Coffee Break with OLING
Hi Oliver, thanks for taking the time to have a chat with us. We are curious about different aspects of your career, with notable releases as a producer but also a new event series you are presenting soon.
Thanks for having me guys.
First of all, we were curious about your artist name. What does OLING stand for?
OLING is a special place. It’s far out in the woods about a 5-hour-drive from Stockholm and it’s where my family has this small cabin. It's surrounded by the beautiful Swedish forest. Lots of trees and small creeks everywhere.
My brother and I used to spend a few weeks in OLING with my grandparents every summer when we grew up, and I’ve always loved how the name sounds. It’s close to my heart and I have many fond memories from there.
Let’s talk about music now. When did you first get into music (all genres included), and how did you start producing dance music?
I’ve been into music for as long as I can remember, haha. I got my first drum set for my 4th birthday. April 14th, 2000 marks the start.
Fast forward 10 years to when I first discovered electronic music. Someone played tracks by Tiesto and Basshunter, and something clicked. I got all caught up in the electronic sounds, and the thought of trying out the music software myself one day felt natural. I watched a ton of FL-Studio tutorials on YouTube at night, downloaded the program, and tried whatever I learned the next day when I came home from school.
Producing has been my thing since then. It’s amazing to be able to be your own band. I’m no longer just a drummer, I can play all the instruments myself and tweak all the sounds until they sound just like my own vision. It’s phenomenal, really.
2021 saw your first release on Jeremy Olander’s label Vivrant: Aves EP. Could you tell us about the creative process and the idea behind these tracks?
The general idea behind the EP was to create a cohesive project that in their own way interpreted nature in the place where I’m from. I’m originally from a small community in the middle of the Swedish countryside, where we have rich wildlife and a beautiful landscape. I used to spend much time exploring the outdoors when I grew up, and there have always been inspiring things out there to explore.
During the process of making it I brought my recorder and went back home to start the process. I sampled birds, water splashing against the rocks, and sounds from my backyard that later became sounds and FXs in the final thing.
‘Aves’ is a story about who I am and where I come from.
Which one is your personal favorite?
‘Aves´, for sure. Probably the best track I’ve produced to date.
We heard you have two more releases coming on this label very soon. Could you tell us more about them?
My next release on Vivrant will be a track called ‘Inverness’. It’s an emotionally charged track based on a chord progression that came to me when I was at a restaurant in Stockholm. When the chords popped up in my head I instantly saved a voice note of myself humming them. I’ve been testing it in my sets, and I know Jeremy has done the same for the last year or so, and the fans seem to like it.
I’ll have to get back to you about the second release in a few weeks, but I can say that it’s a remix that I think will do work at dance floors.
But yes, two very exciting projects will be out rather soon.
What gear or VSTs do you use to create music?
90% of the time I use the digital VSTs. Massive is my go-to for sure. That synth has been with me since day one, and even though I know a lot about how it works, I still discover new ways of using it almost every session. I’ve probably watched 100+ hours of Massive tutorials throughout the years, and it’s just impressive how these things are programmed.
For the remaining 10%, I have a KORG Minilogue XD. I mostly use it to fill out different parts of the tracks and give them a touch of that analog sound. It’s always refreshing to leave the blue light for a while and do some word hands-on work. It’s a fun process routing the envelope back and forth until you find something unique.
in your bio, we read ‘where nature meets sound’. How does your Scandinavian surroundings inspire you to create? Is your studio located in nature?
As I mentioned, nature is definitely my source of inspiration number one. I love all the ever-evolving colors in Sweden during the different seasons. Even though I prefer the bright summer days, the dark winter period comes with another mood that affects my workflow and the music that I write during that period.
My highlight every year is when my team brings all of my gear to my manager's cousin David’s fishing cabin out in the woods. He has this outstanding place on a small headland that almost sits on the water. Completely remote. No running water, no electric power or neighbors. That week is probably my most productive time of the year. It's a blessing to just be able to focus on music and work all day, all night.
We used to set up an outdoor studio on the terrace, cook over an open fire, and disconnect ourselves from the outside world for a week.
My primary studio is unfortunately not located in nature, not even close to being honest, haha. But I do have a beautiful 10-minute walk from the subway station.
Please tell us about your typical day in the studio.
I try to wake up early and get going, I don’t like to wake up just before lunch and know that I’ve just spent a couple of hours of the day doing nothing. I make myself something to eat and head to the studio.
In the studio, I usually start by going through yesterday’s work with fresh ears, and If I still feel it, I stick to it, and if not, I scrap the idea for now and save it to my drafts folder and start on something new.
Most of the time I start with the rhythm and the groove, and then add the bassline and the chords. Sometimes I have a voice recording on my phone with me humming a melody that I use for reference.
I usually do 4-5 hours of work before lunch, then I take a short break for food, and continue for another 4-5 hours. After that, I usually go out for a short walk before I head back to wrap things up for the day. I try to always get a bounce of whatever I’ve been working on so that I’m able to listen to the track in different settings and with different headphones until the next day.
At the end of the month, you are inaugurating your own event series: Roots. What is the idea behind this project and what should people expect for this first party?
'Roots' is my way to thank the people and the region that has been there and supported me since the beginning, and I can’t wait to go home on a more regular basis with this concept. We’ll be doing 4 shows per year in collaboration with Vivrant and Dalapop, which is a local partner, and I’ll do some shows playing all night long myself and others with inspiring guests that I look up to. First up is a 5-hour back to back with MOLØ.
Both my manager and I grew up in the area and stayed there until we moved to Stockholm three years ago. When we started to work together and pursue a life in music, there wasn’t any place for me to play in our town. We decided to try our wings promoting and started to put together our own parties at the local club, and the two restaurants that were open until 1 am. None of the parties we did in Rättvik were that appreciated by the locals so we had to move on to the neighboring city 30 minutes away. And there they were. People appeared to have been longing for this kind of music.
We only managed to do a handful of parties before the pandemic hit and when everything settled, the old venue we had wasn’t an option anymore. After spending countless hours of venue hunting, we found our spot. It's an old industrial building just on the outskirts of the city center.
It's important to me to still have a presence at home even if I’ve started to do shows outside of Sweden this fall. The people deserve it and the city deserves to be put on the map.
How would you describe the electronic music scene in Sweden and what impact would you say it has on your music?
The scene is ever-evolving, although I wish for a wider variety of international guests and shows at more leftfield locations. We have a lot of spectacular spots that could be used but it’s really difficult to get the proper permits.
Music-wise it’s a different story, haha. Sweden has always had such a phenomenal history of artists, bands, songwriters, and producers, and I’m proud to be a part of contributing to that legacy. It’s really inspiring to see colleagues and friends taking the next step. It motivates me a lot.
What exciting projects are you working on for 2023?
I’m focusing on my follow-up EP for Vivrant right now, trying to find the right path for the last song before it’s ready to be submitted. Apart from that one I have two additional EPs ready to be pitched elsewhere that I’d love to put out before the end of next year. Some exciting shows both in and outside of Sweden that I look forward to, and 'Roots' of course. It'll definitely be one of the highlights and I’m excited to embark on this new journey.
Last but not least, how do you like your coffee?
Just with two spoons of milk.
Thanks for the chat guys, I loved it. Work is calling, I have to go.