A rising star of the legendary Lifted Music and one of the youngest producers on the drum and bass scene, Memtrix is now one of the most promising and in-demand musicians. In a short time Oscar has won the support of the most respected musicians, released high-profile remixes for Le Castle Vania [Mau5trap] and Black Sun Empire [Blackout], and gained a huge number of fans around the world. Especially for the VK community “Garud’s Nest”, Oscar gave us a short interview and answered questions from our subscribers.
Garud: Oscar, hello. You have a large number of fans in Russia, and they would like to learn more about you, your career and your life. Let’s start with the main event—you became a resident of Lifted Music. Tell us about it. How much time passed between signing the contract and your first release coming out?
Memtrix: Hi! I signed a contract with Lifted six months before they released my first release. Before that, I found it quite difficult to share my music with anyone. It was something personal, something just for me. So when the time came to release the tracks, I was in a slight state of shock and stress, and it took time to get used to it. In general, I prefer the process of making music itself and I’m always very particular about what I want to release. So I often have to force myself to finish certain works that the label and I have decided to release. It’s something I have to fight against, but I’m working on myself!
Garud: What kind of music do you draw inspiration from?
Memtrix: All the same music that has always inspired me—rock, metal and so on—but ever since I heard dance music and, in particular, drum and bass, I began discovering all these new sounds and production techniques that I had never heard before. That’s what really hooked me and inspired me to try it myself.
Garud: How did you get into drum and bass?
Memtrix: My introduction to dance music began with music channels and the internet, where I heard house and dubstep, and quite soon I found several drum and bass tracks that I liked. They had the same energy and atmosphere as the rock and metal I had listened to before.
Garud: And how did you learn to make electronic music? Did you have a teacher, or are you self-taught? Did you watch a lot of tutorials on YouTube?)
Memtrix: I was already using some software to record the guitar, which I used to play. Over time, I began trying my hand at sound design and experimenting with synthesizers and samplers. I think that at one point I bought a couple of magazines about music production to understand some basic principles and ideas, but otherwise I’m self-taught, and my skills are the result of many months of working to improve my sound and find my own sound, a process that is still ongoing.
Garud: What are your plans for 2014? Any upcoming releases or major performances?
Memtrix: My debut EP, called “Voodoo,” is coming out on Lifted very soon. At the moment, I’ve returned to a normal working routine on my tracks, as the last few months of working on the EP were quite exhausting—each track took several months. So it’s great to return to my usual schedule and finally start working on something new. There will be several more releases after this EP, but for now they’re only plans, nothing specific. I have several remixes and collaborations in progress that I can’t talk about at the moment. I play quite a lot in Europe, and I may return to Australia for a tour at the end of this year.
Garud: Are you planning to move further into the mainstream, or will we still hear darker and heavier tracks from you?
Memtrix: I don’t plan what I’m going to write next. I haven’t written heavy drum and bass for a long time, and at the moment I don’t feel drawn to it, so I don’t think I’ll return to that kind of sound in the near future.
Garud: Perhaps we should then expect experiments in other genres?
Memtrix: The music I release is a small part of what I write. I’ve never stuck to any particular style of music, and genres have never been important to me. However, since I became heavily involved in drum and bass and made a name for myself specifically on that scene, I decided that it would be easier to release only dnb for a while. I think now is the right time to release some tracks in other genres that I’ve been working on.
Garud: What do you think of the Russian drum and bass scene? Which producers do you know, and who would you single out?
Memtrix: I know many musicians from Russia, such as Teddy Killerz, who have been tearing up the dnb scene lately. Russians definitely know what to do and how to do it when it comes to making drum and bass bangers. I played in Moscow last year with Chris Renegade, Pendulum, Camo & Krooked, London Elektricity and others, and it was the biggest show I had performed at. It was incredible. I can’t wait to come again and get to know your country better.
Garud: Who is your favorite producer at the moment?
Memtrix: Avicii
Garud: What advice could you give to aspiring musicians?
Memtrix: Just be yourself and do what feels right to you. Music should be free and serve as a means of self-expression. As soon as you feel constrained and restricted, whether by labels, business plans, or something else, you need to sit down and reconsider everything. Nothing should influence the process of making music. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself.
Garud: Thank you very much for your time, Oscar! I’m sure many people are already eagerly awaiting your debut EP. Good luck and continued success in music.
Interview: Garud. Translated from the Russian version published in the VK community “Garud’s Nest”.
