Exclusive Okain Interview
Egg London caught up with Okain and asked him a few questions on where it all began and what his opinion the music industry currently...
Egg London caught up with Okain and asked him a few questions on where it all began and what his opinion the music industry currently...
Firstly I would just
like to thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to answer a few
questions.
Who was/is your
biggest influence in house/electronic music?
I have had different
influences in Electronic music since when I began. Its difficult to name a
single artist however Laurent Garnier, Mr G, Ricardo Villalobos, Jeff Mills and
Kerri Chandler are to name a few.
How do you see the
music scene in 5 years from now?
I think our
underground Electronic scene is growing as a movement, hopefully it will
continue to do so. The more people become fed up of commercial EDM the bigger
our movement will become. Hopefully resulting in the government understanding
that clubs and festivals play an important part of our culture and we need
their support. London, like Paris a few years back has reached a tough period
but I have hope it will get better.
At the beginning of
your career, you spent a whole summer making orange juice at a local store in
Paris to save money, including this, what do you personally consider to be the
most incisive moments in your career?
It was actually near
New York. My aunt lived there and I moved there to learn English. This allowed
me to buy my first pair of turntables. It’s difficult for me to recall all the
incisive moments since I started quite a long time ago now, however I will say,
that I really feel blessed to have had the opportunity to play in my favourite
clubs including Egg during the course of my career.
How would you
describe your style and what’s your favourite thing to listen to these days?
My style is always
based on groove, soul and energy but I don’t restrict myself to a single genre.
Playing house and techno to everything around it. I like to surprise people by
creating a journey. Long sets are my favourite.
What can we expect
from you in the coming year of 2016? Is there some interesting stuff on the
way?
After 8 years,
releasing on a lot of different labels I am finally starting my own imprint.
The first Eps are coming very soon on both vinyl and digital. My new track on
Saved Records and Disco Bass should be already out when this interview comes
out.
How did you transition
from listening to and playing hip-hop, to producing electronic music?
The French touch
became really big when I was around 14 with acts like Daft Punk this is what
made me more interested in this genre of music. Soon after I started to go
clubbing and was hooked very quickly. I still remember skipping school to go to
see Laurent Garnier play at the Rex club.
Your first residency
DJing was at such a young age in high school, what gave you that initial push?
Back then there was no
Soundcloud so we were recording mix CDs and giving them to promoters, clubs and
bar owners. One day a resident DJ was sick so a friend and I had the
opportunity to replace him for a night. We did well and got the residency.
What advice would you
give up-coming DJ’s?
My advice is work hard
and be positive. Hating or being negative never gets you anywhere.
You are coming back
to Egg London on the 19th of September, how was your last experience? Do you
have anything special prepared for the night?
I cannot wait to be
back at Egg, it is one of my favourite places to play. I always have a great
time! I’ve prepared new music from my up and coming label as well as some
records I’ve dug out especially, to play for this occassion.
What are your current
top 3 tracks and what track never leaves your playlist?
Current top 3 tracks:
Mr G - Music for All
D'julz - Houdini
Okain - Forward
Track that never
leaves my playlist:
Steve Barnes - Cosmic
Sandwich (Dominik Eulberg Rmx)
Catch Okain playing at DJ Mag Sessions on 19th of September:
Andrea Oliva
Paul Woolford
Okain
Adesse Versions
DJ Mag Allstars
The Willers Brothers
+ more TBA
Info & tickets HERE