Roots and Rhythms: Olivan on Family, Culture, and Creating Deep Connections via Sound
Meet Olivan, a seasoned artist with practically twenty years of expertise and an unwavering dedication to crafting unforgettable atmospheres in digital music. Known for his dynamic, natural soundscapes and the fluid tempo of his DJ units, Olivan has carved a singular path within the digital music scene, each domestically in Switzerland and internationally. With a long-standing residency at Basel’s famend Nordstern membership, the place he’s carried out alongside heavyweights like Damian Lazarus and Solomun, Olivan has turn into a defining presence. His latest EP, A Hundred Years, on Basel-based label Bunte Kuh, that includes remixes by Acid Pauli, Nhii, and Dandara, marks an thrilling new chapter in his profession. Now embracing slower tempos to deepen emotional impression, Olivan is poised to take audiences on a profound musical journey.
Hi Olivan, how are you at present?
Hi, I’m doing nice, thanks! And thanks a lot for the chance to talk with you.
Your upcoming EP on Bunte Kuh is an thrilling challenge with two authentic tracks and remixes from artists like Acid Pauli, Nhii, and Dandara. What impressed you to create this EP, and the way do you’re feeling concerning the remixes from these famend producers?
Where ought to I start? The two tracks every have fully completely different backstories, every with its personal transferring story hidden inside. Hundred Years was created over a 12 months in the past. After a extreme storm on the Schützenmattpark in Basel, I went jogging within the park and noticed a large, historical copper beech tree, over 100 years previous, that had been cut up throughout its trunk. As I made my rounds, increasingly folks gathered across the stump, inserting candles and youngsters portray small memorial stones. The scene was so inspiring that lyrics began forming in my head as I ran, and shortly sufficient, an entire observe adopted.
Father and Son, however, is a household challenge between my father and me. Years in the past, we’d jam collectively in my mother and father’ basement bunker—he on the electrical guitar, and me on drums, identical to the story informed within the observe.
The collaboration took place in the future when my dad requested if he might cease by the studio together with his guitar. It actually touched me, and I believed it was a improbable concept. I’m really grateful for a way a lot each he and my mother have supported my musical journey.
I’ve identified all three remixers for a number of years now. I launched my first EP in 2020 on Acid Pauli’s label Ouie Circle and have since had the prospect to play with him a number of occasions. I’ve additionally launched twice with Nhii on Sounds of Khemit, and Dandara is an effective good friend from Basel.
Your music is described as deep, touching, and driving, with natural components and influences from numerous cultures. Can you share how your travels or cultural inspirations form the sound and temper of this EP?
I used to be fortunate sufficient to expertise journey from an early age since my mother and father beloved to discover new locations. So as a baby, I obtained to see and expertise a lot of completely different cultures. Since I performed drums as a child, the percussion components particularly stayed with me, and I typically weave these into my grooves. Also on this EP.
The groove in your tracks is unmistakable, typically reflecting your background as a drummer. How does this affect your method to manufacturing, particularly in creating these driving rhythms?
Over the years, I’ve collected a wide range of percussion devices, from drums, shakers, and rattles to digital drums like a WaveDrum Oriental and drum machines. I additionally use simply random issues to create percussive sounds, akin to a caipirinha mortar. That’s the place I really feel dwelling, and I can fully lose myself in these components—way more than in synthesizers, which I don’t personal many.
In your DJ units, you purpose to information listeners on an inward journey. How do you translate that philosophy into the manufacturing of your individual music, and what feelings do you hope to evoke in your listeners?
Honestly, I don’t observe a structured method in relation to making a observe. I often begin with no particular plan or idea, simply letting issues circulation naturally.
I all the time say that I don’t actually “make” tracks; my tracks simply type of occur. That’s my inventive course of. But I do must watch out to not overload them; typically, I discover myself chopping out components on the finish to make room for the important components.
Melancholic melodies and hypnotizing bass strains appear to be a signature in your work. How do you steadiness these components to realize the right ambiance on your tracks?
There’s no clear roadmap that I observe—extra like a mirrored image of my present feelings that one way or the other come collectively in the long run to type a observe. As I discussed, my tracks are inclined to emerge naturally, after which I edit and form them till I’m happy.
With your EP quickly to be launched, what’s one key takeaway or feeling you need listeners to expertise once they hear it?
Ultimately, I hope to deliver pleasure to folks’s faces, make them wish to dance, and assist them overlook about their on a regular basis lives, even when only for a second. And there’s additionally a tree-planting challenge tied to this launch. For every of the 300 vinyl records, I planted a tree in Tanzania’s fire-damaged Mkussu Forest Reserve.
Each file comes with a certificates that includes details about the reforestation challenge and the precise tree. With Hundred Years honoring a fallen tree and in mild of the environmental impression of vinyl manufacturing, I wish to promote extra consciousness round environmental consciousness.
How has your journey as a musician advanced out of your early days to now, and what have been a few of probably the most defining moments in shaping your sound?
I began enjoying drums at age seven, and through my final 4 years of faculty, I joined a music program the place we studied singing, piano, and percussion. Back then, I couldn’t fairly join with the piano—one thing I considerably remorse at present. At fourteen, I bought my drum set to purchase my first Behringer mixer and Denon turntables. That’s when DJing started for me.
I began solo, then had a duo challenge, then went solo once more, exploring electro, then deep home, then melodic and more durable beats. Over the years, my music fashion has grown extra relaxed and slower. I had the privilege of enjoying on some large phases, doing intros for artists like Lee Burridge, Acid Pauli, Sven Väth, Tale of Us, and Dixon and lots of extra of this dimension. Those have been formative moments, however now I desire intimate venues with a whole lot of coronary heart the place you’re not as a lot on show on a giant stage.
Lastly, what’s subsequent on the horizon for you?
For the EP, there shall be a launch occasion the place I’ll carry out Father and Son stay with my dad. Preparing for it has actually sparked my curiosity in stay performances, so I’ll be doing a hybrid/stay set for now, with the aim of finally making a full stay set. Besides that, I’m aiming to launch two extra EPs subsequent 12 months and would like to play some wonderful festivals in the summertime. I like daydances a lot greater than late evening units
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November 15, 2024 at 02:04PM