We met up with the very talented beatmaker from Oslo, Norway and asked him a couple of questions. He was also invited to share a full worldwide beatmaker’s episode feauturing all the producers in Norway that he think deserve some attention. We truly hope you will enjoy the interview and don’t forget to shows some support towards his pages online, and also a massive shoutout to the Mutual Intentions! Much love.
How do you feel about the beatscene in Oslo right now?
Oslo is a good city for music in general, lots of things happening on the regular. There are many good producers around as well, especially within Mutual Intentions, with people like Yogisoul, Fredfades and Jawn Rice. Outside of our team there’s really talented people like lo-fi producer HM Surf and King Underground beatmaker Torb the Roach. There are a few beat-set nights a year in Oslo, but not that many. And it’s not really a unified Oslo scene, but more like a bunch of collectives doing different things and different sounds. But I really like Oslo and feel like home here, and there’s almost always something interesting happening on the weekends. This mix I did for Ninetofive is based solely on Norwegian instrumentals on vinyl, so it’s mainly consisting of the people I know who put out their music on wax.
When did you start making beats?
I grew up playing the piano and the saxophone, and have played around withmusic software for as long as I can remember. I think I made sample based music as early as primary school, but it sounded terrible back then. I bought my first turntable and got into vinyl sampling and crate digging when I was 17, and started working on music more seriously from that point. Now I’m 25, but I still learn new things and get better every time I sit down in my home studio.
What is your first memory of discovering Hip-Hop?
I remember hearing Jay-Z in the car when I was little, but I wouldn’t say I fully discovered or fell in love with hip hop until I first bought Stankonia by OutKast on CD. Initially it was the Ms. Jackson and So Fresh, So Clean tracks that sparked my interest, but after that every track on that album has been my favorite song at one point. Bought their whole back catalogue not long after that, and Andre 3000 is still my favourite rapper today.
How does your current production setup look like?
Roland SP555, Akai MPC2000, E-Mu SP12 Turbo, Boss SP303, Roland FP4 electric piano, Rhodes MK1 73, Yamaha DX7, DSI Mopho, DSI Prophet ’08, Numark TT500 turntables, Numark X5 mixer, a Technics tape deck, a saxophone and some percussion instruments. And my old Macbook Pro running Cubase.
What album has been a major part of your influence in production?
There’s a lot of good candidates, but I would say Fantastic Vol. 1 by Slum Village. I think that was the first time I heard Jay Dee, and the first time I heard beats that are so closely tied to jazz music, which really is the music I grew up on.Thank you for taking the time and answering our questions.
Is there anything more you would like to add for all the producers & readers out there?
Thank you! Just a quick reminder for everybody to check out my latest album Mind Games, out now on vinyl and cassette through Mutual Intentions.
Tracklist:
1. Oslo SP Ensemble – Free
2. Torb The Roach & Floppy McSpace – Svart Kaffe Jam
3. Ol’ Burger Beats – My Only Outlet
4. Fredfades & Ivan Ave – Hands
5. Erlend Smithee – The Break
6. Erlend Smithee – Instrumental 2
7. Oslo SP Ensemble – Knock Knock
8. Torb The Roach & Floppy McSpace – Tokyo
9. Yogisoul – Walk With Me (Instrumental)
10. Ol’ Burger Beats – Erase Racism
11. Fredfades – Faux Rilles
12. Yogisoul – Bike Ride
13. Ol’ Burger Beats – Interlude (1)
14. Ol’ Burger Beats – Fall In Love
15. Ol’ Burger Beats – Outro
16. Jünger – Drugs
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