Joey: Whatās up, Olly! Howās the temperature over there?
Olly: Yeah, itās horrible man. Iām in this office room right now trying to work on music. I just cannot concentrate. Iām here sitting and sweating man. Donāt have air conditioning either.
Joey: I never like to have air conditioning in the studio since you always have that little zoom sound in the background.
Olly: For me, Iām literally producing with these V-Moda headphones all the time. These are what people use to DJ, but Iāve never been one to splash out on hardware like speakers or headphones. I spend a lot of my money on vstās and stuff like that. Over the years, Iāve learned to get the mix right in these headphones, so Iām extremely scared to change to KRK Rokits or other speakers haha.
Joey: If it works, why would you change it?
Olly: I could have better. When Iāve been in the studio with Blasterjaxx, their studio is sick. When Iām working on music there, I think ādamn,ā this stuff would really make a difference to my mix.
Joey: I think for a lot of producers, when they get to some kind of success, they start doing different stuff which changes what actually got them to success.
Olly: Yeah, thatās something I was worried about. I look at other people who release on the same label as me, and theyāve got these big studios and equipment, and I think, āwhy am I not doing that.ā I think the main reason is because as a person, when I get something and learn it, I just want to use it forever. I didnāt update FL Studio for a long time until I physically had to. I was kind of doing myself a disservice. But yeah, I donāt like to branch out, and Iām scared to try new things.
Joey: The funny thing is you probably think you could do better, but if you ask your fans, they wonāt hear the difference between you mixing the track on an expensive studio or on your own.
Olly: I think that if I had a studio, the most important thing would be the inspiration. I come in here and wake up, and itās the same thing every time. I would love to have a space where I could be inspired. And when I leave that place, I can stop thinking about music and stuff. Right now, Iām constantly thinking about stuff. One day, Iād like somewhere where I could separate life and music.
That was the same reason I started renting out a studio outside of my house. I became this prisoner of my own home. I was constantly in my bedroom. I would wake up, take off my bathrobe, have breakfast, and then go back upstairs.
Itās the same reason why I like going to Holland every month since it breaks my routine. I have this routine right now where I wake up, work on music, bounce whatever I make, go to the car, listen to the track in the gym with headphones, come back and work on it some more. Itās that routine that sometimes slows you down and puts you in a writerās block.
Joey: Letās talk about that routine, since you mentioned that youāre going to the Netherlands every month. Why is that?
Olly: My manager and I have been working together for many years now. I go stay with him, and heās obviously the manager of Blasterjaxx as well, so weāre all one big team. I get to go to their office and use their studio. Itās just really fun since I work with other producers in the studio versus when Iām home I have to send stems. It brings a different edge to the track when the personās sitting next to you.
Joey: Where in England do you live?
Olly: Very close to Newcastle. Here, thereās no EDM scene whatsoever; itās mostly tech house. It makes me sad since Iāve never played once in England before. Itās one of my biggest goals. Iāve played all over the world, but not yet here. I know one day it will change, but for the moment itās all about the house scene.
Joey: I feel like England has always been underground focused.
Olly: When Big Room was popular for two years, even the clubs that I would go to would play it. That was one of the reasons I started. I heard Sandro Silvaās āEpicā in the club, and was like, āwhoa.ā I was just starting to drink at 18 years old and was like, ādamn this is a vibe.ā Nowadays itās just sad to see that doesnāt exist. I donāt think you here Big Room in clubs anywhere really.
Joey: In the Netherlands, itās kind of the same. EDM disappeared in the clubs as well. You can still hear it in festivals, but I think in the last couple of years, Dutch hip-hop and Dutch reggaeton culture took over. Thereās also a big hardstyle community as well. The hardstyle community is such a strong fanbase; theyāre very dedicated to the artist.
Olly: Iām hoping that, one day, Big Room might come back. I went through a long period of abandoning the sound which got me to where I am because I wanted to make music that was cool. I was making bass house and all different kinds of genres which really slowed me down and my career. All these artists have this sound, and I just abandoned my sound because I was chasing the hype. Nowadays, Iām happy with where I am.
Joey: Wait, letās go back to the beginning. So, you mentioned you went to the club at 18ā¦
Olly: Iām 25 now.
Joey: Whoah, youāre young!
Olly: So I discovered Big Room, and that made me feel things I had never heard before. Naturally, I wanted to download more music in that style. When you get all these songs no one else has heard, you think āoh I should be a DJ nowā so I got the equipment and started practicing. I played to like ten people at my university and had never played in a club before. I got very lucky with āEcuadorā which got signed to Spinninā.
