Gary Louca, AKA Deltiimo

Interview With Gary Louca, AKA Deltiimo

SBS:  Welcome to our pages!  Whether you’ve been here with us in some way before, or you’re brand-new to the site, it’s probably best to get an introduction from you so that we get everyone on the same page to start.  Tell us a little bit about the history of your music, and what’s happening with it lately!?!

Gary Louca:  Gary Louca AKA EDM artist name “Deltiimo.”

SBS:  Let’s talk about the before and after of where you’re currently at.

Gary:  Ok, well I originally started as a writer way back in 1989 into the early 1990’s.  It was always my dream to write a song to be covered by a famous artist like, Tina Turner or Whitney Houston, my dream list had quite a few names.  But despite trying as well did it was an almost impossible task.

I did at least get short listed to have a song on the original Baywatch album but I just missed the final selection lol!  Did the album ever come out?

But by the early 1990’s I started writing songs for my own projects and moved into a more Pop/Dance version of 1990’s EDM, and yep I had quite a few smaller record deals…remember vinyl?!  I released songs under several different names and on different labels.

I had great fun for a few years, and yes both myself and probably the most incredible vocalist I have ever recorded with (who was sadly lost to cancer in 2023) had lots of opportunities, but being honest we both had young families and whilst yes it was flattering to hear songs I co-wrote and mixed in my own studio played on national radio, being the Pop star, or EDM star, and long touring was not for us.

Sure, I performed under different EDM monikers and performed on a number of television shows, and yes, I had some great EDM artists perform on my songs, but I never liked the touring and took a break from music by 2003 to focus on my family and another path.  And yes, I have several UK and European top ten tracks and a #1 artist record some of my songs, but with respect I have also recorded with numerous unknown vocalist artists who are equally as talented.

At one point I was studying to become a football/soccer agent and also ran a men’s football/soccer team which eventually brought me back to music.  We filmed an entire season of my amateur football/soccer team’s adventures and I actually wrote a film concept based on the true story…

In 2012 I even released a football/soccer song with a choregraphed dance routine and titled the song “Now Everybody Stand In Line.”  The song charted at #1 in one of the many USA DJ, Dance charts ahead of “Madonna” which was quite surreal and funny at the same time.  I had some great UK television PR; national press and it was even played at the Common wealth games.  The song stills get played to this date and I noticed on my royalties in 2024 it was being used in Germany.

But with respect nothing is more important to me than my family and always will be.  I don’t take myself serious at all…  And we laugh a lot in my studio, and the moto is leave your ego at the door.

I took another break from music until late 2016 when after having my partner encourage me again, I was trying to think of a way I could be behind the scenes more and as I was still heavily involved with football/soccer I came up with a concept of a name and “Deltiimo” popped into my head.

It’s been great fun writing under the brand name since 2016, and I have lost count of how many songs have featured in various DJ, dance charts around the world, plus I’m also writing behind the scenes for various non EDM projects.  But again, with no disrespect intended to any DJ chart, thanks to every DJ who has ever played one of my songs whether it’s in a DJ chart or not.

SBS:  What’s something about the music that you’re making now that you don’t think you could have done five years ago?

Gary:  Singing more songs myself, in my own vocal key.  I have recorded so many incredible vocalists and I have learned so much from them over the years (and still learning), and I have learned to a certain degree to be able to record voice overs for multiple characters in my animation and film projects.

SBS:  What’s something you think you’ll be able to do with your music five years from now that you can’t do today?

Gary:  It’s difficult to predict the future, but I can imagine lots more apps and software being created around music, sound and audio WAV frequencies to enhance mankind in some way.

SBS:  How have you grown as an artist/band, and what steps do you take to continue your artistic evolution?

Gary:  OK as much as I like EDM music, I also like a huge variety of different genres so I will continue to do a bit of everything and in multiple different genres from a musical point of view.

SBS:  If you were to assess the overall health of the independent music scene right now, what would you say?  What are the positives and the negatives about the current state of independent music, and what do you feel like artists & bands can do to contribute to the community & help it grow beyond the music being made?  If you’re not actively looking to listen to the music of other independent artists/bands, is it really all that fair to expect anyone would listen to yours?  How do you help the scene around you grow?

Gary:  My thoughts on the independent music scenes are that there are artists in all genres of music creating incredible songs and music.  But as we all know without the correct PR even the most talented artists often get overlooked.  PR can come in multiple ways.

SBS:  What do you consider to be the biggest accomplishment or achievement you’ve had with your music to-date?  How do you personally measure your own success – is that something that even can be measured?  Is it awards, accolades, chart position…or is your definition of success based on something entirely different?  Should success, however you define it, be something that artists are continually focused on – or is success something that naturally occurs in the course of doing what you love to do?

Gary:  Awards, hit records mean nothing without family or your loved ones, so to me how can you even compare?

SBS:  When you’re working on something brand-new, and something about it just doesn’t feel like it’s coming together the way that you think it should, how do you know when it’s time to give up on it, or how do you know that it’s time to dig in even harder and find a way to make it work?  Are there distinct red flags you can hear when something’s not working?  What are the signs you look for that tell you to stop forcing the material?  What would actually encourage you to keep going with the process instead?

