HEADS KNOW TAPE 029: O.J.C
An interview and DJ mix from the Essex County producer.
Photo: @americaluvsme
HEADS KNOW TAPES is the mix and interview series curated to introduce you to the most interesting innovators, selectors, and artists from New York City and beyond.
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O.J.C is the best kind of music nerd there is. His obsession with music is obvious yet there’s not one drop of pretentiousness in his artistry. The Montreal-based producer grew up in Essex County, New Jersey, so it’s no surprise that a Jersey Club influence is prominent in his sound. His edits and mashups blend the genre with jungle, UK garage, and indie to create an unpredictable amalgamation of high-energy rhythms that just want to make you move. His fun, fresh-faced approach to production hasn’t gone unnoticed either — you might have seen him pop up remixing songs for PinkPantheress, LSDXOXO, and Swami Sound.
What makes O.J.C a successful experimentalist is his devotion to studying music and examining how it all connects. His father, who’s as equally fanatical, passed down a wide-ranging love of music that encouraged O.J.C to dig for himself. And despite garnering a large following on TikTok and SoundCloud, the producer rejects algorithms and makes a conscious effort to learn the roots of a genre on his own terms.
Roll the tape to hear a frenzied mix of O.J.C originals and edits — some of which are premiering right here — and keep reading to learn more about his musical background, why he became a DJ despite being an introvert, and his old-school approach to finding new music.
It’s always great to find a fellow jazz lover in the electronic music scene. I read your recent interview with NO COVER ZINE and you talking about falling into DJing got me wondering if you felt like you ended up where you were supposed to be all along since you listened to a lot of jazz when you first started making music. I kind of feel like DJs are similar to jazz musicians in the way they’re usually improvising and playing off the energy of the room. What do you think about that?
DJing aligned really well with the way that I already think about music. I’ve always been interested in finding throughlines and connections between different songs, genres, and artists, and that interest led me in the direction of sampling and making bootlegs and mashups as soon as I learned how to make music on a laptop. That existing interest combined with being able to connect with other people through playing music, made getting into DJing feel like a natural progression. There's a feeling you get from sharing music with a crowd and watching people sing and dance that you can’t really get out of being in the studio or through sharing your work online, and once I realized that it definitely felt like something I always wanted out of music.
Was jazz something you grew up listening to in your household? Did any family members influence your music taste at all?
My dad always played a really broad range of music around me when I was growing up. I remember hearing System of a Down, Björk, DMX, classical music, jazz, and a lot of dad rock around the house and in the car as a kid. Him being kind of a music hoarder and having shelves and boxes filled with tapes and CDs influenced me to have a similar fixation on discovering music. He always seemed to know a lot about music history and whatever bands or artists I was getting into at the time, and I think that along with the variety of music, he played around me probably had a bigger impact on my music taste than any specific artist or genre that I was introduced to.
You started composing music before producing it and later on DJing. When exactly did each of these skills come into play and how did one lead into the other?
I feel like everything I’ve learned with music has come together in a pretty natural order. Wanting to make music socially and collaboratively is mostly what influenced me to learn how to produce and engineer. When I was younger, I wanted to be able to produce for whatever singers or rappers were in my town without being dependent on anyone else to make the music sound the way I wanted it to. I think just not being satisfied with the music I could make with other people when I couldn’t work on it holistically made me obsess over learning how to mix, master, record, and produce. DJing has worked as a new outlet to express the same kind of interest in sharing music and connecting with other people over it. I think that there's a big narrative and world-building aspect to DJing, and the way that you can thread together different songs and develop an atmosphere over time has a lot of parallels with songwriting and producing.
Were you hesitant about the DJing aspect? You’ve spoken a few times about being introverted and I’ve also actually asked some of my favorite producers to play a set at one of my parties, only to be rejected.
I actually did reject the first few opportunities I was given to DJ for that exact reason. I think I just felt like avoiding anything that positioned me as the center of attention in whatever I was doing. I feel pretty lucky to have been able to collaborate and DJ with so many other artists that I’m genuinely inspired by, considering that I’ve mostly avoided directly putting myself and my own image into a lot of what I do online and in my music. I don’t necessarily see that as a permanent thing but I think that as someone who usually feels more comfortable staying out of the way, including more of myself and my personality into what I do is a gradual process. DJing and really any kind of live performance definitely pushes you to step out of your own social anxiety.
I can imagine that as an introvert, social media can get overwhelming, too. Do you ever feel pressured to bootleg something because people are asking, or even do it because you know it’ll pop off?
