OUR BLOG
Sonic Bloom is almost here! We're packing our bags, creating our schedules, and rounding up the troops for yet another long weekend of jams. We are especially excited for OTT's atmospheric, mesmerizing sounds. Check out our interview with him below, and get PUMPED for this weekend! See you at Shadows Ranch.
Swaager: What performances are you most looking forward to being a spectator for at Sonic Bloom?
OTT: I rarely spectate at festivals. I'm either playing or meeting new people and any music I hear I will have encountered spontaneously. Ask me again after the festival.
Swaager: We are compiling a list of festival survival tips, what advice do you have for festival goers?
OTT: Bring wet-wipes. Try to sleep. Don't take the brown acid.
Swaager: What was it like being a part of Bassnectar's Bass Fest debut?
OTT: It was really cool. It's always a bit disconcerting playing at these enormous venues but he and his crew were very nice and looked after me very well.
Swaager: How do shows differ playing in the UK/Europe versus the US? What was your biggest culture shock when you first came to the US?
OTT: They're like different planets. In the US you've never had the rave culture go over to the mainstream like we have in Europe so you approach your live music very much from the rock'n'roll tradition.
A lot of people over here think I'm a DJ, standing up there playing other peoples' records and the idea of a guy on a stage with a laptop and some electronics playing all his own music is confusing to some. I'll be up on the stage and the audience will be out front, staring at me, and sometimes I wonder if people are expecting me to break out into a dance routine or a guitar solo or something. Back home I'll generally be in a dark corner with the audience generally looking in every direction but mine. I enjoy both experiences but it was a but weird at first.
Swaager: You've done a ton of collaboration with various artists, do you have any new projects coming in the future that you want to tell us about?
OTT: Since I finished my studio I have been locked away working with my friends Matt, Chris and Nick, [drums, bass and guitar/vox/keys, respectively] rehearsing a full band set of my songs. We're going to be touring the east coast, the midwest and Colorado in October and then hitting the west coast in February 2013. It's sounding massive so far.
Swaager: What music can you not get enough of lately?
OTT: I don't often get excited about much modern music but currently Grimes [Claire Boucher] is really doing it for me. To discover she is signed to 4ad just sweetens the experience.
Swaager: Was it hard to transition from "behind the scenes" as a studio engineer/producer to being on stage and performing?
OTT: I didn't set out to do it - I just suddenly realized one day that I had. It was a very natural transition.
I was a bit of a sociopath at the time and it was a bit weird leaving my cave and coming out blinking into the daylight but one of my first outings was a performance at Glastonbury festival [with 150,000 of my closest friends] and it's hard to maintain the belief that people are all bastards in a place like that.
Swaager: What are your thoughts on the surge of dubstep that we're seeing in the music world today?
OTT: I'm all in favour of people finding music which blows their minds and them listening to it as loud and as often as possible.
Swaager: Can you tell us a little more about "organic" dub and music? What characterizes that classification of sound?
OTT: I'm not very good at describing music in words.
Listen to the album "Scientist Rids The World Of The Evil Curse Of The Vampires" and you'll hear everything you need to know.
CONNECT WITH US