Vinny Villbass

My Studio – Vinny Villbass

This is our current headquarters in Oslo. Diskjokke and myself have been sharing a studio more or less since we moved to Oslo around 2006. The studio is set up using the incredible Ikea shoe racks. I think they have stopped making them… oh, and I realise now that someone has stolen our DX7!

Rack and Fender Tele

The Akai sampler behind is my first piece of gear that I bought in 99, with help from my older brother who used to have the huge S5000 version back then. I actually used it again a couple of years ago when I produced the Zip Zap EP on Trunkfunk. Obviously using a connected Zip drive. I have tons of disks from the 90s laying around, mostly old trance sounds but also a few amazing rave and house stabs and synths.

I got this guitar in Hamburg. I was DJing at a really amazing party called Minimal Anders and the next day I spent my whole fee on this beauty. This is the guitar that I used when we put together and toured the Diskjokke Band project.

Teisco Synthesizer 607

This is my favourite synth. I use it when I play live, and in pretty much every track I make. It’s an old Japanese synth that has become a trademark for me and my productions. Love it! Really LOVE IT!!

Diskjokke actually bought it first, but I was using it all the time and he wasn’t, so we did a trade where he got my Korg MS2000. The signature sound on the track ‘En Liten Pose Selvtillit’ is from this baby.

Effects

Every analogue synth needs some outboard effects, so I usually record most my sounds through some pedals. It also adds a noise floor in the productions, which is sometimes much needed. I found the casing at a flea market and bought it for 2 EUR. It’s an old pilot suitcase from SAS. Perfect fit!

Bangla

I have actually NO clue where this comes from. It just turned up some day… I’m using it a lot these days.

iMac

I’ve had this for 10 years and Apple has yet to come up with a cooler design – it still looks futuristic and hip. It’s not the most powerful, but I prefer having some restraints when producing so I don’t end up using 140 tracks and 5,738 different bullshit plugins.

Diskokula

Around 10 years ago, Diskjokke and myself were organising an illegal rave at a squat in Oslo called Hausmania, with DJ Fetisch from Terranova and live jams from Ost & Kjex and Trulz & Robin on the bill. It was nuts! The best party we ever made. The place was packed, sweaty. We sold shitloads of beers and plenty of paying ravers, so we shared all the money in between the artists. We went to bed happy that Monday. But after fine calculating a few days later we realised that we’d forgotten our own fees, so actually all we earned on that party was this exact disco ball. It was SO worth it.

Supejmojjo

For some reason DJ G-Ha calls me Super Mario… Mario loves African art.

Colour Mexico

When finishing off the world tour with our Pantha Du Prince & The Bell Laboratory project in Mexico City 2013, I was exhausted, so my driver gave me this stress ball to help me through the jet lag. It’s still mucho appreciated.