I think I’m in kind of a weird position where the bootlegs I make that do the best are the ones that no one really asks for. For a while, I would only make an edit of a song if it hadn’t been done yet. Part of what I like the most about flipping other people's music is being able to turn a song into something completely different either emotionally or musically in a way that seems like it shouldn’t work on paper, and I feel like if a lot of people are asking for a specific song or artist, it can’t really have that effect. I do feel overwhelmed by the pressure to constantly feed the algorithm and think of new ideas that anyone else who’s actively done something creative on social media has felt. As much as I like making edits, I’ve definitely tried to shift my focus towards working on more original music over the last year.
Did you ever imagine making bootlegs in the first place would lead to doing official remixes for PinkPantheress and LSDXOXO? What were you doing and how did you feel when you got those emails?
It’s always such a jarring thing when an artist I’m really inspired by reaches out. I never could have predicted that making bootlegs for fun on my own would lead to being able to work with those same artists. I feel like I’ve always presented my music above any kind of image or public personality, so it really means a lot to me when that on its own is enough to reach artists that I hold in high regard like that.
As a producer with a history of jazz and clearly dig deeps into every pocket of music, how do you upkeep your knowledge of electronic music, especially while incorporating genres with such a deep history, like Jersey Club, jungle, and UK Garage?
I definitely try to keep myself from being dependent on any kind of algorithm as much as possible. There's a lot of cultural homogenization on the internet, specifically with dance and electronic music. If you don’t put in the legwork to learn or research where things come from, it’s easier than it’s ever been to be a fan of a specific subgenre or trend within a larger style of music without knowing anything about its regional identity or the culture that it came from (dupstep to brostep, jungle to modern internet breakcore, etc,.). I think the best way that I’ve been able to learn more about different kinds of regional music is by going to concerts and clubs in person and talking to other fans of those genres. Any documentary or articles written about specific scenes can also be really informative and helpful in identifying pivotal musicians who helped establish modern dance music. I also think that just keeping track of different labels or collectives that artists and DJs you already listen to are a part of can be a really useful and easy way to discover new music without being dependent on an algorithm that you have no control over.
Which artists, DJs, producers, labels, or collectives should heads know?
I’ve been really into HV Butro, JEWELSSEA, Eev Frances, oklou, Len, username, Tim Reaper, Muddyoush, Cakedog, dj sister by auntie, SAVE ME by Future, exhibition mode by dazegxd, Eeyore’s Tail by King Quad, everyone in Eldia, and deadAir Records.
What can we expect from this mix?
This mix includes a lot of original music that I’ve been sitting on for the last year and a half, and it’s my first time sharing most of it in full anywhere. I’ve really focused on creating a cohesive and intentional mix of music while still incorporating the same high energy, all over the place feeling that I’ve put into my edits. Expect to hear a lot
What can we expect from your upcoming set at SILO for our next HEADS KNOW party?
Similar to the mix, I’m gonna be playing a really dense mix of my favorite music right now. Expect fast tempo and a lot of energy.
Support O.J.C on Bandcamp, SoundCloud, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
TRACKLIST
O.J.C - do u 1.14
Janet Jackson - Would You Mind (O.J.C MIX)
Lilsnatched_ - Hit It From The Back (Hiei Vocals)
djblackops - once again
Rema - OZEBA
SteezTheProducer - Get Jiggy Cypher Ft. @yslroddy #SchoolChallenge
Floating Points - Birth4000
O.J.C - throwit
Club Cab - Feminine Energy
MK Music - Bounce Touch It. @Tang @OmgAddy
O.J.C & username - unreleased
O.J.C - I’ll Leave
Cruel Santino - FTR
Hodge & なかむらみなみ - Bounce on the Water (re:ni Remix)
O.J.C - UAP party
O.J.C - CoupDeGrace
CeeChynaa - Peggy (O.J.C MIX)
Oi Ocha - Rampage 95
Future - Groupies
Dual Monitor - Switch It
FOUR50 & Big Yaya - paparazzi (feat. Slimesito)
Ghostwhip - Sexual (Miami Flip)
Khadija Al Hanafi - Youuuuu
username & auntie - go
Keraw - Keutra
Loog - Satisfaction #jerseyclub
Future - Throwaway (O.J.C MIX)
O.J.C - ojc2k24
Club Cab - What I Want
INOJ - Love You Down (O.J.C MIX)
Mike Gip - sexy can i 2012
Young Thug - RiRi (O.J.C MIX)
Bate Rigason & Maaken - Donk On U
sibitto - Come Feel (In My) Mind
Len & Fimiguerrero - Wet Mouth
FKA Twigs - Eusexua (O.J.C MIX)
