Getting To Know… O. De Lanzac

Getting To Know… O. De Lanzac

feeder: Hi Olivia, it’s a pleasure to chat with you today; how are you? 

O. De Lanzac: I am good, thanks for asking. I hope you are, too.

f: Please tell us a little about your musical background. Were you classically trained?

ODL: During my pre-teen and teens, I had classical guitar lessons for a couple of years, along with the discipline of learning Solfège.

f: When did you start making dance music?

ODL: Early on, I was more into making band music, so making dance music actually came later once I got acquainted with the technical side of making music, having been working in studios along with attending audio engineering school. I learned to program, record and mix and all this enabled me to be self-sufficient. I write, mix and produce my tracks all alone. I also master my own tracks too, unless the labels do their own mastering.

f: How would you describe your sound?

ODL: It’s a mix of Afro, House, Soulful and Funk.

f: Who did you listen to growing up, and do they influence your music career at all today? 

ODL: Being born in the RDC (Republic Democratic of the Congo) and having lived there for the first 8 years of my life, I got immersed in the Congolese Rumba sounds my parents used to listen to, then later I enjoyed anything from Rock, Funk, Disco, Punk, New Wave. All these sounds have been roaring in my head till today. I love a vast array of music!

f: What was your first release?

ODL: ‘Baby Let’s Play House Part 1-2’ / ‘Feel It’ on Multitronix in 2007.

f: Which of your own tracks was the biggest labour of love to create?

ODL: My biggest labour of love to create was ‘Contrafact EP’ on Nervous Records, released at the end of 2023. While working on “Gentle Giant”, I lost my perspective/vision on it, so I completely switched the rhythm pattern and Marimba but kept the chord progression and came up with the core of what was to be “Rain Unlimited”. I then got slightly stuck, as the chorus was not working as well as the one on “Gentle Giant”, so I started playing with vocal snippets and came up with a lean guitar pattern that worked well. I changed the brass and slightly the bass (using the ES1 Logic built in plugin, I use it a lot for my basses, it has a lovely low end and filter), and brought new pad/string/EP sounds to it. So then going back and forth between the two tracks. I thought, if they both work separately, but follow same progression, then why not present them as “Contrafact EP”. I sent the EP to Andrew Salsano (A&R Nervous Records), who embraced the idea. I have no words to thank him enough, he sent me straight up in heaven.

f: You’ve just released your new single ‘Art Of Love’ on DIRIDIM Records. How is it all sounding?

ODL: Signing “Art Of Love” on dance music giant David Morales’ label is sounding all surreal to me!

f: What’s the inspiration behind the track?

ODL: It’s from a gorgeous Portuguese vocal part with words like “felicidad“, “fantasia”, and “Alegria”.

f: You’ve released 2 solo albums to date, ‘Baby Let’s Play House’ on Tony Carrasco’s Multitronix and ‘Uncut’ on BBE. Have you any plans for a third album soon?

ODL: I’ve actually not given it any thought, but never say never!

f: What’s been your biggest achievement in the music industry so far?

ODL: I am still making music.

f: And your biggest learning curve?

ODL: The process of dealing with rejection from labels.

f: Which dance track holds the most precious memories for you?

ODL: Alison Limerick ‘Where Love Lives’ (Knuckles & Morales Mix)

f: Who are your top 3 current producers? 

ODL: It’s hard to pick just 3, but David Morales, Masters At Work and Black Coffee are definitely some of my favourites.

f: What else have you got in the pipeline that you can tell us about?

ODL: I am currently busy in my studio cooking some more tunes; watch this space!

O. De Lanzac ‘Art Of Love’ is out now on DIRIDIM.