Coming from a small town near Venice, and now based in Milan, Italian producer Alessandro Garbellini, better known as msft, has spent the last decade mastering the UK underground bass continuum.

We caught up with him to discuss his sonic pivot from festival mainstage sounds to pure, groove-oriented club energy, the origin of his love for UKG, the thriving Italian bass scene, and the “less is more” philosophy defining his trajectory into 2026.

Enjoy this new Adrenaline episode.

Your official biography notes that as you moved through 2025, you felt you were finally expressing the “full maturity” and the absolute apex of your sound. If you had to define the msft sonic signature right now, how would you describe it?

I think I am finally expressing the truest version of my music and my vision. If I had to describe it, I would say it’s very much groove-oriented. I left behind a lot of the “mainstage” sounds I was using before to focus on danceability.
To sum this up, I think the main shift has been moving from “festival” to club energy, which is something I’m very passionate about.

You’ve been heavily championing UK Garage and breakbeat recently, but you approach it with a highly unique, subversive edge. What initially drew you to the UK Garage soundscape, and what is your specific approach when it comes to breaking the traditional tempo and rhythmic rules of the genre?

Breaks have always been part of my journey as a producer, but most importantly, as a listener. The Prodigy, just to mention one of my biggest inspirations, helped shape my taste a lot. However, speaking of UK Garage, one of the core moments that made me completely fall in love with the genre was watching on YouTube Main Phase’s Keep Hush set in Bristol; more specifically, the combination of shuffly rhythms with grime vocals really clicked something and made me want to work more with MCs and singers.

You are widely respected in the community for your technical skills, yet your production ethos explicitly states that you refuse to design complex compositions just for the sake of complexity. Out of your entire discography, which specific track or project do you feel was the absolute hardest to crack in terms of achieving that perfect balance between high-level technical sound design and pure dancefloor groove?

My most recent EP, “Wall-To-Wall,” is definitely my best project and the “hardest” to complete. But it was also the most fun one! I spent a lot trying to achieve the perfect balance between energy, vocal presence, and sound design.
The story behind it is very simple: I decided to stop overcomplicating my arrangements, trying to make something that could be easily listened to in a club but also on your AirPods at home, chilling.

Historically, when the industry discusses the global bass or UKG scene, the geographical focus defaults to London or North America. Yet, there’s been a recent rise of the Italian bass music happening right now with you, camoufly, COIDO, and others. How and why do you think this new wave of talent is successfully exporting these sounds out of Italy?

I don’t think there’s a specific answer or a secret formula. I feel the key to exporting these sounds is to understand the genre(s), to respect their roots, and, with that in mind, to try and be authentic. Going to shows, clubs, etc is also very important as it makes you understand what works better and what makes people move.

It is notoriously difficult for international artists to authentically penetrate the insular UK underground, yet your music is currently being rinsed by heavyweights spanning multiple generations, from Modeselektor to Sammy Virji, Interplanetary Criminal, and Plastician. This is alongside heavy rotation on BBC Radio 1 and Rinse FM, and your recent release on the cult UK label ec2a. How does it feel to receive that level of institutional validation from the pioneers of the UK scene, given that you spent years studying those very sounds in relative isolation near Venice?

It’s honestly amazing! I’m very grateful for the support I’ve been receiving throughout these past years; it’s a validation that I don’t take for granted. I believe getting support and playouts out of the UK is a sort of full circle moment that makes me say, “Okay, I might be doing something good then”.

In 2024, you expanded your footprint by launching the Phasing Issues podcast alongside Alessio. You’ve interviewed artists like Slumberjack, Rohaan, Rome In Silver, and Aleph. What is the most profound piece of production advice or workflow philosophy you’ve absorbed? Has stepping into the meta-role of the interviewer changed the way you approach your own DAW sessions?

Definitely! Being able to have a chat with such talented artists helped me better understand some concepts and techniques. I discovered so many new plugins and ways to make cool stuff that it’s almost impossible to mention a specific one. And the fun part was that, to me, it was a conversation, not an “interview”, like two friends having a chat about music.

Regarding your Adrenaline guest mix series, can you highlight one specific track, transition, or VIP edit within that set that carries a special meaning for you?

There’s a specific song called Routing [V] that I’m very proud of. It’s very different from what I’ve been releasing in the previous months, but I think it represents well the direction I’m taking at the moment, focused on grooves and deep sounds

Your arc as the msft producer started around 2017. Looking back at the producer you were nearly ten years ago, what has been the most significant internal shift in your mindset regarding what constitutes a truly timeless piece of electronic music?

As obvious as it sounds, I’d say simplicity. All these phrases like “less is more” might be a bit overused, but essentially they’re true. And it goes back to my desire not to overcomplicate my arrangements.

As we look deep into 2026 and beyond, where do you see the msft project heading?

I want to keep on working with singers and MCs, maybe incorporating more hardware elements (I had such a fun time making my song with hjud “Peak” using the Novation Peak haha). I have a bunch of shows lined up for these upcoming months that I am looking forward to; besides that, all I can say is that there will be a lot of new music coming out both under msft and my parallel project with my friends at EUROCLUB.