- Atmospheric club music from the Solar Body head.
- Before starting his own label Solar Body, Otik released music on labels like INTERGRADED, Keysound, 3024 and Shall Not Fade, doing his rounds on the imprints that make up a constellation of the UK's most exciting club music. (To keep it simple, we can call it broken techno, but that's not the whole story.) He hails from Bristol, and takes in that city's unique and enduring blend of techno, dub and drum & bass history, but what sets Otik apart is the sense of atmosphere and space in his music. Perhaps RA's Taylor Bratches put it best: "Otik's precise club music floats on a lush, celestial plane."
You can hear it in his upcoming EP Xoul Trap, where even a straightforward house beat on "Unorthodox" rides an updraft of choral vocals and eerie synths, as if carried by the wind. Otik says his RA Podcast is meant to be a little more straightforward than usual for him, sticking purely to club music, but it's still full of twists, turns, throwbacks (hello, "Router" by Pangaea) and, of course, the melodic and atmospheric qualities that make Otik tick.
What have you been up to recently?
I've been spending a lot of time in the studio, working on some fun mixes (including this one) and putting the finishing touches on a couple of new records I'm really stoked to share—both of which will hopefully be out by the end of the year.
How and where was the mix recorded? And can you tell us the idea behind it?
I recorded this mix at my home in London using an old Serato setup. The idea behind the mix was mainly to record something raw that flowed as effortlessly as possible. I imagined what kind of music I'd want to hear at a warehouse party at 3 AM and sort of ran with that feeling. Although I tend to span across a lot of genres in mixes, this one in particular is mostly house and techno. I really wanted to record something strong and linear with a seamless journey. There's a lot of stuff in there that I used to listen to when I was just starting out with music, some forthcoming and unreleased material from me and some from friends, plus some recent favourites and slept on bits.
What's one club or party that had a major impact on you as an artist?
Corsica Studios has had a huge impact on me over the past decade, and has given me so much inspiration as an artist over the years. One of my strongest memories of the club is seeing The Bug featuring Miss Red play there about seven years ago, and it genuinely changing the way I thought about performing music and creating a live atmosphere. I was hopelessly lost in the lights and the low frequencies and I loved it. The mood is something else in there. It's always good vibes and there's a sense of cosiness and a sort of familiarity that you don't seem to get as much in the bigger venues. At least for me anyway. I've played there the most out of all the clubs I've DJ'd in, and I'd probably say I've been to more parties there than any other club.
When you started Solar Body, you said you wanted to connect more ethereal/atmospheric strains of electronic music with club music. Why is that balance so important or powerful to you?
I used to make club music for other people, but not for the reasons I do now. I would make what I thought people would like but I think I knew deep down that it wasn't original or innovative enough. Then I had a sort of spiritual awakening around five or six years ago and realised I should be making it for me, and using my own inner and outward experiences and emotions to create the music. Artists like Burial, Floating Points, Caribou, and Altrice have always inspired me and given me a sense of enlightenment from the very beginning of my career because of how emotive and transcendent their music is, but I never understood how they did it.
As a result, I sort of just made music that, looking back, seemed simple and expendable, but it wasn't speaking to me truly until I allowed myself to evolve. Once I made the switch and discovered that I didn't need to sound like the artists that I loved to get these results, but just look inward and try to channel my own energy into my work, everything started to click and I saw the bigger picture. I want to put out art that makes other people feel what I feel when I hear those kinds of tunes. There are times when I let the emotion take a bit of a back seat in my productions so they can do more damage on the dance floor, but ultimately the aim is to have most of my output reflect this style.
Another big reason for making and putting out music in this form is how much it helps me spiritually and mentally as a person. Everyone has had troubles in their lives so I'm not going to pull out the violin and go into detail, but I've been through a fair amount of hardship, and music has truly helped me to stay afloat. When I make music in this style it's a form of therapy for me. Sometimes I get stuck in the loop on Logic Pro for hours and just meditate in the moment and feel it as deeply as I can. Sometimes I don't even know why I've made a song until afterwards and I listen back to it and feel a rush of relief. It's like I'm reminding myself of certain experiences and working through them properly instead of just locking it all away. I really want other people to have this feeling, and to gain some sort of relief and maybe even a sense of being healed in some way when they engage with my music, and I believe this particular approach is a gateway to unlocking these feelings.
You said this mix represents a more straightforward example of your DJing style. How has your approach or technique evolved over the years?
When I first started out and for many years after that, I sort of had an All Killer No Filler ideology for DJ sets. I believed if every song in the mix was an absolute banger and made people screw face then I would gain the best results, and I stuck with this for a long time. I think when I evolved as a producer and wanted my music to take people on a journey, I realised that I should try and do that when I DJ as well. I also didn't make enough effort to keep my blends in key. Now it's almost the most important part of putting together a mix for me. I want it to sound like a singular two-hour-long track that dips and troughs but ultimately sounds like it comes from the same source. Of course when I play out it's different because I have to read the crowd, and they might not want to go on the same kind of journey when they're out having fun as they would sitting on the night bus home. So I throw in a lot more curveballs and make less of a point of all the music being so seamless and focus on making people dance. I've still got some growing and learning to do as a live DJ, but I'm really enjoying exploring the evolution of my style and making sure I continue on this path.
What's one social or political cause you want the world to pay more attention to?
I'm happy to be seeing more representation of Black artists in dance music. Until lockdown it seemed that it was almost forgotten that dance music was an inherently Black creation, and there were fewer opportunities and safe spaces for the people who actually started the culture and drove it forward. Now, thanks to there being more awareness since BLM, and the existence of organisations such as Black Artist Database and Beautiful Music, who are doing great work in spotlighting and nurturing Black talent, we're seeing a positive shift in the dynamic. I'd love to see things continuing to move in the right direction, as there is still work to be done, and for more of the world to recognise this cause.
What are you looking forward to in the near future?
I'm very excited to play at Ion Festival again this year in September, last year was a great way to debut the event, it's such a beautiful location and the team are super nice, so I'm really happy to be returning. I also have a big record I'm planning to release at the end of 2023 that I've been sat on since about 2020. I'm a bit nervous for people to hear it as it's a lot more personal than my usual works, but I'm really looking forward to finally getting it out into the world (hopefully) this year.
TracklistDJ Lostboi - TO 7691
Andrea - 22:22
Vromm - Red Tuna
Tessela - Rub
Floorplan - Let's Ride
Cyd - Only Once (Private Press Remix)
2SHY - X-Ternally Yours
Caribou - Mars (Head High's Core Remix)
Sawf - Goves
Lubelski - Hey Kid I'm a Broken Computer (Pilo's Everlasting Remix)
Ged - Disappear
David Jackson - BLOSE
Otik - Temptress
Otik - Inertia
Lawrence Hart - How The Light Gets In
Overmono - Gunk (DJ Swisha Bootleg)
Insider - Something Flash
Skee Mask - Reviver
Pseudopolis - High For Life
Benton - Primal Pads
Pangaea - Router
Martyn x Rainforest Spiritual Enslavement - Untitled
DJ Swisha & OSSX - Luvli Dae
Jay Carder - Eva's Stoned (Emanuel Remix)
NIKS - Can You Feel The Beat (Unreleased)
Pagan - After The Rain
DJ Rush - Stomp
Shed - Drop
Giordano - Length of Contraction