Sydney DJ/Producer duo ollo are touring this month and launching their new album Sleeper. In The Mix’s Delerious caught up with them for a chat.
Ollo comprise of Alex Crowfoot and Lars Chresta. They are about to release an album called Sleeper and will be touring major cities in Australia to give audiences a taste of their work.
Tell me about who ollo are and how they came into existence?
There are at least two sides to ollo … one is a DJ thing, the other is music production. ollo actually started as Alex being the producer of his own music and Lars being more of the DJ. This is still the case but Lars now has input into the music now and he has done a vocal on the album
Both have completely different backgrounds:
Alex Crowfoot
Growing up in the UK Alex had more exposure to a different mix of music. Musical training came in the form of a few piano lessons from a batty old woman who actually turned him off music more than onto it!
Basically Alex has been writing music since he was about eight. Looking back he realises that he was experimenting from an early age. Even before he knew samplers, he was creating tracks by using pause and record buttons on a cassette recorder! He often ‘remixed’ things before he knew this process actually existed. He used to write whole songs on the one keyboard. It all progressed from there … collecting other bits of equipment and starting to use computers.
Alex still plays a fair bit in live performances. “Its not all about machines” he says, “There is a live component to it too”.
He doesn’t get obsessed with the process but rather he will explore what the equipment can do. When the equipment is turned on he just wants to write music … creative energy is just waiting to escape!
Lars Chresta
Lars grew up in Switzerland and has been collecting music for more than 20 years, but he has never made his own music. “I have always been a consumer and a collector especially” he says. “I have about 9000 records at the moment!”
Growing up in Switzerland, Lars explains, has given him a big ‘euro’ background and a definite soft spot for euro trash (which Alex hates!) they are both quick to point out there is no euro trash element in ollo’s music whatsoever! Because Lars came from a collectors perspective it has opened him up to many different sorts of music … things put out by the same people or labels have been discovered. He likes very experimental stuff, which has had a big influence on Alex and his music style … they have brought each other areas of music which neither of them have listened to before.
It’s a musical partnership … they feed off each other, bounce ideas around and inspire each other.
Sleeper the album
Sleeper is a reflection of where Ollo have been musically and where they are heading.
It is a mix of newer and older sounds. The format of the album really makes that work. Little sound bites and interludes have been included because it is quite varied and they wanted to try and pull it together in some way. Rather than try and sequence the tracks they just wanted to make it even more diverse. There are some interesting bits and pieces that they have recorded in different countries around the world.
For example a sample of a New York ticket tout hawking his wares, cut up samples of US television programs and other miscellaneous sounds.
What ollo do as DJs and musically is quite diverse and they wanted the album to reflect this. The album is not designed to be straightforward.
“It’s not difficult to listen to but it isn’t easy listening” explains Alex. “There are lots of little bits and pieces in there that if you listen closely you will pick up on … there’s a real diversity … some snippets are layered in and don’t shout at you … but if you listen closely you may hear a train pulling out of a station … or an announcement in Penn Station in New York.”
It is, essentially, a collage of experiences … its like a bunch of fragments of where they have been over the last couple of years.
“I didn’t worry about styles of tracks following each other as I don’t make tracks in a classic style. For example: an electro track is not an electro track. What you will hear on the album is a whole range of influences … very diverse.” Indeed ollo’s music ranges from introspective down tempo landscapes to glitchy cut-up house, with dub, electro, hip-hop and jazz influences.
It comes back to personal experience. Both of them are big music heads, love music and listen to a lot of different types of music and they think that shows on the album.
I asked Alex about his objective for album?
“I wanted a balance of the things we do. I don’t want it to pigeon hole my style, but rather be free to go wherever the music take me. It’s both conscious and unconscious the way I makes music. There are a couple of tracks I made that I am not even sure where they came from! They just sort of bubbled up.”
Most of the time Alex just sits down and starts making music. He doesn’t plan a certain style and doesn’t believe in working in existing styles.
“I used to write the song and it was all triggered to samplers and instruments. Then I would record backing in each track as audio. A lot of the time now I start working and record in audio and play things in live rather than MIDI where you can tweak everything. A couple of tracks were written and recorded in about four or five hours … which was a surprise!
Do you prefer one method to the other?
“No I’m actually looking back at how I used to write music and want to revisit the way I used to work and reincorporate that into the new way of working.”
What can people expect when they come and see your gigs?
“It will be a mainly down tempo exploration of sound. We are touring with Neotropic and she will be doing the same. She will be doing some vocals so there will be the live vocal component, ollo will be doing some vocals as well. People who come to see us won’t get revved up into a dance frenzy it’s more of a laid back experience … although there are a couple of up tempo tracks.”
“We don’t leap about on the stage and climb up on speaker cabinets … it’s not a rock extravaganza experience!” Alex says. “We have visuals that run throughout the show that are roughly timed with the tracks. I have been filming over the years and keep adding bits. It’s not a slick video, it explores the edges of what a video camera can do as well as what I point the camera at. It’s about pushing boundaries and definitely not the expected methods of using camera. Kind of the same way as I treat my music … not always adhering to standard techniques.”
Not that many people have heard their music so far so the tour is about taking it out others and getting some feedback. Obviously there is a promotional aspect to it as the album is coming out on October 21st. Exposing people to their music is the main aim. ollo want them to enjoy it!
How was your music received in London and the US?
“It went down really well! We were surprised actually, as the scene in London is quite cynical. We played ollo tracks as part of a DJ set and the only tracks in the sets that people asked about were the ollo tracks. It was quite a surprise and very flattering.”
The visuals were really well received and we were questioned a lot about them.
We had a positive response in Salt Lake City as well. We did a few shows and had a residency at the Sundance Film Festival. We took the Frigid music style over to the US. The response was very enthusiastic and helped inspire us to continue creating music.
If their music elicits a response then ollo are happy. It’s about shared experience. Alex and Lars are passionate … it’s not about fame or money but rather sharing their own music experience with others.
Sleeper is launched around Australia on the Creative Vibes label on October 21.
You can catch ollo at the following venues around Australia:
October 10: Corner Hotel, Richmond, Melbourne
October 11: Mercury Cinema, Adelaide (as part of the Scalene event)
October 17: Tabanacal, Byron Bay
October 18: Powerhouse, Brisbane
October 20: Frigid, The Hopetoun Hotel, Sydney
Delerious
