ABOUT


Ivan Pezzini, aka Massivan: Just DJing is not enough


MEET IVAN PEZZINI, AKA MASSIVAN, OWNER AND FOUNDER OF PMUSICA AND MODEST ELECTRONICA.

Born the son of a violinist 1971 as an italian in Switzerland, Massivan (aka Ivan Pezzini) enjoyed a classical music education, starting to play the violin by the age of six. Not much later, Ivan picked up on the drums and finally became a student at the American Institute of Music of Vienna in 1993.

In 2000, Massivan co-founded the label imprint "Modest Records" and released five singles under the «Josef's Ruhe» moniker. One of them, «Zürihorn», went straight in the dancefloor charts, became a major peak time track on the global club circuit and got massive support from djs like John Digweed, Sasha, Timo Maas and Steve Lawler.

Picture Juventino Mateo Leon
Picture Juventino Mateo Leon

After having produced progressive house for 4 years, Massivan felt it was time for change. And so he started to join forces with with Jens Andersson. Their «Calmstreet» project came up with a fine blend of pop and lounge, resulting in an acclaimed longplayer called «Third Wave», released on «Mole Listening Pearls» in September of 2002.

During spring of 2003, Massivan moved to the tiny balearic island of Formentera (near Ibiza), where he got himself a dj residency at the infamous globetrotter hotspot Blue Bar, playing sunset gigs there ever since as well as co-compiling & mastering most of the popular Blue Bar compilations.


Picture Juventino Mateo Leon
Picture Juventino Mateo Leon

In may 2005, Massivan released his first solo album «Daylife», which marked a shift in musical direction, more towards jazzy, chilled house fueled by latin-beats.

The second solo album «Massenwahn» came about in late 2006 packed to the max with pure electro pop and psy-trance infused club sound. The same year, Massivan became resident dj for the «Gorgeous» night at legendary club Space Ibiza and mixed the "Gorgeous" compilation.

April 2007 saw the release of «Wide», Massivan's third solo effort. «Wide» showcased more of a «downtempo-with-a-touch-of-jazz» sound, featuring several top notch studio cats/live musicians, and was accompanied by a string of highly acclaimed remix EPs (called «Wider» and «Widest»).

The fourth Massivan solo album, «Family With 3 Hearts», got a worldwide release through Pschent records in may 2011, including the hit single «2 B @ 1 With The World» which made it onto a lot of prestigeous compilations. Over the years, Massivan's music has been included several times on a.o. Hotel Costes and Buddha Bar, just to name the most famous.

In late 2011, Ivan finished the production of another outstanding project for his own label imprint Pmusica: the album «Formentera» by singer Bea Luna was co-produced by Massivan with german drummer don Wolfgang Haffner, again featuring a string of first-call jazz musicians from around the world.


In 2013, Massivan finished his longplayer called «Satisfied», released on Poets Club Records and in 2016 he released his latest & 6th studio album «Slowoscope» on his own label Pmusica. Meanwhile, the re-release of the full back catalogue of his vinyl imprint «Modest Records» under the refurbished moniker «Modest Electronica» has been accomplished - that new longplayer is still in the works - and the string of special digital edition EPs released through Pmusica & Modest Electronica over the course of the last years kept a special place in the playlists & ears of of the global dj elite.

But of course, it didn’t stop just there. At this moment, Massivan is back in the game with a string of 3 single releases over the course of the last 6 months.

 

A new album takes shape. DJ bookings incoming. The journey from Formentera into the rest of the world and back continues. And so does the sound of Massivan.