Oogatz is a rising producer based out of the Hartford, Connecticut area, who’s most recent album ‘Nobody’s Son’ was released in early August, with melodic tracks such as ‘Enter The Void’, ‘Voices’, and the enrapturing ‘The Folding’. You can check out ‘Nobody’s Son’ in it’s entirety on SoundCloud, along with his debut album under the ‘Oogatz’ guise, previous EPs, singles, and stay on the lookout for more releases in the near future. I had the opportunity to sit down with Oogatz recently, find our discussion below.
What inspired you to first start making music? And how did you come to be in your current incarnation?
I’d say I was like, maybe, six or seven years old when I first fell in love with music. Something about it, I don’t know. It’s hard to put into words, but that was the only thing I cared about. That was the only thing I wanted to do, the only thing I wanted to be. Whether it happened or not I was going to try my hardest. You know? I just knew that that was my path. Like I said it’s hard to put into words. But I just knew one day when I was really young, really really young, like six or seven years old, that that was what I’d do. And I stuck to it ever since. It took a while to get to that point where I knew what I was doing. I still don’t know what I’m doing but yeah, I just always had a passion for it. Like that feeling. You know what I’m talking about right? That feeling where you’re like, shit, I don’t know what this is but that’s what I wanna do. Yeah, that’s when I knew. Probably when I was about five, six, seven years old.
Are you mainly influenced by other producers and musicians? Do you find that other forms of art and media have a prominent effect on your artistry?
Yes. Absolutely. I look up to a lot of people. I try to study what they did because I want to follow their path but in my own way. I don’t know. I’m influenced by a lot of different music, whether it be punk or rap… I just know because people did it, why can’t I? I’m definitely influenced by a lot of producers, rappers, anything.
How do you normally go about constructing a track? Use ‘This Is Goodbye’ as an example of your creative process.
What do you mean ‘This Is Goodbye‘?
The track. Use that track as an example of your process, or use whatever song.
Is that one of my tracks?
Yes. [laughs]
[laughs] Oh, that’s one of my problems, I have so many songs I don’t even know what songs are mine. But I usually start off with sampling. I’ll try to find a melody or something I like that gives me a feeling. A lot of my songs start that way, they gotta have a feeling behind it. And I just let it take it. Yeah it’s a lot about feeling. I want to express that in my music. A lot of people don’t understand. That’s what I think music should be about. It should be about feeling and expression and all that. It’s a hard one, you got some good questions here.
Why Oogatz? Why “Nothing”?
That’s a good question. I thought about the name in a bunch of different ways and Ludwig [artistic mentor] is actually the one who brought me to that. It’s unused, which is a good thing to think about. It’s direct, straight to the point which is important. I was kind of in a crisis for a while where I wanted to rebrand myself. I didn’t like my old name. Oogatz, like hit me because I’m very Italian. That shit was some Italian slang. It just felt so right. Right to the point. I’m going to get “nothing” tattooed across my chest that’s how much it felt right. [pause] I never felt like I was good enough in a lot of ways. Whether I’m good or not, whatever, that keeps me grounded. “Nothing”. You’re nothing. It’s not a bad thing. It’s um, it keeps me grounded I think. No one else has that name. It just feels right. It’s still fresh though so that’s why it’s hard to speak upon. It’s been 2 or 3 months since I changed my name. It’s straight to the point, It’s catchy, no one else has it.
And why did you change your name?
Well my old name was one I came up with 3 or 4 years ago when I was first starting to make music on my own. I was in different bands and things, so when I first started branching out on my own it was very hard to think about the future: it still is. I don’t know, I just felt like I needed a rebrand. I felt like I needed to push my sound in a certain way. With that next sound change that came, I felt like I needed a new name. I took a lot of time off. And I learned this a lot from Ludwig too, just getting good. If you get really good and your art is undeniable there’s nothing to worry about. And I thought about that a lot. I took a lot of time off from releasing music and I thought hey maybe it’s time for changing my name with something I actually did like. My last name was more of a learning process because it was my first name ever. I was pretty bad at what I did. Which is the same with any art you get into. You’re not going to be the greatest. It takes a long time. It takes fucking years. And I don’t think I’m at my peak yet, no way. And I might change my name again, but right now it just felt like it was very… big change in sound. That shit before was very 2D, but now I’m starting to branch out in different directions. I think my art got a lot better. So I figured with this new album I’d make that change.
And what’s the general vibe of this new album? How would you describe it?
