An Interview: Harry Oscillate

For the 193rd edition of our Mantissa Mix we invited Southampton based Harry Oscillate to record a mix for us but also to have a chat about his productions, podcast and future.

G: Hello Harry! Do you want to introduce yourself and give us a bit of background to your career thus far?

H: Hard to know where to start really. I’m Harry Oscillate, I have been DJing for about five years as well as producing. Only really properly producing for two years. The first few years just smacking some buttons around. Started DJing just before I came to university and once I arrived I got a job at JUNK collecting glasses. I remember working there in the back and just thinking yeah this is very cool. From there just got into DJing more and producing. Downloaded this awful old software called LLMS and got cracking. Stepped up to Ableton about a year later and that was a big moment for me.

I was making sample based music for a while. It really helped me progress, a sample can give you a good backbone for a track and help build some confidence. At the start I was making a lot of disco house kind of stuff, eventually put my head down and did a lot of online courses and YouTube videos about producing. Now I am here ahahah.

G: Wicked. I would like to ask you about JUNK briefly. Could you explain what JUNK was and why it was so special??

H: Awh man don’t make me cry. JUNK was the first proper underground electronic music venue I was ever exposed to.

G: I think that was the same for a load of people I know.

H: It was a cool little dingy basement with a really low ceiling and the booth was kind of eye level to the crowd. The booth was 360 so you could go all around the DJ. That place kind of changed my life. If it wasn’t for working there and going to events there I would not be where I am today. It was great because you would go every week and see the same people every time, even if you didn’t know them really well. For me it was way ahead of its time for the Southampton scene.

G: Awesome that you would admit that place changed your life. I think a lot of people we know out of Southampton would say the same.

H: So many big things happened for me. People I met in JUNK for example. One of my best mates to this day my friend Dan aka Pandar I met there. Olly Wenzel as well I met there. It had a few bumpy bits but that place was special.

G: So I wanted to ask you about your latest self-released E.P: Aqua Forms. There is a real and clear aquatic influence, was that deliberate or a bit of a lucky accident?

H: So I was listening to a lot of Biosphere, he is a Norwegian producer from the 90s who made a load of ambient stuff. He is a genius, a lot of the record was inspired by him. I don’t play or make a lot of electro but I love Drexicya and so their influence was big as well. A use a lot of delayed and high pitched acid and I’ve always loved echoey synthy sounds. There is something about connecting parts of nature to electronic dance music I think is so cool, Something which has been around for millions of years combined with something which has existed for 30 years I find extremely inspiring

G: What were your thoughts behind self releasing the record on Bandcamp? It was a great record and one I am sure a lot of small labels might have wanted to put out.

H: One thing which kind of took over when I first started producing and DJing was this idea of excelling really fast. Eventually I stepped back and kind of took a minute to ask myself what do I want to get out of this whole music thing. I think I kind of realised I love making music and am taking it at a more steady pace. There are a few labels I would love to release on but with that E.P. I liked it and just wanted to get something up on my Bandcamp. It has done so much better than I thought it would considering I didn’t promo it too hard.

G: Yeah It is awesome that young upcoming producers have a platform such as Bandcamp where if they like something they have made they can just get it out there rather than needing a label.

H: I am very patient now and I think I have got to a point where I know if a tune is good enough or not to be on a label. Biosphere was a tune which I really really liked but I wasn’t sure of any labels it would fit on to be honest. I have some music upcoming on a few labels which I have organised through meeting people and via friends. I think people need to stop worrying about getting music out of big labels they enjoy and just worry about supporting their mates. Help put music out on your friends label and promoting your friends parties or whatever.

G: Making your own label something you would like to do?

H: Yeah something I would like to do but I don’t have the time at the moment.

G: So shall quickly chat about your podcast?

H: Yeah so I have a podcast with my friend Dan Parsons called ‘Meet Me Front Left’. It started as a lockdown project and continued from there really. I just had a thought that I didn’t see many electronic music podcasts for people who are smaller DJs or producers. We just thought why don’t we start our own, we drafted a few episodes and then yeah it grew from there. We have had some awesome guests on the podcast and we talk about anything music related. The shows are focused on the guest most of the time and we try and talk about some more important topics such as equality in the industry & bigotry. We think it is very important to talk about those kind of topics, I know we spoke on a recent one about the whole Derrick May story and it is something which needs to be spoken about. A lot of bigger brands and businesses need to be more vocal on those kind of issues and stop just sitting in silence.

G: Yeah I agree completely, I found a lot of frustration on Tuesday when it was IWD. Seeing loads of parties and labels post meaningless nonsense about how they want the industry to be more equal when the last ten artists they have booked have been white men or the last five releases on their label have been by white men. They almost complain about the industry not representing women and yet do nothing to try and challenge and fix the problem.

H: Yeah a lot use that nonsense excuse of ‘We don’t know any female artists’ and it’s like that is just ridiculous. They should go out and find them rather than just saying there aren’t enough female producers or DJs. There is so much bigotry and toxic masculinity in this scene. When I have seen at house parties certain men feeling uncomfortable with the idea of a female DJ going behind the decks.

G: I have tried to mess around with Ableton and found it completely overwhelming. Do you have any suggestions or advice for those wanting to give producing a go?

H: I think you have to see it as a long term thing. Little and often is my advice. Take your time and appreciate it will take a lot longer than you think to begin to make music you actually like. Do not be afraid to delete something you have made. Make something, mess around and delete it. Good set of monitors is also a great idea.

G: Just to finish, who are some producers you love and have influenced you?

H: I love Peach, Soarise, Moxie and Shanti. In terms of productions; Shanti Celeste is incredible. I have always looked up to her. Roza Terenzi, her album Modern Bliss was incredible. I love her sort of stripped back 90s raw and unpolished rave music. Rudolf C is a great producer. Biosphere, E.B.E. and Andy Panayi are all 90s artists I love.

G: Awesome, thanks for chatting to me and recording a mix for us. Anything upcoming you would like to mention?

H: Yeah not had much out for a while but lots of things coming soon. Tune coming out on Late Night Drum club on a VA. Another VA addition to Jerk It. That is a jungle breaky tune which is really cool. Finally I have a vinyl release later on in the year which I can’t speak much more on but is really exciting.

Harry is a wicked upcoming producer with an exciting future. Follow his socials down below and check out his podcast ‘Meet Me Front Left’: