One of the most exciting, forward-thinking labels in dance music right now, Vivrant’s third release of 2022 brings the return of label founder Jeremy Olander and his first original release since July of last year. ‘Murphy’, his new single for the summer of 2022, has wreaked havoc at the Swede’s sold out spring and summer shows at prominent clubs and festivals including The Bow in Buenos Aires, Sound in Los Angeles, Cercle Festival in Paris and Watergate in Berlin. We had the chance to catch up with Jeremy to find out more.
Hi Jeremy and welcome to House Music With Love. For those that don’t know your story, please can you tell us a little bit about your background, and how you came to be a musician.
Thanks for having me!
I started playing around in Reason when I was 15-16. A friend of mine showed me that you could make music on computers without fancy studios and that blew my mind.
It was so cool to me that you could make tracks using a DAW running a laptop and a decent set of headphones.
There was a couple of us that started around the same time, and once I got going the whole concept of arrangement also started to appeal to me. It reminded me of old school strategy games I played when I was younger. Once you have a few blocks of MIDI in front of you it’s almost like laying a puzzle.
After a few years of dabbling in Logic I a had a couple releases on some smaller labels, and then I met who is now my manager through mutual friends. We’ve been together for 10 years. Even when though I had produced for a for a few years at that time, I was very new to scene, whereas he had been in it for while. He helped me send some demos to Eric (Prydz) through mutual friends, and that ultimately led to me to signing with Pryda Friends.
That was pretty much the short version of the story.
Who have been your biggest supporters in your career so far?
Everyone in the Vivrant community for sure. In 2015 I decided to start my own label with my manager, which was a very scary step to take at the time, and the community around it is amazing. We had a showcase event in Stockholm last December and had people fly in from 12 countries. It’s really a big family.
What inspires you the most when making music? And how do you stay inspired?
I get a lot of inspiration from travelling. Seeing new places, eating new food and meeting new people are perks of the job and do a lot for me when I go back home to sit in the studio.
Inspiration ebbs and flows and can’t be forced. I learned the hard way in the beginning that if things aren’t clicking in the studio, you’re better off taking the day or the week off to do other stuff. You can’t force it.
What would you say has been your biggest career highlight to date?
That’s a tough one. I probably have to say starting Vivrant and the community around it.
Like I said before, it was scary taking a step away from Pryda Friends to build something of our own, but I’m so happy we did it. I remember when we put on the first label show to celebrate the first release. There was maybe 200 or so people there. Fast forward a few years and at the last show in Stockholm, we had over 2200 people.
What is the coolest venue you have ever played and why was it so special?
My Cercle set at Cedergrenska Tornet was cool, Madison Square Garden with Eric was memorabl, Amnesia in Ibiza is nice and Printworks in London is amazing too.
Mega huge venues are great, but I prefer small, intimate clubs with great sound. Like Sound in LA, Coda in Toronto and Watergate.
What can you tell us about your new single Murphy?
I always make music with dance floors in mind and whatever I feel is missing in my sets.
Most the stuff I play is my own and more often than not the tracks are unreleased. I guess I’m not a traditional DJ in that sense, but I want to give people a unique experiences they can’t get seeing another artist.
Whenever I make something new that connects, it’s always a difficult to decide if I want to keep it exclusively for my sets out put it out. With ‘Murphy’, the first time I played it I felt like it had something, and I also wanted to put out a big, melodic track for the summer so it was an easy decision at the end of the day.
If you could put on your own show anywhere in the world, where would it be and who would you have join you on the lineup?
I love Stockholm. It’s my hometown and I love coming back here as much as I love going on the road, so whenever me and my team speak about dream locations for shows, the discussion always revolves around Stockholm. Our dream locations for future Vivrant events are already being worked on as we speak, so I can’t say what they are. Can’t jinx it!
Beyond the new single release, what is coming up next in the world of Jeremy Olander?
Lots of fun stuff happening!
I have an EP coming on a German label I really like that I can’t name just yet, and probably another one on Vivrant. Both will hopefully drop before the year ends.
We’re also doing label showcases in London, Beirut, Cairo, Stockholm and Seoul. I have a Vivrant India Tour with MOLØ coming up, an Australia tour with John Digweed and big New York show at Kings Hall in Brooklyn. I’m also back in the studio to start work on what I hope will become a full length studio album project. It’s about time.
Where is the best place to stay up to date with you?
Probably Instagram or my newsletter that you can sign up for on the Vivrant site.
Thanks for chatting to us today Jeremy! Hope to see you soon.
Likewise! Thanks for having me.
Jeremy Olander ‘Murphy’ is out now via Vivrant: https://td.vivrant.nu/viv032