G-Farmerz are a beat-making duo with crazy styles
From the hills of Cuneo to the vinyl stacks of Barcelona, production duo G-Farmerz—Mella and Dave—bring raw, sample-based beats that honour the gritty sounds of hip-hop’s golden age. Their roots are deep in Italy, but their music crosses borders and genres, blending influences and each other’s unique styles to create something unmistakably recognizable.
Italy has a lot of talent and creativity if you know where and how to look at things. These soft-spoken artists are bringing originality and soul-infused boom-bap to a new wave of incredible artists, such as Pepe Nocciola, Sebastiano Contrario aka Sebini The Bini, and young braggadocio spitter Gentle T, among others.
Although their production credits aren’t as long as you might expect, these are the go-to guys to the savvy rappers and emcees from the Belpaese as of now.
We have met them to dissect their science and story behind the boards. Enjoy the reading, folks.
G-Farmerz Beat-Making Duo: Mella (left) and Dave (right) Portrait
Hey G-Farmerz, welcome to Stretto Blaster’s Production Specs. Do you want to introduce yourself to our readers?
Hello, we are Dave and Mella, a beat-making duo from Cuneo, Piedmont, Italy (even if we are spread apart, one in Barcelona and the other in Mondovì) and we go by the name of G-Farmerz. We love to make sample-based beats with that raw taste and rough chops.
When did you start making music? What were your inspirations when you first started?
M: I started to play around with beats in the early Y2K’s, but it was only in 2010 that I started “taking it seriously” as I bought my first Akai MPC sampler.
D: I started around the same year as Mella, but at the time, I was also rapping, so I was always in need of beats. My long-time friend Alberto aka Dj Nollie Nox, already got an MPC, so he gave me the fundamentals, and from there, I never stopped making beats since it completely took over my MC aspirations.
What was your first commercial beat sold, or placed, ever?
M: I’ve always made beats for me and my friends trying to perfect the art. I remained silent and low profile for a very long time and then I started producing for Dave, Pepe Nocciola and Sebastiano for their solo projects. The first big project I was involved in was Bar Sport by Gentle T in 2023.
D: The first MC besides me who started rapping on my beats was Sebastiano Contrario.
How long did it take you to produce something you were proud of?
D: I used to be very hard on myself until artists I follow and respect started to understand the journey.
M: A lot! As I was saying, I stayed in the shadows for a long time because I wanted to develop my own style and understand this beautiful art form. I would say 5-6 years.
What’s your favourite production setup?
D: I found my balance between some samplers and a DAW (an acronym for Digital Audio Workstation, author’s note).
At the moment, I’m chillin’ with an Akai MPC 1000 and a Roland SP-404. When the dirty job on the machines is done, I usually add a final touch with FL Studio.
M: I like to keep it simple. An Akai MPC and a couple of speakers are all I need. Now that I own an MPC X, I have a complete production set, DAW and everything inside one machine, and it’s awesome.
The imprint G-Farmerz is like a production group, akin to other famous squads in music production. How do you work your music to meet the GF standards?
M: We are a duo but we don’t work 4 hands on the beats. Each one is on his own, but we are long-time friends and we have quite the same taste in music, so it’s easy for us to maintain some kind of “trademark” in our productions. We never say to anyone if the beat is mine or Dave’s, the beat is G-Farmerz and is all you need to know! This also helps to inspire each other, like when Dave shows me a new beat and I think “Motherfu***r now, I have to step my game up!”
D: As Johnny said, we come from the same area, so our sound must capture the rough feeling of it.
Do you dig for records? Any funny stories related to digging?
D: Yes I do, I just go for the cheap stuff in dodgy record stores and second-hand shops. The Internet also has everything you look for.
M: Yes, I like to dig for records and whenever I have time and money, I go to my favourite record store in Barcelona to dig some old dusty records. We also dig online. I’m not gonna lie! The “wax-only” times are over. I don’t have funny stories, but a great memory is when I went digging in the famous Amoeba Store in San Francisco…man, that place is huge!
What’s the best digging advice you’ve received from someone?
D: Probably never received a good one, but here’s what I can tell you: before you go into a fancy record store, always start digging around you. Clean your parents’ basement and ask friends and family about abandoned crates.
M: He didn’t say it to me personally, but the old Alchemist’s advice: if there’s a naked girl on the cover, and it’s from the Seventies, the record is fire! It is true 98% of the time.
If you had to tell, what’s your worst production mistake ever made?
D: Selling out (fire!) beats to a random guy that turned out to be an asshole.
M: Make a producer album when I wasn’t ready. I regret that decision, the beat selection, everything. I also bought synths that I ended up reselling, simply because they weren’t for me.
One essential mixing tip?
D: Look for a good sound engineer!
M: Use your ears and forget about “dogmas”.
What can we expect from you shortly?
M: We are super productive and we have a couple of big projects coming out in the next months with artists that we love from all over Italy and can’t wait to show you the results. We can’t say more at the moment.
D: There is also a beat tape in the making of which, however, I cannot say anything else yet…
Any final words for the readers?
D: Don’t try to sound like someone else, putting your own story into music makes it inimitable.
M: Be patient and wait for things to come. If you are good and give your best at what you do, people will notice. Don’t ever force things!