Joey: Was it your first release?
OllY: I signed a track to Revealed on their ADE sample, and I think the next year was when I sent Ecuador. From then, everything changed. I got another track on Spinninā with Vinai. I worked with that hype and kept it going. Then the shows started to come in. Naturally, Iām quite a shy guy, so it was difficult to start. Like, one was a top 100 club in Switzerland, and I turned up there with one USB, and there were 20 songs on there. Everything was already set, some tracks at 150 bpm. I was booked to play Ecuador kind of songs, so the guy went and told my manager, heās killing the floor and needs to start playing harder, I just panicked and said, āI donāt have anything else, this is all I have on my USB.ā That was honestly one of the worst nights of my entire life.
Everybody I knew started playing in these empty bars and worked their way up. But when I got offered a show, I felt bad. When there were seven days left to the show, I wished the time went slower. Now itās the opposite. I love playing shows.
Joey: Yeah, thatās a completely different story of what you typically hear. Like you mentioned, usually, people start playing locally and build their way up. They have experience before they have the gig. But for you, because of a pretty big release, you had your first gig and were put on the spot.
Olly: Is that how you started? Playing in empty bars?
Joey: Yeah, I started at the real bottom: playing at childrenās parties. I gathered my own stuff and took a hi-fi set from my grandpa. At first, I didnāt have a mixer; I had two regular CD players.
Olly: See, this is the dream story I think I should start telling people..
I thInk itās good for people to see, though. I would honestly say Iām a lot more different than anyone else. Thereās no one in my family with a musical background, and no oneās had any interest or job in music. All I did was pick up Fl-studio. Iām surprisingly really bad with computers, software, and all that stuff. I just found something I was super passionate about, and that was Big Room.
Joey: So you didnāt have any connections to music ā no passion for computers, and still, you managed to make those songs. What happened in between?
Olly: People ask me, āHow did you get here?ā Literally, anyone can do it however old you are. The only thing I had from a young age was creativity. I would spend hours making cars on Need for Speed II ā not even racing the cars. A lot of when I was young carried on. I started making mashups and naturally started combining different samples to make my own songs. You look at Zedd, and he can play all these instruments, I had nothing man. I treated FL studio like a video game and played it over and over again. And after seven years, it turned out I was pretty good.
Joey: I really believe that philosophy. Eventually practice, makes better.
Olly: Some people who have a musical background and can at least play the piano. Thatās definitely an advantage.
Joey: Actually, for me, I started out the same as you: no knowledge at all. My family wasnāt into music and I couldnāt read notes. I just did it all by hearing. I listened to what I was making and decided if I liked it. Then, I went to music school where I learned to read notes and chords. And later, the more I learned, the more it started to block me. I started creating this book of rules which I had to implement. That blocked my creativity because what sounded well, wasnāt really okay technically.
Olly: Recently, I decided to try and learn an instrument. I had around 8 or 9 piano lessons and bought a keyboard which has not been used once. Honestly, since I wanted it so badly, I did everything I could to make myself better. It turns out, I donāt really work in the way of forcing myself to try things Iām not. interested in. If I create a good melody, I know which notes are good together and which chords work.
Joey: I think thatās really important. You need to know yourself and how you learn. Some people prefer to learn from books, while others just do it and see what happens.
Olly: I can do things in FL studio and with VSTās, but I canāt tell you why these things happen. I just know that I clicked it three times and it sounded good.
Joey: And who cares? Iām looking at your Spotify. Somehow, your tracks are getting 22 million plays here, 2 million plays there. People donāt care. Itās the same with a Ferrari ā nobody cares how itās built. They only care about how fast it drives. How I see it, nobodyās interested in how they make it, of course, thereās a few people, but thatās mostly music producers.
Olly: The real fans, who arenāt producers, the ones who literally care about your music, they really donāt care.
The only reason why I wanted to do those things with the piano was because I looked at other people and compared myself. And that was the worst thing. Thatās the number one thing you can never do.
I recently had to delete my social media from my phone. I was looking at my friends, and Iāve always looked at them being proud of them. But a few weeks ago, I was starting to think, āwhy arenāt you doing that, why arenāt you there.ā I just had to take a week off and take a step back. If thereās anyone out there suffering from the same thing, donāt worry about taking a step back from it all. I think we all do it, and itās a hard thing to get away from.
Joey: I donāt think social media is a bad thing, but I can totally see how it becomes a problem for someone. Itās addicting, especially for younger people. Theyāre an easier target to compare themselves with others and feel that theyāre not special enough.