Gary:  Take a break and listen with fresh ears, even and old song can be reinterpreted, it’s always new to someone, and don’t be too critical of yourself.

SBS:  One of the points of general consensus in the art of making music, is that we all get our sound from somewhere…we hear what we like, then more often than not, we take tiny pieces of what we love to find our own voice & approach to go on and make music in our own way.  Essentially, what I’m saying is that it’s absolutely natural to be inspired by other artists/bands, and almost every artist/band ends up having that inspiration show up in their own work in some way, shape, or form.  What the real key is though, is retaining your own organic perspective – you still wanna be original too, right?  So how do you go about doing that?  Are there artists or bands that you know have been an influence on your style & sound?  How were you able to incorporate that influence without becoming too noticeably derivative and still be yourself?  Should we embrace and celebrate our influences more than we do?  It’s almost like we try not to admit influences exist in the pursuit of being original, but it’s like, bruh…if it’s there, we can hear it.  We all borrow something from those that came before us to some extent, don’t we?

Gary:  From the moment were born and heard our first sounds weren’t we taking in influences?

SBS:  Has there ever been a time where you wrote something inside one of your songs…maybe it’s a lyrical line, or maybe it’s a riff of some kind…something that you did, where you surprised yourself?  I like to think we all have a moment or two where we can stand back and be amazed by something we created, and appreciate the fact that maybe, just maybe, we exceeded our own expectations of what we thought we could accomplish – you know what I mean?  Get as specific as you can so the fans out there know what they should be paying attention to when they hear it – what’s your favorite thing that you’ve written on the inside of one of your songs, and why does this particular piece resonate so much to you?

Gary:  The more songs I have written, I have realized that sometimes it’s not about having the greatest melody, or playing the lost chord, or a vocalist hitting an impossible note.  Sometimes it’s about when you’re not singing and letting the song “breathe.”

SBS:  I’ve been having a lot of great debates lately about whether or not everybody that’s making music has the right to be heard…and you’d probably be surprised by how different people seem to feel about this issue.  I know where I stand on it, and I think you can all probably get an idea of what my position would be from this free interview we’re doing here & the way we run things at sleepingbagstudios…but regardless, I’m putting this question out there to you, because I’m interested in YOUR perspective.  Just because you’ve made a song, does that mean people should listen?  If your answer is yes, do your best to explain why you feel that way & why we should make a sincere effort to listen to the music of others.  If your answer is no, explain why you feel that way, but also explain why people should still be listening to your music if that’s the case – what would make your music the exception, and not follow the rule?  Is there any value to an idea that’s not finished, or a song in its demo stages, or maybe something that’s not recorded in a top-shelf studio or with good equipment – somebody still took the time to make that song to the best of their ability with the means they had to create it – should that be listened to, or not?

Gary:  Everyone on the planet has the ability and right to be able to breathe and sing, or talk, write songs, and be happy.  Not everyone will like your songs or music, maybe even no one, but if you do and it makes you happy then that’s all that matters.  Let negativity bounce off you and believe in your self-worth is my take on things.

SBS:  There are ups and downs in the dynamics of almost every album we listen to, with very few exceptions.  Even those exceptions, probably still come down to more of a personal preference about what we enjoy about music and how we personally hear it, rather than anything being completely and totally “perfect” – you know what I mean?  Does an album actually need to have some kind of up/down dynamics in terms of what’s appealing to the masses in order for the best of the best songs in a lineup to be fully appreciated?  Wouldn’t every artist & band avoid the ‘down’ side (less accessible/less popular for example) if they could?  Does the ‘down’ side represent something else perhaps, like the story of an album or journey of an artist?  Is the ‘up’ side of a record as potent or noticeable if it doesn’t have a ‘down’ side to go with it?  Would a completely balanced album somehow be boring if it didn’t have the ups/downs that most have?  Do we HAVE to like every single song on a record for it to be considered complete?  Are the dynamics of an album something anyone can really steer in the direction they want to, or are all artists & bands simply going with the strongest material they have created at the time?

Gary:  There is no such thing as a perfect song or album, it’s more down to personal preference and each individual’s own listening experience.  But there is also such a thing as a perfect album in the views of some listeners.  So how long is a piece of string?  You get my point.

SBS:  I wanna send out a shout-out to YOU from me personally – I appreciate everyone that has taken the time to talk tunes with me throughout the years, and I appreciate the time YOU have taken with this interview too.  Because this one’s a little different in the sense that it’s been sent out to multiple people and is a little more generic in that regard, I have no doubt whatsoever that we probably didn’t get to talk to you about something you wanted to talk about – so let’s fix that!  This final space is what we call the SBS Open Floor – a spot where you can say anything else you want to say to the people out there.  It can be anything at all…your main websites…something else you want them to know about you and/or your music…your favorite bands in the scene right now…the secret 11 herbs and spices to the Colonel’s secret recipe – you get the idea, and it’s probably best you choose something that suits you rather than take any of my suggestions, but feel free to take the SBS Open Floor for a ride.  Whatever it is you want the people to know, now is the prime time for you to tell’em!  Thanks again for everything – keep in touch!

Gary:  My quote…”Be Happy”…

Find out more about Gary Louca’s music as Deltiimo from his official page at Facebook here:  https://www.facebook.com/DeltiimoMusic

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