Today is not only his birthday, but the day before release day! OLAVI is a hard-working producer and DJ from Gothenburg, who I came in contact with when I got asked to do a mixtape for his label Trusted Tracks. OLAVI is releasing his track Colligent tomorrow 28.08.2020, and we got a chance to chat with him about the release, inspirations, production skills and his hometown Gothenburg. You can pre-listen to his track in the mix he did for Nordic Distinct, it’s a banger!
/ EILLOM
OLAVI is always on the pursue after the perfect symmetry where the light shines through the darkness. He loves capturing melodies and playfully mixing them with straight vocals and hard percussions. The music tends to feel a lot faster than it is, which is the intention
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Hi OLAVI, how would you describe the mix you’ve made for Tanzgemeinschaft Nordic Distinct?
Emotional. I’ve really tried to pick songs in different sub-genres and mixed them together where the body in every track can rise and create something different.
Pre-save Olavi’s Colligent here!
Going back in time, where do you come from and what are your early memories related to electronic music?
I grew up in what I would say is a typical finish immigrant working-class family. My dad was a carpenter and my mom are an entrepreneur alongside my sister in the family company. They’ve been extremely great teaching me all about business, creativity and having fun.
One of my earliest memories of electronic music would be MTV, “Call On Me” by Eric Prydz. I think we all know why. Besides that, as a kid, I spent a lot of time in the studio with Random Productions, three incredible producers from Gothenburg, and that really started my journey.
What’s the best and worst thing about living in Gothenburg?
Well, Gothenburg is beautiful, often very cold but the summers here are mesmerizing. Being a part of the Swedish infrastructure makes us forget how great it is to live here. The downside of Gothenburg, in my opinion, would be that it is a small town with a big city mentality. It created this unnecessary gap, music-wise, between different scenes, and I think that we should try to bridge the opposites.
We need less elitism and more love for each other.
Are there any interesting organizations/charities/projects involving music based/happening in Gothenburg right now?
I would say more than ever. Since the crisis, everything has changed.
We have DJs putting their live sets online, we have venues raising money for the sake of music, new open-air underground parties, and a lot of open-decks. It’s super exciting to see all of these micro productions popping up everywhere. My favourite one must be the new concept Nyctophilia, they bring us great music and fresh blood to the underground scene.
And here’s a crazy story for you…
My label Trusted Tracks actually got to borrow Partille Arena for our release party/festival, which was also streamed online.
We named the night “Trusted at the Arena” and invited 6 DJs to join us.
It’s a big arena that usually allows 2800 visitors but this time we were 50 people on a grid dancefloor. They gave us staff, equipment, put up a bar and on top of that, they let us keep the money for the tickets.
I’ve never received this type of generosity in this industry before.
Who is the talent on your radar in Gothenburg that we should keep an eye on?
I love techno and I have an underground label with these two vicious producers, Ito Cekaj and Rasange. Not mentioning them would be wrong because they are super talented, eager to conquer, and together they are my biggest inspiration.
But when receiving this question, I can’t help to think of Francis Novotny. A fantastic producer who sings on his own created crazy beats. Continuing doing what he’s doing right now will make him a Swedish prodigy. I’ve never actually met him even though we are from the same neighbourhood and have mutual friends.
He’s just dope.
Tell us about your new track Colligent and the process behind it!
I had just arrived home from a 12hr studio session with Ito Cekaj.
I did this firmware update on my laptop and of course, no good stories comes from that…
I lost all of my plug-ins.
I re-installed Serum, OTT, Valhalla, and the original Logic Pro X plug-ins but everything else was gone and since it was a Sunday afternoon, I wasn’t in the mood of doing installations for a million hours.
Logic didn’t look the same anymore with the new update so I wanted to try all these new features and went straight into tunnel vision. The anger of losing all my software turned to creativity and slowly I found myself enjoying working with old samples and the original plug-ins. My intention was to create a track that reflects what people might be feeling right now in this difficult time when they can’t spend time with family and friends. Like the vocal says “Day has passed like a hurricane”.
5hrs later I felt pretty good about my demo and while bouncing it down I saw this letter from a collection company and named the file after them, Colligent. Then I sent the demo to my colleagues and they were impressed. Got a lot of help with mixing/mastering and some tips from the South African producer Kyle Watson. And suddenly I had a track ready for my birthday.
“Day has passed like a hurricane”.
What DAW do you use and what are your favourite plugin?
Logic Pro 9 is where I started and eventually, that developed to Logic Pro X.
But as we speak, I’m transferring all of my work to my new computer where I’m working in Ableton Live. I like the workflow better.
My favourite plug-in right must be Serum. Good quality and easy to learn.
What is some key studio advice you would give other aspiring producers?
If this is really what you want, try the following steps. It worked for me. Find your crew, soulmates… you name it. Inspire them to the fullest by dreaming big together, setting goals together, going to festivals together, and then producing throughout all of those feelings and memories.
It’s all about your context and the people that you surround yourself with.
I waited almost 10 years before I started being productive in the studio and I believe that it came from doing the above with my fellow techno junkies who eventually became my best friends and partners.
All the technical knowledge you’ll find on youtube or in a production course. And of course, on our Instagram @trustedtracks where we give our followers a weekly dose of production tips.
Trusted Tracks is a music label with a focus on melodic techno and house, tell us a bit about your involvement with the label.
I’m the CEO and co-founder. Together with Vicktor Larsson (Ito Cekaj) and Rasmus Samuelsson (Rasange).
Vicktor and I have been working on and off for a couple of years in different projects and we always talked about starting something on our own. A utopia where we could do whatever we wanted on our own conditions. Rasmus happened to be at my studio one day and joined the crew eventually. It rapidly transformed into something bigger and the three of us decided to start this label. Since we’re the ones releasing the music right now and managing our own bookings, it’s more of a platform than a pure label.
What are your plans for the year ahead? Any new music or collaborations we should know about?
This year I’m quitting my full-time job and at the end of august, I’ll be back in school studying international sales and marketing.
Trusted Tracks will continue releasing one track every month so I’ll be caught up in the studio, in school, and working on the releases. I have a couple of tracks ready, and at least one of them will be released this year, a collab with both Ito Cekaj and Rasange.
Thank you!