Debuting on Armada Electronic Elements, U.K. native OCULA immediately makes his mark with the dreamiest of electronic soundscape. Oozing with sonic serenity and wonder, ‘Clear’ provides a remarkably effortless listening experience that will give listeners the clarity and peace of mind they need in order to move forward again. You can now listen to the full premiere on When We Dip while reading the great interview we had with him. Enjoy!
WWD: Hello OCULA, thanks for chatting with us! Let’s start off by digging a bit more into your musical history. What initially drew you to the electronic music scene and who were some of the electronic artists that inspired you?
Hey! Thanks so much for having me. The thing that drew me to this scene way back in my early teens was my dad. He has a love for electronic music so he would be blasting out old dance and house tunes all day and night, and then started to throw in some progressive house stuff. The big moment for me was hearing ‘Not Exactly’ by deadmau5 – I just loved the progression of that song and it was the first tune that I listened to while thinking ‘how does someone actually make something like this?’. That lead me into the endless journey of YouTube tutorials, music production forums and DAW manuals, starting with Reason 5, then moving to Logic Pro X, and finally to Ableton Live.
WWD: Was there a specific moment that made you realize you wanted to pursue a career in the music industry? What led you to choosing the name OCULA?
Probably when someone who works in the industry complimented my music and approached me to work with them. I think for the first few years you have the supportive people around you, like friends and family who compliment your stuff and it makes you feel great, but when an artist manager or a label A&R comment on your music it feels completely different, and you get that sudden rush of ‘oh my god, could I actually do this as a career?’. I’d love to say there’s a deep and sentimental meaning behind my name but… it comes from Wayne’s World 2. I was producing under a different name years ago and then had the opportunity to work with mau5trap but my manager at the time thought we needed a completely clean slate to build from, so he said to brainstorm ideas and just write down everything you love; from food to TV shows, albums to brands of clothing. I grew up watching the Wayne’s World films so I watched them, and the word ‘ocular’ was mentioned and I just thought ‘hey… that’s a cool word’. Then when designing a simple text logo, it just satisfied my OCD to have an odd number of letters so there’s a centre point, so I chopped off the ‘R’.
WWD: You just released your debut track with Armada Electronic Elements called “Clear”. Can you tell us a bit more about the production process behind this release and if/how it differed from previous releases?
Absolutely – when you spend years producing music you notice how some projects can take days on end to finish, whereas sometimes you get these huge bursts of creativity and flow, and a track can be pretty much fully finished within a few hours. ‘Clear’ was definitely one of those songs. As soon as I had the main melody, everything else just seemed to fall into place easily, and I think when that happens you get such a rush of excitement and just pure love for writing music that it shows in the end result.
WWD: What made you decide to start working together with Armada Music and do you plan to have more releases with the Amsterdam based label?
Armada has always been a huge goal for me because it is just such an iconic label. I don’t think any other label in this scene has adapted and evolved quite like Armada has, and I love how it’s kept its roots but also opened up to different genres and styles over the years. Something felt different about ‘Clear’ and I’d been trying to write something that would be of interest to the label, so I just shot my shot and sent it over and thankfully it paid off! As for more releases, absolutely. We have a few things lined up already that I can’t wait to share next year.
WWD: When you sit down in your studio to produce a new track, what is one thing that it has to have to make it feel complete? Is there a common thread that runs through your work?
It’s probably the most common answer but it must have a hook. For me though, it’s not just about getting some kind of melody stuck in peoples heads, it’s about loading as much emotion into that melody, chord pattern or rhythm as possible. The perfect scenario for me is that someone listens to my music, and it makes them think of something, someone or somewhere – I want to take them on a journey, and I think the best way to do that is by hooking them in with a melody that they fall in love with.
WWD: Aside from the pandemic, what is one of the biggest struggles you have faced as an artist so far in your career? Is there anything you would do differently with the experience you have now?
The biggest thing I’ve learned from the past few years, and it’s more to do with the business aspect rather than actual production or performance, would probably be that no one cares as much about your career as you do. This becomes apparent at a stage where you start to build a team and it’s very easy to kind of take your foot off the pedal slightly because you think ‘oh this person will do this now so I don’t need to’ – wrong, they do extra things or things you couldn’t do before. This is a brutal industry, and you must be ready to work your ass off; when you start to see some of it pay off, that means you’re doing it right so keep doing it. If I could go back in time and tell myself one thing, I’d probably say to be yourself and focus on growing your own sound and style rather than just recreating other artists sounds. There’s so much joy and happiness in creating music and I think it can be taken away from you when you’re not making what you want to make; be true to yourself and it will show in your music by becoming way more genuine, emotional and captivating – and those are things you cannot create by just trying to be someone else. All the legends of the industry became who they are because they brought something new to the table.
WWD: As we are nearing the end of 2021, what are some of your goals moving forward?
2022 is already jam-packed for me thankfully. Behind closed doors, my release schedule for 2021 was a managers nightmares so the big focus for the second half of the year was to get ourselves ready to hit the ground running. A big one for me is to get out there and play some music! The pandemic has obviously had a huge effect on the live industry and for me personally it also had an effect on my US visa so we’re praying that can all be sorted ASAP and I can go explore and eat my way around the States.
WWD: Finally, what is your favourite thing to do when away from the studio? Any must-haves for a night off?
Aside from music, the two other loves of my life are fitness and food. I was a skinny kid growing up so when I hit 18 I joined a gym and studied weight training and how to build muscle and get healthier, so that’s a big part of my daily routine now. Also, I loooove cooking new foods. Anyone who follows me on Instagram will know I probably post more food than music to be honest, but I can’t help it.
Release Date: December 17th, 2021. Buy Here
Follow: OCULA // Armada Record Box