Olly: In the past, I would compare myself to Martin Garrixās music, and that would make me feel bad. Now, if I donāt have a show that weekend, and my friends do, that would make me feel bad. But yeah, thatās just life.
Joey: I was also in a period where I was looking at other DJs. The problem is that youāll never know. It could be anything. It could be network, the fact that it just was a better track, or a track that the label was looking for. The only one thatās really struggling with it is you.
Olly: For me, I just want to be better than I was last year. Thatās all I compare myself to now.
Joey: So whatās the main thing that you changed for yourself?
Olly: Basically, all I did was, when I had that period of comparing myself to my friendsā stuff, all I did was look at my path. My manager actually always does this. Heāll say, what about in 2017 when you couldnāt even look at a crowd when you were DJing, and now you just played in a festival with 10,000 people. That would click. But I think itās very rare to have someone who constantly has that positivity. He has helped me a lot.
Nowadays, I sometimes have to tell myself, look where you were two years ago. There are some people out there who would love to be in my position. Thatās what I think about and where I feel happy that Iāve been given that opportunity.
Joey: Itās really easy to forget all your successes.
Olly: Exactly. People who I havenāt seen it in a long time, say āwow youāre killing it right nowā because theyāve seen the good things. But Iāve also seen the not so good things.
Joey: Do you like touring?
Olly: Yes! In the past, I didnāt like it. There was one time where I was left in China. A photographer came with me and just went home. That was the craziest experience since I was so far from home. Nowadays, I canāt get enough of it.
When Iām hungry, thatās extremely hard ā I get very hangry! But apart from that, I never thought I would be the kind of person who would enjoy traveling. Iām obsessed with Asia. When I get back from tour, I feel so refreshed and ready to get back into the studio. Itās a great balance for me.
Joey: I used to get hangry as well on tour. As a tip for you, always bring food that you can keep for a year as in peanuts or Snickers.
Olly: Yeah! I used to bring protein bars. I take an extra case with me full of food and stuff. For me, I can only eat western food. Iām really not into sushi, so when I go into places like that, my diet is bad. I usually come back really fat and sad since I ate so bad. So thatās something I need to work on to keep doing this for a long time. Being out of shape after eating all of those horrible foods is just going to affect your work when youāre home as well.
Joey: Do you workout on tour?
Olly: Not as much as I should. But I workout at home a lot. For me, I just get lazy somehow because I got used to sitting and waiting. Most of the time on tour, I would just want to sit in bed and watch Chinese TV. But now, my tour manager will take me out to places. Weāll go shoot some pictures, and even if Iām super tired, Iām in this new country and experience, and it really brings up my mood.
Joey: Letās go to the music. You released you first main release on Spinninā, and youāve had some releases on Maxximize and Revealed. How are you looking at releasing music right now? There are a lot of options available right now to release your own music without labels. At the level where youāre at, whatās your opinion on that?
Olly: I think itās important to release on these big labels because they are almost a separate group of fans. There are fans of the label, and then also my fans. Iāll always drop free downloads. But when I release on a label that I havenāt released in a while, people go crazy.
Joey: How did you first get signed with a big label? With the Spinninā release, how did that process go?
Olly: Well, the first one was with Revealed, and basically, my thing at the time was making unofficial releases and bootlegs. Thatās how I kind of got discovered on SoundCloud.
Joey: I think I played a couple of your bootlegs, now that you mention it.
Yeah! I used to love it, man. Thatās still a thing that makes me click.
Joey: Is that how you started building your fanbase?
Olly: Yeah, just by bootlegs. Because people are going to search for a remix of a big song, not for an unknown artistās original mix. Thatās how I targeted more people, and basically, I got a few things played on Hardwell on Air. And then I got an email from Seb from Revealed asking if I had any demos for the ADE sample. So I panicked and made a song with two really talented guys. I didnāt do much on it, I did 5ā10% of the work, and that track got signed. So that was my really lucky entry.
With Spinninā, I also think I was very lucky. I made this Ecuador remix in 3ā4 hours; in one night. Basically, Hardwell played it on Hardwell on Air, and they tag both of the artists on Twitter. I got a DM from Sash! who made the original, and he said, āyo, who said you could remix this song?ā And I was like, āoh man, this is going to go bad.ā And then I got an email from Spinninā, saying ālooks like weāre going to release the Ecuador track.ā But a track that took me 3ā4 hours was probably the most successful track I ever did.
