Multimedia Artist OIEE Talks New Music & Visual Ideas

OIEE is the colorful electronic solo project of Bence Kocsis launched in 2019. He is a well-known name in the Hungarian underground music scene as a producer-songwriter, organizer, multimedia artist, the host of live impro electronic music series ‘WOPO-WOPO’, and leading singer of bands Saverne and Window.

OIEE’s main genres are nu-disco, dance, and R&B, mixing instrumental sounds with tropical and not-so-tropical house, techno, disco, and trance elements and modern soul-like vocals, giving danceable melodies and catchy hooks a very individual and uncompromising sound. “With this project, I wanted to try what it is like to work with other singers, even in the form of remixes. Much music has gathered in my brain over the years, for which I wanted to make a separate platform. This is more like a production work, less bounded by the band-specific compromises,” he says.

We are happy to share with you a recent interview with OIEE.

Hello! Thanks for sitting down with us to talk about music, inspiration, and more! For starters, when did you get the music bug? Can you recall your first-ever musical experience?

Thank you for having me. As a young kid, I started playing cello in school. But later around 12 years old I was jumping a lot on my bed listening to rock music, acting like I was on a stage. It felt unrealistic back then it’s gonna happen later.

Given the state of mainstream culture that permeates how we consume media, how would you introduce your music to a stranger?

I make pop music that makes you dance. Maybe that’s the easiest, because I’m in between genres, underground and mainstream, but always with a groove that can make you move.

When listeners make their way through your band, what do you want them to feel?

It’s more like a live act, or solo project than a band. I like it if they can get lost in the music. I’m looking for an audience who are more aware of how they consume art, and who like good design and visuals too, because it’s important to me.

Take me through your sound design process. Does the conception come first or do the songs evolve naturally – do you have a clear idea of what it will be before you start to make it?

I would say more naturally, most of the time I use some inspiration for a start, one little melody, that can be an instrument or some acapella.

How do you know when a track is ready? Does it ever become difficult to refine ideas or stop perfecting?

It was earlier, but now I’m more focused and know when it’s time to leave it as it is. It was similar to ‘Static’, quite fast.

“Static” is the latest single you’ve released. Can you introduce us to its creative process? What were your influences on this track?

I met Nomé in Berlin at the Most Wanted showcase festival. I asked for some acapella from him, that I could rework in a new way, really different from their original use.

How do you feel you have grown in the time since the release of your debut LP ‘Urban Camouflage’, both personally and musically?

I like to change in a wide range of genres if it comes to music. It is more possible now with a solo project, that’s why the two albums are also quite different. On ‘Two Sides’ I wanted to explore my own feelings and a deeper, soulful tone in the music. This time I switched back from featuring artists to being the vocalist myself, so I could perform them live.

But that’s part of that project, I love all kinds of music, so you never know what comes next from me. I hope the people that are listening to my music, are also open to that.

There are many descriptions of the ideal state of mind for being creative. What is it like for you? What supports this ideal state of mind and what are distractions? Are there strategies to enter into this state more easily?

For me, I have to be in a calm state, without distractions (phone, daily life). Most of the time I write music on holiday for example. I produced the basic idea of ‘Static’ in a hotel room in Prague this January.

I also want to ask you about the bands that have been continuous influences for you, but also about new bands and new records that you think are exciting in the electronic scene.

I get inspiration from various artists, even from other genres. But the main influences on my album were Moderat, Bicep, Glass Animals, Bonobo, Polo and Pan, and Caribou probably.

Can you talk a little bit about the connection between design and music within your work? How do the two work together?

Most of the time I have visual ideas already during the production phase in the studio. But I also like making versions based on new visual ideas or multi-art forms, like in our special show at Trafo this January. For me, both are similarly important.

Do you have any upcoming shows announced we should keep an eye on?

This May I have a double gig at The Great Escape Festival and also at the Sziget Festival in August. But I’m playing in Barcelona at the end of May and in Czech, Romania, and Slovenia too during the summer, apart from festivals in Hungary.

What do you hope to do with your art in the future? I mean, do you have any crazy goals?

I want to keep traveling and performing in a way that I can still enjoy being where I am and have a connection with the people I meet along the way.