One of Ozol’s superpowers is being in the moment, and he concentrates on creating his story from the impressions he gets. If in the albums “Neon city” and “Yauda” the alter-ego survives in their alternative, poetic world, in the album “1979” memories meet the current. The theme of the road characteristic of the musician is preserved, this time he returns home.
Ozols approached writing the album as a director, working with a wide team of musicians, producers, and engineers. The ideas were polished together in the summer of 2023 at the music writing camp in Meersrag. The idea of producing the album was driven by beatmakers NiklāvZ or Niklāvs Sekačs and Helmuts Šteins from the beatmakers’ association “Katapullt”. The song ideas were developed and recorded with Arni Račinskas, Anš, Roland Če and NiklāvZ. The album has many guest musicians, not only rappers, but also musicians from “Riga Gospel Choir” and “Lupa” group, as well as Lithuanian Viper.
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In our conversation, Ozols talks about how the vision of the album developed. About the moments of doubt experienced in the process and how they developed into new opportunities. Together with Ozola, we can also learn about Latvian hip-hop personalities, who are not often written about by the media, but are important to the community.
Aiga Leitholde: Knowing your approach to music, the song “Persiks” was one of the album’s surprises for me because of its piquancy.
Oak: It was a song we thought a lot about whether to put it on the album. It is the last song made for the contents of this album. Kriven’s verse was so unfrozen that it contributed to the entry of this song into the album! Five days after the release of the album, “Persiks” is the second most streamed song. The first is “8 by 8”. I think that the Trench Mafia Locco factor also worked in the case of “Persika”, because we used his vocal sample in the song. In the first version of the song, NiklāvZ integrated my song “Tresī” (2006) into the beat, which we found interesting and witty (in the end we only used the vocal sample of this song). Later, Prusax heard “Persika” instrumentally, he liked it and we decided to continue the song together, also addressing Oda and Kriven in the process. Thanks to Locco for allowing his vocals to be integrated into this song. He still has a lot of fans who listen to this song as well.
Why is Trench Mafia Locco such an important person for the Latvian hip-hop commune?
Locco has recorded five albums in five years of activity. He is monumental – the best will last – great pacans. He talks about what he sees around him, which allowed the listeners to really believe him. Between 2017 and 2021, he himself could afford to do a solo concert in Riga, Valmiera and other cities. Those who know him – know!
As for the album’s guest artists, you already mentioned the song “8 pa 8”, which also features Marko, roland če, Prusax, Hotte, ansis, xantikvariāts and Steps. How did that process of coming together happen, and then how was it put together?
Yes, this song was not so easy to put together, we created a separate chat on WhatsApp for it. Helmut Stein sent me this beat that was made at one of the summer songwriting camps I wasn’t at. At that time, Marco had rapped a verse on this beat. I liked what I heard and quickly wrote my verse. I realized that this is an opportunity for everyone to create exaggerated, inadequate lines together. Ansis also agreed to participate, although he was only scheduled for “Maisiņš vaig?”. We have been communicating with the participants – “Banda Banda” for a long time, as well as with Marko and Hotte, and then also Ansis – we have all known each other for a long time, so this choice is not accidental. In the end, this heavy beat, no chorus song is the most streamed song on the internet.
I was pleasantly surprised that people from the outside mentioned this particular song as their favorite. I did not expect such great popularity.
It should be mentioned that “8 pa 8” integrated poetry of Ojārs Vācieš with a fragment of music by Imantas Kalniņas gives the song the necessary feel.
In the summer of 2023, at the music writing camp in Mersrag.
Photo: Axel Berg
On the other hand, the gospel song “Vētra pats sev” is a contrast with “8 pa 8”.
“Vētra pats sev” grew out of the song “Rīts”, the demo of which I recorded together with NiklāvZ. Ritvars Garoza, who is known both as a pianist and as an arranger, also participated in the Mērsraga camp, and together with Helmut, he started to rebuild this song using NiklāvZ chords and drums. Their vision for this song was very good to me. In order not to resemble a world-renowned hip-hop artist who has also integrated gospel into his music, I tried to make the rap part faster and more rhythmic. Kristīne Prauliņa also joined my idea later, who also integrated her own versions into the song.
