Exclusive Interview With OLWIK

You may not know the name Herman Olvik just yet, but EDM fans around the world are going to get acquainted with the young Swede’s stage name, OLWIK, very quickly (if they haven’t already). As he quickly ascends the ranks and makes a name for himself in the industry, OLWIK is starting to amass quite a large fanbase, who love his catchy and well-produced progressive house tracks.

Already receiving support from several big name producers, and seeing a ton of action on songs like “This Life,” “Taking Over” and his recent remix of Elephante’s “Shake the Earth,” OLWIK is ready to burst onto the scene in a big way in 2015, and as one of our favorite up and coming DJs, we decided to catch up with him for a quick interview.

Over the course of our discussion, OLWIK talks about how he finds his vocalists, how he first got into music, what he’s currently working on and much more.

Check it out below, and enjoy!

At what age did you first get into music?

OLWIK: I got into music when I started playing the viola at the age of 5. I later started taking lessons in different classical instruments such as the piano, guitar, percussion and even choir.

What/who in particular sparked your interest in EDM?

OLWIK: My interest in EDM started when I first got hooked by a track called “Mellow” by Swedish duo Nause. I got inspired to create my own melodies later when I discovered Swedish producer Steerner, who was just starting to grow at the time.

What’s your favorite track that you’ve made so far?

OLWIK: My favorite is “Taking Over.” The melody in the second drop still gives me the chills.

You recently did a remix for Elephante. Talk about how that came to be.

OLWIK: I’ve been a big fan of Elephante since his remix of “Team” by Lorde. A while after he released “Shake The Earth,” I realized how much I loved the vocals on it. I immediately sent my manager Dave a message about making a potential bootleg of the track. Dave then sent them an email and we received the stems for it. After showing them the final product, we were offered an official remix.

Where do you find your vocalist? And when you’re producing a track, do you go into it knowing that it will have vocals?

OLWIK: My track “This Life” features a good friend of mine that I’ve known for a long time. The other vocalists I’ve worked with have been people that my manager knew about, or have had contact with their manager. When I start a new track, I usually have an idea in my head about whether the song needs a vocalist or not.

Do you ever see yourself moving outside progressive and trying trap, dubstep, electro or another genre?

OLWIK: I could see myself releasing one or two festival tracks this year in the style of Axwell and Ingrosso, so there might be some heavier stuff coming soon. Regarding other genres, I don’t know. I’ll be producing the style I love and that might change over time.

What are you currently working on?

OLWIK: I’m currently working on a new official remix and I also have multiple original tracks that are nearly finished, so they should be coming soon. Maybe within the next month.

Any plans for an album?

OLWIK: Nope. But in the future I might collect a bunch of my unreleased tracks and release them as an album.

How about live shows? Where can fans see you play in the near future?

OLWIK: I plan to start playing here in my home town Gothenburg as soon as possible, before I start traveling around in Sweden to play in different cities. I also hope to do at least one show outside Sweden, somewhere in Europe, before the end of the year.

What’s been the best moment of your career so far?

OLWIK: Playing at a big New Year’s Eve party with all my friends, and hitting 1 million streams on “This Life” on YouTube. These two moments were both incredible.

Which DJ would you like to collaborate with most?

OLWIK: I think that a collaboration with Steerner would be pretty solid.

That concludes our interview, but we’d like to thank OLWIK very much for his time. Be sure to keep an eye on his SoundCloud page as he has a ton of new music set to be released in the very near future.