Roan Sable & Sidhant Naren who form the collective “Oozeundat” are two of India’s rising stars of Techno. At the young age of 23, the duo released their first EP on Nicolas Silvano & Arjun Vagale’s independent record label MakTub and also have releases forthcoming on Black Swan. Within their short time in the dance music industry, they’ve gathered quite the fan following and are supported by some of India’s biggest names. Having opened for the likes of Ambivalent, Guy J, Spektre, Anil Chawla to name a few – it comes as no surprise that the duo are making waves within the dance music industry. We at decoded decided to sit down and have a bit of a chat with these two lads to find out more about them, their music and what their plans are for the near future..
Hi Roan & Sidhant – for everyone who isn’t aware of who you are, could you give our readers a bit about yourselves, where you’re from and how you came to be Oozeundat?
Mix of the Week - Stanton Warriors
Mix of the Week - Super FluHey guys, we are from Pune, India. We have been friends for a really long time and we were always into the same music; making it to all the gigs and festivals happening in and around the city together. This eventually led to us collaborating whilst studying Audio Engineering. It started with bouncing off random ideas back and forth, which eventually led to creating this project.
The Oozeundat project came to life in 2011 – what was the catalyst that really kick started the whole thing?
Our first few collaborations which happened online over skype cause we were in different countries at the time, was where it all kicked off. We saw potential in the work we were doing and hence decided to take it a step further and now we’re here.
Your sound, sets and production style go by ‘Dark, Twisted Techno’. Could you elaborate further on this?
We have always been drawn to the darker side of house and techno but also making sure it all very groovy at the same time.
In terms of musical influences who have been some of the artists that have really been an integral part of shaping your sound?
Our musical influences are quite vast. However, the key artists that have been an integral part of shaping our sound are people like Dubfire, Richie Hawtin and Adam Beyer. While in India its been guys like Arjun Vagale, Anil Chawla, Tuhin Mehta and Kohra who have inspired us immensely.
You got your first big break when you opened for Arjun Vagale [MakTub] in February 2013 – how did the whole thing come about?
We were doing quite a few gigs in Pune during that time and one day we randomly got a call from Arjun’s manager Dev Bhatia, who happens to be our manager now. He told us Arjun wants us to open for him and would we be on? And we were obviously stoked to do so. It was that simple.
You went on to release your debut EP ‘Bitch To Quit’ on MakTub earlier this year, which boasts of 2 dark tech-house tracks, plus a remix by A++ & Daniel Spanjaard. What was the composition process and did you have a specific idea in mind while you were producing these tracks?
As we mentioned earlier there is a lot of exchange of ideas between the two of us and we never really go into the studio with a solid formula in our minds it was just the vibe we felt on the day we were producing those tracks. Basically they were just two separate tracks that we working on for a while, which we eventually sent to Arjun and he signed them as an EP straight away.
What can you tell us about your next release “Waste No Time”?
‘Waste No Time’ is a pretty industrial track we think. We did this track about 4 months ago and it was one of the heavier tracks we were working on at the time. Its quite a big room techno track which out now on Schubert’s esteemed label Black Swan Recordings. We were experimenting with some female vocals and a few synths and this was the result.
India has seen a fair growth in Dance Music – Techno and Tech House has gathered its own substantial following – how do you think this will pan out in the next couple of years?
India definitely has a good techno scene right now and we only see it growing. For example, we have friends who never even acknowledged techno before, but they love it now and come for all the gigs with us. Point being people are not only opening up, but also accepting techno in India. There are a lot of Indian artists who have righteously pushed the scene and are responsible for this growth and we’re riding this wave at a time where techno is flourishing.
Lately, social media has become a platform for many industry insiders (including artists) to lash out at other artists/venues/promoters/agents – do you think this is digressing from the ethos of making great music?
Not at all, its good banter. Good music is being made any which ways by the people who matter. People have opinions and social media is a good platform to voice it. You just got to do what you believe in and keep at it.
Even though you are relatively new to the circuit, are there any producers in particular that you’d want to work with in the near future?
It would be great to work with our Indian artists like Arjun, Anil Chawla, Kohra and Audio Units. Internationally we are really liking guys like Alberto Ruiz, Whyt Noyz and The Junkies to name a few as we absolutely love their sound.
It’s been lovely to chat with you and get to know you better. Before we sign off, could you tell our readers what projects are in the works and what we can look forward to?
Its great talking to you thanks for having us and taking the time to get to know us! As for things coming up we are really excited about a remix we did for Kohra and BLOT!’s label Qilla Recordings which should be out soon. We are working on a few more remixes for Spanish and German based labels also there a few originals in the pipeline. We also have some great gigs coming up in Kashmir, Shillong, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai in the coming months which we are really looking forward to.
Tracks
01// Jose M. & Tacoman Markomas – Atravez
02// Joor Ghen, Proudly People – Third Floor
03// Dave – Little Helper 128-1
04// Matthias Tanzmann – Get Up
05// Hermanez – Ready For You
06// DJ Lion & Truemode – Unisex Dressing
07// Ivan Pica & Daniel Selfmade – Sideback
08// Monika Kruse – Summer Drops (Nicole Moudaber Remix)
09// Dubspeeka – Bedlam
10// FiberRoot – Space Localizer
