support their creative dream.

The opportunity this podcast show gave me in the past two years is incredible. Infinite learning about how cultures and different systems work. The first season was in Berlin and Amsterdam, and the second season was mostly in Asia with some shows being already online and some coming soon like the ones in Shangai, Taipei, and Tokyo.

A highlight was my visit to The Wake Listening Room in Hong Kong. It wasn’t just a record store; it felt like a hub for community and culture, proving how analog spaces can thrive in a digital world with passion and design. Another was my conversation with Red Pig Flower at ADE, exploring the intersections of sound, visual art, and storytelling, and what it takes to succeed as a contemporary artist in today’s world.  Each guest brings a unique perspective, and with every episode, I discover more about the creative world and my journey within it. 

My goal is to share these stories in a way that inspires others, providing the insights or encouragement they might need to keep chasing their dreams.

Your label SMR Underground just hit it’s 11th anniversary! SMR Underground’s milestone and the changes in the music industry, how has the label grown and adapted over the years? What are you most excited about for its future? What have been some of the great achievements of the label? 

It’s been a long and fulfilling journey, yet it feels like I’m only just getting started! Reflecting on the past 11 years, SMR Underground has been a source of endless learning, joy, and of course music. Originally founded in Italy, and now also operated from Berlin, the label was built with a clear goal: to create a space where creativity and passion thrive, fostering a community of talented artists and connecting deeply with the global techno scene.

Over the years, SMR’s sound has been shaped by the incredible creatives we’ve worked with and inspired by the energy of the cities where we’ve hosted showcases: Tokyo, Amsterdam, Belgrade, Berlin, and Naples, to name a few. These events have allowed us to reflect both the unique local music cultures and the vision of our resident artists, creating a dialogue between the two.

This year marks a turning point for SMR Underground. While many things have evolved, our core values remain the same: passion, trust, and a constant drive to grow. To celebrate this new decade, we’ve partnered with Proton Radio for a new distribution model, which will help support upcoming projects. This partnership marks the start of an exciting new chapter, with plans for podcasts, vinyl releases, curated showcases, and more.

What I love most about working on a label is the possibility of collaborating with so many talented individuals. Understanding their motivations, sharing ideas, and providing a platform for them to express their creativity is incredibly rewarding. Sometimes, that’s all an artist needs: a chance to be seen and heard.

 

Some may not know that you are both a DJ and an art curator based in Berlin. You’ve built a career that blends sound and visual experiences. How does your work as an art curator influence your DJ sets or productions? Do you see your role reflected in both sides of your work? 

I feel like everything I do revolves around creating experiences where people can lose themselves completely. Whether it’s through a DJ set or an installation, it all starts with the same process—taking in influences and inspirations from everything around me and turning them into something immersive. Both fields are deeply connected to me, and what I learn from one always helps me improve in the other.

Managing exhibitions, for example, feels a lot like booking a lineup for a party. It’s about bringing together different elements, understanding the strengths of each artist, and setting things up so that every piece works together to create something bigger. It’s in the details and how you handle them that the magic happens. And honestly, mixing tracks is the same as mixing ideas for storytelling. You’re always thinking about flow, how one thing leads into the next, and how it all fits together to tell a story. I think I couldn’t do one without the other—they feed into each other, and that balance is what keeps me inspired.

What can you tell us about future releases or art projects that you may have? Any new exciting tours like the one you just had in Asia?

One of my dreams has always been to visit at least three continents before my 30th birthday; touring across more than three would be the ultimate dream. Before May, I had a few releases lined up: my remix for Florian Meindl’s Machine Learning on Flash Recordings, a label that shaped my sound in Berlin, dropped last week, followed by my first album on Questline in April. This album is part of a larger art project, already presented during Berlin Art Week and soon in Shanghai—a series of sound and visual installations exploring the relationship between different cultures and their soundscapes, from noise pollution to public music and advertising. 

The next few months will be packed—new releases, and installations, my Asia tour at the end of 2025, a special gig in Milan this summer, and a few in Berlin and Europe coming soon. I’m also locking in a steady flow of music in both mixes and releases, with exciting collaborations on the way. 

My focus remains on curating a broad spectrum of events, from SMR Underground showcases to contemporary art exhibitions with Questline, always making sure these two worlds blend without losing their essence.   The road ahead is full of exciting challenges, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s to trust the process. Every release, every event, and every collaboration is another step toward shaping my vision—whether through music, art, or the connections built along the way. A special focus on goes for sure Greens & Grooves, the pop-up concept merging vegan cuisine and vinyl, already has dates booked through 2025, and Mom, I Want to Be an Artist is evolving with fresh concepts, locations, and guests. The balance between the context and the experiences in this world keeps pushing me forward, proving that these can not only coexist but thrive together. Plenty in motion—just how I like it.

Thanks so much for talking with us. Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Thank you for having me! It's been a pleasure.

 

Connect with DE FEO: SOUNDCLOUD | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | SPOTIFY | BEATPORT