The content of the album in the last few centimeters was greatly helped by Helmut Stein’s participation. On my previous albums, he was the beatmaker on some songs, but on this album, half of the music is about him. In the past, we have also collaborated in developing a visual identity. He saw the overall vision. Helmuth said that this album should be more personal since the previous two featured alter-egos. NiklāvZ also agreed with him.
How did you choose the album cover photo?
I knew the album cover design even before the album was made, when I found this childhood photo. It resonates with the introduction of the album “The Way Home”, where you can also hear the young Ozols, who went to Sochi to buy a baby monkey. We wrote this song with Ansh, looking for what to put at the end of the song. Helmut sent a fragment of the interview in which he tells the story of his childhood trip to Sochi – he had meant it as irony. But for Ansi and I, this passage felt like the hook that eventually tied the whole story together.
In the concept of the album, we wanted to show a little bit of the “new Ozol”, (if we had another week, we would have probably used fragments of other interviews.) After “8 pa 8”, a fragment of one of the first big songs of the new Ozol, “Cîņa”, is played. Young Ozols also speaks after “Storm to himself”. Zeltas skit has been voiced by DJ Austrus, who is a legendary guy in our community, he can also be heard in Ansh’s album “Dekadansis”. DJ Austrus’ voice is heavy and has a big timbre. It was clear to me that his spoken text must contain something of the epic.
Oak goes over the bridge? No! An oak tree swam across the Daugava on a piece of ice!
Opera singer Edgars Ošleja also joined the text, whose singing intensified the feelings even more. The album started with “1979”, but “The Way Home” and “Tas ir OZOLS” are the diamonds of the album, which draw the listener into the album to stay.
Yes, the way you open the album is very important. It gives the overall pulse!
Yes, I open him up with flames, “Oak, Oak, Abbreviation in the Sky” in the middle. We recorded the first demo in February 2023 at NiklāvZ studio. After this post, while riding my bike back to the store, I slipped and badly broke my leg. After that, I limped for three or four months and felt as if I had aged ten years – this trauma gave its emotional tone. The first songs on the album were “The Way Home” and “The Lost Son”, which is the first and last song, as a story about Ozol’s return home, about nostalgia. What else is atypical for this record – the last song of the album “The Lost Son”, in my opinion, is the most important on the album. It’s the most meaningful to me, and listeners of all ages and interests have also called this song epic. Singles are usually the second, third or fourth track on an album.
I didn’t want to release the songs as singles before the album was released. I wanted the listener to perceive the album as something new.
It’s hard for me to listen to those records, of which two or three songs have been in circulation for a year, because I want to completely close with the concept of this album. It’s another thing if it’s a purely pop album.
During this break between studio albums, you have experienced musical growth – you have had both an acoustic concert and a concert with the Latvian Radio big band, where you have the best arrangers by your side. How can you hear that influence on the new album?
Yes, during this time I have become friends with high profile local musicians. For example, my core band includes Tom Poisch, who is one of the most well-known bass players; Kaspars Vizulis, who is also one of the most sought-after guitarists, we have been making music with him since 2019. Pianist Ritvars Garoza, who has arranged pieces for the Latvian Radio big band. He is also a member of the group “Lupa”. Since the Sigulda concert in 2019, I have not had the desire to change the line-up. The only one who came is the drummer Rudolfs Danilevich. He replaced Rick Feds, who started his solo career. Rudolph did not participate in the recording of this album due to lack of time.
The presence of live music is much more audible on this album. We also invited Arni Rachinski to the camp. “Riga Gospel Choir” and Kristīne Prauliņa, “Lupas” musicians Dāvis Jurka and Andris Buiķis took part in the recording. For example, in the song “Kaifi gaisās”, which is musically minimalistic and simple, we wanted to make a twist with jazz “schizophrenia”, but we could not realize it. And yet, I am satisfied with the result and feel that the album is receiving good reviews both in the public space and on streaming services.
At the end of the year, on December 28, “Arena Riga” will host an Ozola concert. It will have two parts – in the first, the musician will perform together with the Latvian Radio big band and Kristīni Prauliņa, offering the best-known songs of Ozola in a new arrangement in the program. The second part, on the other hand, will be a retrospective look at Ozol’s brightest works, with the participation of a number of guest musicians.
2023-12-25 12:43:12
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