V.a. - Italo Disco 80- Vol. 1 -2016 Disco- -fla... May 2026

Ferrante, a former DJ at the legendary in Rimini, had witnessed the genre’s birth and burial. But in 2015, a strange thing happened: his nephew, a 19-year-old DJ named Elena, played a remix of Koto’s “Visitors” at a Berlin underground party. The crowd went feral. “They didn’t know the original,” she told Marco. “But they felt it. The arpeggios, the melancholy… it’s like nostalgia for a time they never lived.”

At first, nothing. Then, a Reddit thread in r/synthwave: “Is this the real Italo or some AI fake?” Then, a shoutout from a Romanian DJ collective. Then, a full review in Resident Advisor : “Not a cash-grab. A time machine.” V.A. - Italo Disco 80- Vol. 1 -2016 Disco- -Fla...

By September, Vol. 1 had sold out its vinyl run. The digital release hit #4 on Beatport’s Nu-Disco chart. Ferrante received a letter from a 17-year-old in Ohio: “I play this while driving my mom’s minivan. I pretend it’s a Pantera. Thank you.” Italo Disco 80 – Vol. 1 didn’t revive the genre—but it woke something up. In 2017, Vol. 2 followed, then a live tour called “Ciao 1984” featuring original singers (now in their 60s) performing with younger synthwave bands. Ferrante, now 60, spins at festivals wearing the same white jacket he wore in 1985. Elena, his niece, runs the Disco Fla label. Ferrante, a former DJ at the legendary in