Sho Mag Afro House Magazine
‘On The SpotLight’ this week we have Kzn based music producer / deejay ‘OU’. Already with a ‘banging track’ featured on ‘House Afrika Sessions 8 compilation album’ under his belt and with his latest release hand-picked for ‘Surreal Sounds Within Da Beats Project’. We had to have him ‘On The SpotLight’…
ShoMag: Thank you for taking some time out for us. Can we start off by asking who is ‘OU’ and where is he from?
OU: ‘OU’ is a self-taught deep house and electronic music producer and deejay, from the lower parts of KZN, born and raised in Empangeni in a township called Enseleni, and ‘I’m a music enthusiast’.
ShoMag: You started your ‘musical journey’ back in 2014, was music something you always wanted to be a part of and how has the journey been so far for you?
OU: It has been even before I started making my own music I was always fascinated by the idea of ‘putting together different sounds to make one complete record’ and be able to share it with the rest of the world. The journey has been filled with learning experiences so as to make me discover my own unique sound, it’s been a learning experience.
ShoMag: When did you notice that you had ‘passion for music’ and out of all the ‘music genres’ one can pick from, why choose ‘house music’?
OU: My passion for music started way back when we used to listen to the ‘Urban Beat on Metro FM’, my twin brother and I used to record mixtapes on cassettes and listen to them afterwards when the show had ended on the day.
Another person who fuelled my love for house music was my older brother who was and still is a very big fan of the craft, he used to buy ‘House Afrika and Soul Candi’ music come home and play it to us and that whole experience ‘embedded a very deep love for house music’ and later on the years I then decided to make my own music and share it with the masses.
ShoMag: What is your role within ‘House Music’, would you say you are a ‘House Music Producer or a House Music Deejay’? Maybe do you occupy both spaces?
OU: I actually occupy both spaces because from the very beginning ‘the idea was to make music’, share it with the people and with sharing it comes the part where I have to perform my own music.
ShoMag: Where do you draw inspiration from and is there any particular musician/s you look up too and why?
OU: I wouldn’t say there is a particular person that I look up to but I do have people that are still implanting that deep foundation of love for house music and making me want to improve my craft to name a few ‘Sizz, Frits Wentink, Ian Pooley, David August and Stimming’.
My inspiration comes from different sounds or I would say different genres of music because I don’t only listen to house music, I also explore ‘different genres of music just to draw inspiration’.
