Oh Boy Interview - New Music and A New Show
Interview by Sean Tayler
Meet Sydney producer, Oh Boy ahead of his performance at the Mountain Goat Valley Crawl in Brisbane on February 16. We caught up with the trending musician to talk about his forthcoming EP, new live show, and playing at MGVC.
Futuremag Music: Hey Oh Boy! How has life been the past few months?
Oh Boy: It’s been really busy, I’ve been working on my next release which is an EP called Brentwood Heights. It’s the biggest project I’ve worked on to date and includes a lot more content than my previous releases which is super exciting. I’ve been working on this project for over a year now. I’ve created a lot of visual elements to accompany the release including a visual diary/look book about the project and how it came together. I’ve literally been spending all my time pulling all of that together while trying to play basketball and work out most days.
Futuremag Music: Congratulations on being selected to play the Mountain Goat Valley Crawl, what do you have in store for everyone coming to your show?
Oh Boy: Thank you! I’ll be playing a lot of new music, I’ve pretty much crafted a new show around the tracks from the Brentwood Heights EP. It’s a lot more psychedelic, soul and hip-hop oriented while still keeping my electronic sound. Anyone at the show will hear these tracks before they’re released in a couple of months. I’ll be bringing some friends as well, LOVER who is actually my housemate, will jump up and sing for most of the set with another super talented singer from Sydney named Grace. I live in a house full of creatives and we all work on each other’s projects all the time so it will be really nice to have LOVER join me on stage at MVGC.
Futuremag Music: What is your collaboration process when working with other musicians?
Oh Boy: How I like to work or collaborate with other people hasn’t changed or shifted as my project has progressed. I need to connect with someone before I can resonate and create with them. The main thing for me is that I need to be friends with them, like how I work with my housemates. I’ve lived with Tanssi for a few years now and we are on very similar wavelengths so everything is just natural when it comes to getting work done. If I’m meeting someone for the first time and working with them I’ll try to do breakfast or lunch first to try and build that connection before jumping into the studio.
Futuremag Music: Can you talk us through your upcoming EP? What went into the production and writing process?
Oh Boy: I really went back to my roots. When I was growing up, I mainly listened to R&B and soul. I’ve always had those elements in my sets and my music, but this EP kind of just naturally developed in that direction. I guess it all links back to that. Brentwood Heights just feels a lot more me, like I feel a lot more confident and comfortable with the sound. You’ll hear a lot of orchestral instruments and old synths because I feel can express myself a lot more now. It’s me doing exactly what I wanted, and not let other people’s influences or trends influence me. Plus, the features that I’ve got, they’re really, really special ahh I wish I could say more! Just know I’m really excited to share more about how those features came about and for that music to drop!
Oh Boy by Billy Zammit
Futuremag Music: Do you have any exciting plans for 2019?
Oh Boy: My friend Ninajirachi and I worked together on a track called Gardenia which is being released on her debut EP called Lapland on 15 February. She’s incredible, we’re close friends and share similar interests so we’ve been working together quite a bit. I guess I’ve just been so busy concentrating on perfecting all the visual content and the tracks for Brentwood Heights. But in saying that, I’ve already started another body of work which I want to drop during the second half of the year. I’m also working on some new clothing and a tour could be in the works to visit all my beautiful friends around the country.
Futuremag Music: Thank you for your time. Lastly to wrap things up – if your sound and musical aesthetic was a cocktail, what would be in it?
Oh Boy: Oh shit. I don’t know if this would resonate with my sound and musical aesthetic but I would put in fruit, vegetables and herbs. I think that’s it… and water! Be one with your body friends !