Rucca
Inspired by DJ performances as a teenager, Lucca Vaselli now takes the stage himself as Rucca, whose ever-changing experimentations blend layers of house and hip-hop onto his sonic canvas.
Nightlife festivities, sold-out arenas, humble basement bars—no matter the venue, it’s no easy role for a DJ to define the musical landscape for an entire audience. But when then-high schooler Lucca Vaselli had adopted a fascination for the art form, he was determined to study the fundamentals of production and get his hands on turntables of his own.
Originally from São Paulo, Brazil, Lucca currently resides in Washington, DC, where he balances the dichotomy of his nine-to-five desk job as a digital strategist with his off-duty crusades as a DJ. From popular nightclubs like Flash and Soundcheck to renowned venues like 9:30 Club and Echostage—and even among the distinguished lineups of Baltimore’s annual Moonrise Festival—Rucca has commandeered stages both modest and massive, performing powerful symphonic sets that have graced the hearts of crowds and contributed to the spirit of DC’s expanding EDM scene.
I meet the young DJ downstairs of Ebenezers Coffeehouse. True to his common uniform, he’s head-to-toe in streetwear brands and sporting a pair of Pharrell Williams’s Human Race NMDs in a standout tangerine.
Rucca recounts the beginnings of his musical journey, his keen interest in sneaker culture, and the most treasured mix in his catalog.
You chose “Rucca” to be your DJ moniker. Is there a story behind that?
Coming up with a DJ name is really weird because you don’t know how to go about it. There’s never a good way. There’s no sitting down with six names like, “Yeah, this one sounds cool.” Rucca came about in middle school. Somebody called me that in a social studies class and it just stuck from there on. When I was starting the whole DJ pursuit, I thought I should just keep it.
Let’s talk about how you started. What made you want to pursue DJing in the first place?
I went to my first EDM show in 2010 and I just fell in love with it. I had no idea how they made the music at the time, no idea how they were doing it live. All I knew was that everything sounded really cool, and it was awesome that all these people were dancing at one time. I started downloading and playing with all these different softwares like Virtual DJ. I think the moment [DJing] became legit for me was when I came to college and my best friend and I were introduced to each other. His name’s Kyle Jensen. He’s an international touring DJ and he really helped me hone my skills. He helped me figure out the craft, walked me through different styles of music and how to mix better. From there, I realized that I could actually do this, and I got booked at some pretty tiny clubs around DC.
What was the first tiny club you booked?
Ultra Bar. The basement of Ultra Bar. And it was really . . . There was nobody there. I actually recently watched the video from that night. There was nobody in the crowd, but [Kyle and I] were still playing the songs we loved and we were having a blast doing it. It was just us and maybe three friends in the crowd, but it was so much fun. After that, we got booked to play at our university, at American University, with JoJo.
No way. JoJo? That’s such a throwback.
It was quite the throwback. She was so nice. We played this show and we had a packed arena—it had to be at least 1,500 kids—and it just changed everything for me because we realized this was real. It was an adrenaline rush. It was right there in that moment, being on stage with JoJo telling me how amazing I was after the show. It was like, okay, we’ve moved up from the basement, the garage shows in high school. Now this is real.
DJ equipment isn’t cheap. What’s your setup like right now? Your DAW of choice?
My DAW is Ableton Live. That’s the thing I use mostly for making mash-ups, for my prepping sets, and for making mixes. When I first started DJing, I bought a $100 Numark controller and that was cool for me back then, but I transitioned into CDJs which is what I use on stage—usually two CDJ 2000s and one DJ mixer that I haven’t been able to buy or put into the apartment yet because it’s really expensive.
“It was right there in that moment, being on stage with JoJo telling me how amazing I was after the show. It was like, okay, we’ve moved up from the basement, the garage shows in high school. Now this is real.”
In some of your earlier mixes, you were much more focused on EDM. How have you found a way to experiment with other genres into your sets?
Everything started with progressive house. I eventually moved into deeper house and future house, but recently it’s been more hip-hop influenced. Prepping for sets now, I make sure to throw in a lot of hip-hop, whether it’s Kanye, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg—I constantly throw hip-hop in there to change things up. It’s nice to have. I do listen to a lot of hip-hop and house music [off stage], and sometimes I’ll be walking and thinking, “How does this fit well into a set? What am I going to do with this song? Where am I going to mix out of it?” That’s constantly going through my head.
So you’re pocketing all these songs, getting into your zone—what’s your production process like once you’re gluing everything together?
For me, it’s all about making sure you have the right markers. I’ll mark a song with maybe six markers, and each of those spots I’ll know to cut the song out and move into a new song, or I’ll write a note saying this is where I can backspin the track. And I’ll review those notes beforehand because you don’t get to see what [the markers] say on stage. I just review and pray it goes over well.
I take it you’ve had shows not go over well?
