Etnica

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The Juggeling Alchemists Under the Black Light, the first album released by Etnica.

Etnica are DJ Max Lanfranconi, Carlo Paterno, Maurizio Begotti, and Andrea Rizzo. They are a well known, even considered legendary by some, Goa trance project from Italy.

Max Lanfranconi, Maurizio Begotti, Carlo Paterno and Andrea Rizzo met during various parties in Italy at the end of the 1980s. Max, the band leader, was a DJ at the time and had already released two singles in the mid-80's on an independent Italian label. As for Andrea, he had a solid musical background. Combined with the melodies of Carlo and Maurizio's sense of arrangement, all would soon lead to the production of some of the most celebrated electronic compositions.

The first one was published on Brainstorm label in 1995, and was titled Big Storm in Chapora Fort. The first album, The Juggling Alchemist Under the Blacklight, was out the same year on the German label High Society. This helped the band build a solid reputation in the Psychedelic trance scene. Their second album, the classic Alien Protein, was released in 1996 on Blue Room Released.

At the initiative of Paterno, they launched a party-orientated side project, Pleiadians. Starting off with an EP on Symbiosis Records in 1995, they have thus far produced two albums Identified Flying Object (1997), and Family of Light (1999) in which Paterno was partially involved. A third opus called "Three Sisters" was released in 2006.

Additionally, a side project, Crop Circles, was a collaboration with the band Lotus Omega. This project's name echoes the fact that their music incorporates mostly sci-fi themes, not unlike the work they did as Pleiadians.

After the writing of the ambient-sounding album Equator (1999), Rizzo left the band as well. The departure of Carlo and Andrea who were in charge of the melodic aspects of the project deeply transformed the Etnica sound. The Nitrox (2001) and Chrome (2002) albums displayed an extensive use of techno sounds with very few melodies, to the dismay of many fans.

With the Southafrica 2000 event, Etnica began a business in festival organization throughout the world. Celebra Brasil 2000 followed shortly after. They also founded their own label, Etnicanet Records. Their sixth Etnica album Sharp was published on Solstice in 2004.