Los Angeles-based DJ and producer Mia Moretti has spent the past decade developing a sound rooted in classic, vocal, and disco-driven house. Named DJ of the Year by Paper magazine and featured in The New York Times, Interview, and Rolling Stone, she has built a career connecting dance music with influences from different musical traditions.
Photo credit: Mia Moretti – Instagram
Her debut EP, ‘Tambor’ (2023), marked an important step in her production career, featuring Colombian bullerengue artists Petrona Martínez and Totó la Momposina. Sampling has remained central to her approach, drawing on recordings by Letta Mbulu, Chicco, and Vonita White. She later made her debut on Crosstown Rebels with ‘Safe With Me’, featuring Irma Thomas and remixes from David Morales and Tiger Stripes.
Her latest project, ‘Chef’s Kiss Radio Vol. 1: Ibiza’, brings together ten tracks inspired by a summer of her Chef’s Kiss residency on the island. Released through her own Spaghetti Moretti Records, the compilation features contributions from Uffie, Radio Slave, Bárbara Boeing, and Myd, translating the musical identity of her parties into a recorded collection.
In this conversation with Electronic Groove, Mia Moretti discusses the creative process behind the compilation, the playful philosophy of Spaghetti Moretti Records, her approach to collaboration, and what comes next for Chef’s Kiss.
EG: Hi Mia, welcome to Electronic Groove. It’s great to have you with us. How have you been, and how are you feeling now that another summer of Chef’s Kiss has come to an end?
Mia Moretti: Ready for breakfast in bed.
EG: ‘Chef’s Kiss Radio Vol. 1: Ibiza’ captures a season of your residency on the island through ten tracks and a pretty remarkable group of artists. When did you realise you wanted to turn the experience of this summer into a record?
Mia Moretti: When I started booking the residency, I felt a little like an elf baking. A teaspoon of this, a splash of that, a twist, a shout, and as more artists were added, it became more and more precise. Every piece had to work with the next until the alchemy was perfect. I’m a big fan of compilation albums as they remind me of a playlist you make for your best friend to cement a memory, or a mixtape that does a little dance. I decided that with this lineup we had the ingredients for a record that would always take us back to this exact moment in time.
EG: The compilation brings together house, disco and more late-night territory, with each artist bringing a very different personality to the project. What were you looking for when deciding which tracks belonged together?
Mia Moretti: Most importantly, I looked for the track from each artist that matched my label. This is the first release on my label that isn’t my own music, so I really wanted to make sure I was crafting the sound of Spaghetti Moretti Records. Who are we? How do we want people to think of us? When do we want people to listen to us? I always believed my label was a place to have fun; it’s not a serious place, more like a vacation house, or an Airbnb, a getaway for artists to be a bit cheeky. I want our music to share the feeling of ecstasy and joy we bring to all our DJ sets.
EG: Your Chef’s Kiss parties have become a space where DJs and artists with very different backgrounds can coexist. What does the residency give you as a curator that you don’t get from simply running a label?
Mia Moretti: The residency feels like I’m throwing myself a birthday party. It’s self-indulgent, but I work really hard to create these dream lineups, and we should enjoy them. Turn off the brain and dance.
EG: There’s a real sense of personality around Spaghetti Moretti, from the name and artwork to the way you present the music. How important is humour and playfulness to the identity you’re building?
Mia Moretti: Well, the music is always the most important part, but I really despise getting too serious about music. It takes away the feeling for me. With my label, I wanted to make it abundantly clear that’s not us. We aren’t DFA, we aren’t Michelin stars, we’re a corner pasta shop, and we don’t take reservations. Walk-in only.
“I want our music to share the feeling of ecstasy and joy we bring to all our DJ sets”
EG: You’ve included your own ‘GET READY!’ and ‘backseat baby’ on the compilation, alongside remixes from Bárbara Boeing and Radio Slave. What do you discover about your own music when you hand it over to artists with such different approaches?
Mia Moretti: That it is a woman with many faces.
EG: Radio Slave’s remix of ‘backseat baby’ gives the track a very different context, while the original features Uffie. What did that collaboration reveal to you about the track that you hadn’t necessarily heard yourself?
MM: That you could play 9 minutes of engine revs.
EG: The limited vinyl also includes Myd’s exclusive remix of Cesária Évora’s ‘Bia Lulucha’. What made that particular piece of music feel right for the Chef’s Kiss world, and what did Myd bring to it?
Mia Moretti: Initially, I asked Quentin for a different track because I didn’t think a Cesária Évora remix would fit our corner pasta shop, but I was wrong. I think this remix ended up being the most Italian-sounding track on the album. Myd understands how a little playfulness can dance around in a track without getting too far lost in the bizarre. I think that’s the perfect example of Chef’s Kiss.
EG: You’ve described the compilation as a slice of your Ibiza summer, but there’s also something quite archival about putting a particular season and community into physical form. How do you think about that relationship between a fleeting club experience and a record that can live beyond it?
Mia Moretti: It’s important to remember what we do, how we spend our time and who we spend it with. What can I say, I’m a romantic!
“We aren’t DFA, we aren’t Michelin stars, we’re a corner pasta shop, and we don’t take reservations”
EG: This is the first volume of Chef’s Kiss Radio. Do you already see the project developing into an ongoing series, and if so, what could the next chapter look like?
Mia Moretti: Well, of course! Wherever our next adventure leads, if it’s worth remembering, we will press it up.
EG: Beyond this compilation, what else are you excited to cook up around Spaghetti Moretti and Chef’s Kiss as you head into the rest of the year?
Mia Moretti: I’m excited to cook up pizza. We are doing a release party in Amsterdam for ADE, and our guest DJs will also be guest-chef-ing at Stacks Deli. We also have some remix packages dropping before the end of the year, and then on Jan 15th, our next single drops: ‘FAVORITE WASTE OF TIME’ by ABEL.
Mia Moretti’s ‘Chef’s Kiss Radio Vol. 1: Ibiza’ is out now on Spaghetti Moretti Records. Stream and download here.
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