Lower & OSp are a talented Spanish duo who following releases on labels including Bla Bla, Moan, Serkal, Innocent Music and Amam have been tipped for big things.
Their most recent outing was on UNER’s label Solar Distance, with a cinematic techno EP that sounds like Sasha and John Digweed asked Hans Zimmer to make the Stranger Things soundtrack for a club audience!
We premiered one of the tracks from the release on the Change Underground Soundcloud page, and took the opportunity to catch up with the guys for the latest edition of our 12 Questions series…
https://soundcloud.com/change-underground/exclusive-premiere-lower-osp-snowy-hills-solar-distance
1. How old are you, where are you living and how long have you been producing and Djing?
Hello to everyone! It´s a great pleasure for us to be with you. Lower is 28 and Osp is 30. Nowadays we are living in different towns near Barcelona, which are Granollers and Sabadell, but our studio and the place where we work every day is in Sabadell. We have been producing together since 2013 and something more regarding Djing.
2. Where do your musical roots lie, what are your first memories of electronic music and when did you know you wanted to pursue it seriously? Are there any particular productions or artists from the past that really made you think to yourself ‘this is what I want to do.”
Our roots are a little bit different. Oriol comes from Hard and Techno scene, he used to throw underground parties around his town, and Kevin comes from House and Electro-Minimal style. Kevin started with a group of friends who taught him to play, and showed how the scene worked. Now we live in a big “Musical Bubble” where we can find great music and big artists, but we still love our old roots. Laurent Garnier and Carl Cox are the artists who inspired us the most… we still remember Space Ibiza with Carl Cox b2b Laurent Garnier. They changed our lives!
3. How difficult was learning to produce for you in the beginning? Did you take any Audio Engineering programs or production courses to help you out or are you pretty much self taught? And did anyone give any advice early on that really helped?
It definitely was, but it still is. We love to learn something new every day, during our career we have spent a lot of money on courses, master classes and private lessons… these days we are in a music academy learning how to play the Piano. It´s never too late! Our best advice is: less is more.
4. What parts of the production process do you find the most difficult and what comes easiest for you? When you do hit a creative block what helps you through it?
It depends. There are times when it´s very easy to finish a song because you are inspired, but there are moments where this doesn’t happen because your state of mind isn’t good. We believe that creating music requires a certain state of mind, so productivity is best on the days where music is our only focus. When we are creating we start with the melody followed by the harmonics parts, then we add the drums and finish with the arrangement plus effects.
5. What’s a normal day like for you? Do you have a job outside of electronic music? And what do you like to do when you’re not working on music?
Our day starts at 7:30 am, after a shower and a good breakfast we go to the studio around 9 am. We start to produce in the morning because we love the creativity we have at that time. In the studio we also go online and deal with things like label issues, interviews, social media networks, and talk to our manager. After a long day in the studio we go to the gym or to study at the academy, and of course spend time with our girlfriends. When we are not working on music we love travelling and short breaks in the countryside. We like to visit wine cellars or go to the mountain.
6. Apart from electronic music what other genres do you listen to and who are your favourite artists outside of electronic? and do these genres or artists have a direct effect on your own productions?
We love Queen, Phill Collins, Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones. We also both love Joaquin Sabina who is a Spanish artist that we consider a music guru.
7. What was the first and last physical (CD, Vinyl, Cassette etc) piece of music you bought?
Lower (First): Dj Rolando Aka the Aztec Mystic – Jaguar
Lower (Last/Most Recent): Dj Tennis – Convex
Osp (First): Gouryella – Ligaya
Osp (Last/Most Recent): Stimming – Alpe Lusia
8. Tell us something about yourself that might surprise people?
Lower: I love Comics, Sneakers and Opera/Classical music.
Osp: I love Cars, Motorcycles and Martial Arts.
9. Which producers in your opinion get consistently overlooked?
We love the music from Upercent, Alex Lario, Baal..
10. Which producers consistently inspire you? And where else does your inspiration come from?
Undoubtedly the artist who has inspired us the most in recent times is UNER. We have been fortunate to meet him in person and what he transmits is wonderful. We feel very identified with his philosophy and his way of sharing his passion for music.
11. There are countless producers out there trying to find their way and create their own unique sound, what advice do you have for them?
Patience and less is more
12. If the final DJ/live set of your career was next week what would your last track be?
This is very difficult to response but maybe “America” by Dusty Kid.
Useful Links
https://www.facebook.com/lowerandosp/
https://soundcloud.com/lowerandosp
https://www.beatport.com/artist/lower-and-osp/479009