Joey: You hear that quite often, that the most successful tracks take less time. Do have any idea why that is?
Olly: Itās the cool idea which takes time. When I have a good idea, I can finish a song really quickly ā especially when itās a remix or a bootleg where you already have this amazing hook from them.
Joey: I think thatās the biggest difference. When youāre able to finish a track in that short amount of time, youāre not really thinking about what youāre doing. Everything comes straight from the heart, not from the brain. When you start to overthink, things start to break down.
Olly: With Ecuador, I was making it as an unofficial remix that I would put on SoundCloud for free. I didnāt have these label restraints. I just made it for free, and I think having that much creativity helped.
I recommend it to anyone trying to get started, but also when youāre already at a decent level. Itās always a great tool to build a fanbase ā every DJ wants to play a good bootleg because crowds love them. The crowd is also going to look for remixes, and they will find your tracks in it as well ā the knife cuts on both sides.
Joey: So after you got your foot in the door with Revealed and Spinninā, how did things go from there? What changed?
Olly: First of all, it was extremely easy for me to get music to the people I wanted. That was super important. I always wondered how people got that first contact, but once you have it, it becomes so much easier. You can get feedback, they can tell you what works and what doesnāt work. But I also started to feel a bit of that box. That was a bit hard at the start, but as I got more tracks on there, I started to get more confident and work with other artists on the label. And then I could just really make music from the heart again, and that box kind of slowly disappeared.
Joey: I think thatās something you hear a lot: getting your foot between the door, getting that first contact. And with you, it just happened by creating bootlegs.
Olly: Obviously, nowadays Soundcloud isnāt as powerful as back then. But I think if you get a remix played at the Tomorrowland mainstage, it still has the same impact on your career.
Joey: So whatās something youāre focusing on right now? What do you think is something people should focus on right now in the industry?
Olly: I think people should focus on what they enjoy deep down. As I said before, I was chasing the hype train for a few years, which meant I got fewer releases and less shows. So I think that for me now, I know Big Room isnāt where it used to be, but I enjoy making that genre and Iām good at it. Iām going to put everything I can into it and make a more creative version of my sound. If youāre just starting, youāre gonna want to make the āinā thing ā I know that. Youāre going to want to chase the hype. If youāre not really into that sound, youāre never going to be good enough to release on a label. Deep down, you need to be super into it. You have to take the time and think about what you actually enjoy. Because one day, that genre can become big again.
Joey: I actually had a talk with Bart B More about this. I knew him in my town when I was playing. At the start of my career, he was going really hard because he had this track on Toolroom. His sound was new. He started touring, and then the industry changed and went more EDM. He didnāt like that at all and he just kind of disappeared because he didnāt like making EDM. And now, heās come back and totally redefined himself. Heās started to release the same kind of music, and itās really successful again. Heās now signed to STMPD.
Olly: Also, because youāre looking at those peopleās tracks, for example, Mike Williams, youāre never going to make future house like him because heās already onto the next wave. Youāre always going to be chasing that circle. Just stay where you are.
Joey: When youāre following trends, youāre always second.
Whatās the thing you would have liked to have known before you started this whole journey?
Olly: Thatās a tough one. One thing I wish I shouldāve known is that money is not that easy to come by. I left my job way to early and thought it would be a lot easier because you see what kind of fees DJās get. But what I didnāt understand was all the costs you have. So donāt leave your job too early. Try to make as much time as possible, but donāt expect to make a full-time wage straight away. That has to come in time.
As a producer, you cannot make money from music unless you are creating all of the song, releasing samples, and all those other things. You need to have a DJ profile if you want to be a successful artist financially. We all want it as a job. Just donāt jump the gun too early.
Joey: What I always think as well is you donāt have to quit your full job all at once. Thereās a middle in that whole story. The minute you get financial stress because you need to pay rent or need to pay the car, itās killing. Financial stress kills creativity; it kills your positivity; it ruins everything. So, I would recommend maintaining a decent income as long as itās possible to combine with your music. Most people quit early because of their ego; they feel like theyāre already there when they really arenāt.
Well, thank you for being so open about everything, man! I really appreciate you talking about this kind of stuff but also the problems youāve been having in your career. I think thatās important. The things we see on social media is only 1% of the career. So thanks for being open and sharing your whole story!
Olly: I know a lot of people listen to your stuff who want a career in this. Iāll always be honest because I think itās good to see the other side. Thatās the only way you can really make it in this business: if you know everything.
Joey: Best of luck with the rest of your career!