Artist Takeover Mix: hershel

In this week's blog post we welcome Italian Ambient artist hershel (Luciano Masala) to the Whitelabrecs Mixcloud account for a special artist takeover mix, following the release of his own debut Ambient album 'silent steps for a better way'. At just 20 years old, Luciano has already explored a wide range of musical worlds under different aliases, now finding an additional home within Ambient music.

For his takeover mix, Luciano has curated an hour-long drone mix featuring music from artists and friends within the underground Ambient community, alongside some of the influences that have shaped his own creative journey. Featuring artists including Hakobune, Floating Points, The Dead Texan and more, the mix offers a glimpse into the listening world behind hershel.

As always, Ryan Watts (AKA Akira Film Script) takes on interview duty, speaking with Luciano about the origins of hershel, the story behind the project name, and the experiences that inspired his new album. The conversation explores his early fascination with electronic music, his journey from EDM production into Ambient composition, and the artists who helped shape his approach - from Stars of the Lid and C418 to Tim Hecker and beyond.

Scroll down to listen to the full mix, see the tracklist and read the interview - you’ll also find a couple of recent profile photos and a link where you can listen to silent steps for a better way, if you haven't done so already...

Tracklist:

1. Hakobune - Lighthouse
2. yourtwinflame - Even if things end worse
3. tapei - nada + suerte
4. hershel - 19.60923
5. Evangeline - Godrays 11-03-23
6. James Osland - There Are So Many Things In Life Beyond Our Control
7. Slow Attack Ensemble - Light Patterns
8. lurp sheets - a chance to love
9. Floating Points - Falaise
10. Uris/Shinoda Mahiro, Dawn DX - Midnight tour
11. hershel - Look (edit)
12. The Dead Texan - Beatrice Part 2
13. zakè - Selahs (pętla)
14. marie - Always There

Hey Luciano, thanks for joining me today for a quick chat about your new album silent steps for a better way on Whitelabrecs, and your proprietary mix to support the release! First off, can you give us a bit of background on yourself? I understand you're in your twenties, but have already released under different monikers and genres; can you tell us a bit about the musical world of Luciano Masala?

Hey! First of all, thanks for having me!

I'm Luciano, I'm 20 years old as of July 2026, I'm from Padua, and I write, produce, and compose music. When I first started wanting to make music, my sole focus was on EDM.

During my early years, I fell in love with Skrillex, Aphex Twin, David Guetta, and a bunch of other dubstep and electronic artists.

I don't come from a formally trained musical family, but my mom has always appreciated music and introduced it to me when I was a kid.

You know, that era when a kid just has to try a bunch of different things, haha. I stuck with it for a while, taking guitar lessons and joining a music class during middle school where I learned the violin.

I got access to FL Studio at 14, and then eventually switched to Ableton Live later that same year. As I grew up, I eventually lost interest in that specific type of music (even though I still love it) and wanted to shift the sound I was pursuing.

After a few years of music production, I realized that I work best in many different ways, and I don't want to limit myself to a single genre or just one alias.

I look at artists like Mid-Air Thief (who also goes by three other monikers), Four Tet, Aphex Twin, EDEN, and many others as inspiration for that approach.

Focusing in on silent steps for a better way, your first release under the hershel namesake as I'm to understand, the album feels deeply personal and introspective; what led you to the artist name hershel, and what in your life inspired you to paint in this manner with sound? Any influences you'd like to divulge on as well?

The name "hershel" was originally inspired by one of my favorite video game sagas: Professor Layton ("Hershel" being his first name).

I remember playing those games with my mom when I was a kid; they were pretty much the only video games she actually enjoyed.

When I discovered ambient music, I really wanted to start a project where I could capture a nostalgic feeling. Because this happened during a period in my life when I had just gone back to playing one of those games again, I thought it would be the perfect name. Some of the biggest influences for this album were Stars of the Lid, C418, and Tim Hecker.

Your artist mix to support your release is a wonderful journey into your Ambient world - an hour of music I personally quite enjoyed, so thank you; with so much great music out there nowadays, how did you come about choosing who you chose for your mix? Was it more of a vibe-based focus, or was there a defined setlist going in?

I'm very glad you liked it! I really wanted to go as niche as possible with this mix, so I thought including tracks from my friends and other underground artists from SoundCloud would be the perfect choice.

A few of the friends featured in this mix are Tapei, Evangeline, and Yourtwinflame.

I wanted to create a mix that felt very close to me. These songs are personal favorites of mine, and I love playing this mix whenever I want to listen to the genre. I also think I did a great job with the transitions!

We're always sharing what we're all listening to in the Inner Echo community; what are some classic albums or artists for you, and who or what are you listening to nowadays?

I know it's a bit cliché to say, but I absolutely love Stars of the Lid's discography. "And Their Refinement Of The Decline" is the album that introduced me to the drone genre, and it rapidly became one of my favorite records of all time.

I also love Kyle Bobby Dunn's "From Here to Eternity", Susumu Yokota's "Symbol", Brian McBride's "When the Detail Lost Its Freedom", and Bing & Ruth's "Tomorrow Was the Golden Age", among many others.

Outside of the Ambient genre, I've been listening to a lot of Tennyson, EDEN, Clairo, Ryan Beatty, Cameron Winter, and Joji.

I could go on and on, but those are just a few of the ones I'm spinning the most right now!

'silent steps for a better way' is available in a limited repress of 100 vinyl-effect CDrs, as well as a digital options in a range of high quality formats. You can take a listen to the album in full HERE!