The general vibe of the album is kind of druggy I’d say. I really didn’t want it to be boring because all of these songs are instrumental so a lot of people will look at an instrumental album and because there’s no vocals on it be like, uhhh I don’t think so. Which is what I used to think too. But I really wanted it to be a bunch of different vibes. Hard shit, soft shit, druggy shit. Just acid vibe shit. Shit that I’ve been living in my own life. Yeah I just wanted it to be different. I just wanted it to stand out. Like I said, all these albums I’ve been putting out, I know they don’t get that much traction but 10 years from now, 5 years from now. Who knows. I just wanted it to take you as a whole. Like if you listen to my album – and this is just me personally – I don’t even know what’s next. And that’s what I wanted, I just wanted to press play and go.
What sort of albums do that for you?
I mean, System Of A Down is one of my favorite bands of all time. And if you know anything about them, so many different vibes. I like a lot of prog music. I like just everything. With hip hop it’s so dynamic and different, like you can have so many things under hip hop and it still hits on it. Between the Buried and Me, if you know anything about those guys, they’re cool. I like a lot of darkwave shit. I like Prayers…electronic music. A lot of that stuff came later in my life. I used to be a metal elitist – I only liked metal and that’s it. And then one day I was like, you know that’s stupid, and I started branching out and listening to hip hop and electronic. So I kind of wanted to embody that in this record. Like, all my likes I wanted to be represented in this record. A lot of different tastes. Because that’s who I am. When I’m in my car I don’t want to sit and just listen to one thing because I’d hate that. I look down on my old way of thinking where if it doesn’t have double bass it’s trash. That’s not a good way of thinking.
How do you feel working solo is different than working in a band? What are the benefits?
Oh, there’s a lot of benefits. All my past bands have fallen completely from interpersonal views or different ways of direction. I always just wanted to do my shit. When I was in different bands – I don’t know if it was the right way of thinking – but I thought I knew what was the right direction because I really lived and breathed this shit, everyone else was like, oh we have to put our hair this way, oh we have to do this that way. And I was like, no, that’s not what music is, you know? So I live this shit for the music. I don’t care about paying bills, I don’t care about making money, yeah that’d be great, that’d be fucking awesome, but I don’t do it for that. I breathe the music. Going solo was the best direction I could’ve went because that’s the way I think. I don’t do this shit for the money, I do it for the music. Or for anyone else, I don’t really care about image or aesthetic. Those things are all really important if you’re trying to make yourself a big act, but I was always the type of guy where you’re underground, you get your cult type following, give it a couple of years and you can’t fall. If you have your cult following, you really can’t fall because you have those fans that will be there for you. So that’s what going solo was for me. Plus I wanted to play shows on my own. We used to have to cut a show 4 or 5 ways and I’d have $40 to my name after a show. And it’s stupid you know? I really just want to fucking do it myself, get really good, and just go in the direction I want to go. Make the music I wanted to make and not worry about it. Absolutely.
Do you ever think about playing your music live now?
I do a lot. I have a lot of self confidence issues if I’m being honest with you. I haven’t played a live show in a couple of years and I only played metal shows. I knew what I was going into at that point. Going into deejaying and hip hop it’s a different vibe. It’s a very different vibe. I know I’m going to do it but it’s going to take me some time. I do want to do it but I have to feel confident. A lot of people tell me my music’s good. Whatever. I don’t think it is. I am really hard on myself and I think that’s good because down the line, 5 years from now, 3 years from now, I think that sort of mentality will sort of push me to do better. So I don’t want to go out there and rush my brain until I’m fully there. But yeah, live shows will come. I have all of the equipment already, it’s just sitting in my room. It’s just – I want to feel good about myself before I do.
Do you have anything else in the pipeline? What’s next for Oogatz?
That’s a good question. I just dropped this album so I’m kind of fresh coming off of that. I have a bunch of – I have a ‘I Sold My Soul For Syrup Volume One‘ that I dropped a few months ago. So I want to drop volume two of that. That’ll be under a different name, the Oogatz name. I want to do that. Like Three 6 Mafia or funk music, it’ll probably be under that lump, because that’s one of my favorite genres to work under. Yeah, I think I’ll drop some more EDM-y tracks. I think I’ve been on a good path, the past two to three weeks now, just putting my shit out there daily, staying with it. Building a lot of followers, building traction. I’m starting to see the benefits of that, so I think I’ll stick with it and drop a lot of singles. Maybe drop the ‘Sold My Soul For Volume Two‘ which will probably be ten minutes of just one track that’s ten minutes long with a bunch of different flavors, I’m just going to keep pushing my stuff. I really don’t know what my next direction is, I’d love to know [laughs] but I hope to do some music videos soon. Maybe something like that. But I’m on a long year plan. Just keep working no matter what and hope something good comes out of it. I have a feeling something will, so until then. [laughs]
Sarah Medeiros