There’ve been a couple of times where the equipment has totally fucked up on me. I’ve had plenty of glitches. I played a frat house in college. I don’t like frat parties because it’s just a lot of requests. It’s a bunch of drunk people around you and your equipment could get drinks spilled on it. We did this show—it was a good time and everyone was dancing, but for some reason the house had really bad wiring and every so often all the equipment would just shut off.
What makes a show great? What’s something you seek out every time you’re up there, where at the end of your set you’re like, “Yeah, I’m happy with that”?
It’s definitely the crowd. There’s nothing else I can really base it off of. I’ve played sets that I thought were good but the crowd didn’t vibe with it whatsoever—I tried everything, but people were just focused on getting to the headliner. The best shows are where everyone’s just dancing. It could be 3,000 at Echostage jumping up and down or it could be 20 people in a basement.
“The best shows are where everyone’s just dancing. It could be 3,000 at Echostage jumping up and down or it could be 20 people in a basement.”
What’s one of your favorite shows?
On New Year’s Day we closed out Echostage. My good friends The Banditz—these really great guys who’ve been with me since the beginning of my music career—we closed the place out at 3AM on a Monday morning. It was a ridiculous show. We were throwing everything at the crowd. It didn’t matter what we played, people were going nuts. I played Fall Out Boy; I played some weird bass music. Even at 3:30 in the morning, people were going nuts and I was just like, great, I have to be at work in four hours.
You like to keep your DJ life separate from your desk job life. Why is that?
Once [coworkers] figure it out, the first thing that happens is them asking, “Can you give me backstage?” Most of the time, I’m open to bringing people if they’re cool, but don’t use me. One of my best friends from high school, she’s followed me along my whole DJ path. Back then, she thought it was kind of silly, but she saw me four years later actually pursuing this and told me she’d love to come to one of my shows. She was like, “You don’t even have to give me backstage, I’ll just be in the crowd dancing!” But I was like, no, screw that, you’re going to come back stage.
Considering how long you’ve been at this so far, where are you trying to take things next?
I would love to start doing stuff in New York. I’ve traveled across the country with my friend Kyle for his shows, but I think the next big thing for me would be to get a bigger following here, and then build that off into other cities.
What’s your favorite track on your SoundCloud right now?
My favorite one is called “Changes.” It’s a mix I did while I was abroad, and I hate to admit it but the first ten minutes of the mix were originally made for an ex-girlfriend. I debated posting it publicly. I was really proud of it, but I decided to play with it more, so I kept adding and switching things around. It was all based on my mood through that next year.
I was thinking of the name for it and “Changes” was perfect. It followed me through all my ups and downs. It became this adventure. I’ve had people listen to it and say they could feel where I was at—moments where I was happy, moments where I was upset. I was really proud making a mix that had meaning behind it rather than just me throwing songs together.
This wouldn’t be a Lucca interview without talking about your sneaker collection—you’re notorious for it. What was it about the sneaker scene that tickled your toes?
I studied abroad in Belgium two years ago, and I bought a pair of Nikes that I’d been chasing for a really long time. And those shoes, I took such good care of them. They’ve unfortunately died on me so I had to get rid of them, but I fell in love with them and the whole idea of chasing shoes. When I was in Europe, I noticed how well dressed people were and how sneakers were a big thing. I came back to the states, and I’d fallen in love with adidas at that point, so I bought my first pair of NMDs. They came out while I was abroad and people were getting them, but I was finally able to get a pair. I was so happy. It was another addition to the collection. And then it just got out of control. [laughs]
How many Yeezys have you copped at this point?
Right now I have three pairs. The thing is, everyone has them now. All these ten-year-olds wear them and I just don’t like it. They’re not unique anymore.
Reminds me of Supreme.
I don’t like Supreme. When I was in London, I walked by the Supreme store and the moment I knew I hated it was when I saw two guys fighting over Supreme socks. Like, they were socks. Two dudes going at it in the store yelling at each other for these socks. And it was in that moment—fuck this brand. I’m never wearing Supreme.
Getting back on track, I know you’ve got a lot of passions. Street fashion, you’re dabbling with photography—but DJing is your main grind and it’s got to be real competitive in this city. What keeps you going at it?
Yeah, it’s difficult to want to keep going because in reality the DJ scene in DC is full of artists. There’s a lot of us. But it’s the sense of community with us. There’s this guy, Don Campbell, who’s also a DJ in the city. We’ve never actually met face-to-face before, but we support each other. I think that’s what pushes me—all these supportive artists in the scene here that just show love for one another.
“I would love to start doing stuff in New York. I’ve traveled across the country with my friend Kyle for his shows, but I think the next big thing for me would be to get a bigger following here, and then build that off into other cities.”
Every time you’re out there doing your thing, when all is said and done, what are you hoping the crowd takes away from you? The one mark you hope to leave on them?
I just want people enjoying themselves. I don’t think I’m going for anything specific. I’m not trying to put on a show when I’m up on stage. I want to give people a good time and have fun with them and yeah, sometimes I dance like an idiot on stage, but that’s my thing. I enjoy every moment of it.