Exclusive Interview with Swedish Wunderkid – Oliver Nelson

SWEDISH WUNDERKIND OLIVER NELSON COLLABS WITH POLISH RISING PRODUCER MILKWISH ON NEW SINGLE.

Oliver Nelson is without doubt one of Sweden’s most exciting and talented electronic exports. From ruling the roost as the nu disco king of remixing, signing his debut single to Polydor, to going viral on TikTok earlier this year, he’s got it all going on.

The past year had been a creative one for Nelson. We’ve seen him launch the electro pop/outfit Moodshift on Universal Germany to serving up his recent fresh flavoured dance cut on Atlantic / Perfect Havoc.

So, what a better time to get Nelson in the hot seat. In this exclusive interview he tells us how French producer Madeon was instrumental in his breakthrough, shares expert tips on the art of remixing, and confesses what he gets up to when not making music…

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

Hey Oliver, welcome to Soundrive Music. Let’s set the scene, where are you in the world and what did you have for breakfast?

I’m on a train with my brother heading to Skåne, south of Sweden to see my family. I had a soggy sandwich and a latte.

Congrats on the release of ‘Miss Me Much’ your new single on Atlantic / Perfect Havoc. Tell us about the recording process working with Milkwish and Syon. Presumably it was all over Zoom as most things are these days?

My management connected me with Milkwish and Syon. As you guessed, we worked on the tune remotely by sending parts back and forth to each other. But it all went super smooth, and I really enjoyed working with both of them.

You have an official remix landing for the legend Donna Summer in June. Which artist would you love to remix that you never have, and why?

I would love to do an official remix of any The Weeknd song!

Your remix of The Wombat’s ‘Greek Tragedy’ went nuts this year on Tiktok – it was featured in 430,000 videos! How did it blow up like that?

To be honest I have no idea. It feels like Tiktok works that way, a track gets randomly featured in a big influencer’s video and it spreads from there, hehe. I love the fact that it got released officially because of that, it’s actually a 6-year old remix!

You’ve clearly nailed the art of remixing. What’s your secret? What advice would you give to a fellow producer looking to tackle someone else’s work?

I remember thinking way back when doing remixes, that it ́s always better to just use the vocal elements and do your own thing around that, that makes it more special. Another piece of advice is to just get the stems and start working without listening to much to the original song. If you can, don’t listen to it at all. When I did my Ella Henderson ‘Ghost’ remix, I remember not hearing the original track ‘til after the remix was done, which made it special.

Take us back to the beginning. When did you get your break and how did you arrive there?

I’m happy to say I started when Soundcloud was in its golden ages. The community was amazing, and every upload felt personal, and people interacted with you in a nice way, I miss that a lot. One guy that reached out was Madeon. He commented on a remix I had made on Indaba Music, asking me how I made my drums etc. It totally blew me away since I was a big fan of him. He liked one of my remixes and it was his only like, which led to people following me and discovering my work. That is how it all began.

You were wearing the crown as a nu-disco King around in the mid/late 2010s with some tropical flavoured remixes on the aforementioned Ella Henderson’s ‘Ghost’ and Neiked’s ‘Sexual’. How would you describe the progression in your sound to what we’re hearing today?

Back then I absolutely loved using marimba sounds all over the place. I still do but the music business constantly changes, what works and so on. The audience move towards different genres, as do you. I try to be as diverse as I can in terms of sound, making different stuff but with my signature sound.

Speaking of different sounds, you launched the electro-pop group Moodshift last year alongside Grammy-winner, Lucas Nord, and vocalist, flyckt. How did the three of you come to work together? And did you always have an electro-project in mind?

We actually all went to the same school, Rytmus. We’ve been friends for a long time but have never worked together in that way. The three of us did a session together last year. It worked so well and we had so fun that we started working every Wednesday. That then led to us building our group Moodshift which is now signed to Universal Germany.

What does Oliver Nelson get up to when he’s not making music?

I play rocket league, A LOT..

What does the rest of 2021 hold for you? And can we expect you out DJing anytime soon?

I have tons of projects going on at the moment so I’m keeping busy. I hope I can start travelling soon of course. It would be amazing, I miss it.

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Oliver Nelson x Milkwish ‘Miss Me Much’ feat. Syon is out now on Atlantic / Perfect Havoc

GET IT HERE

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