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Back to basics with Timo ODV

2 Sep 2016

For someone who just 'woke up one day and decided to be a musician', Timo ODV has made quite a name for himself and will undoubtedly continue to do so with his latest EP, 'Origins', being released today. The music producer and singer, well-known for the gold-selling dance hit 'Save Me', had a quick chat with us about his music and journey to success, including a considerable local and international following.

Tell us the story about how you got into making music.

At age 21, I started making underground house music and then it took off from there. I was studying graphic design beforehand, but never regret my decision to start making music.

Image by Canton Parker

How would your friends describe you?

Probably crazy and loud.

Tell us the story behind the name ‘Origins’.

After my first three singles, people started seeing me as a singer, which I wasn’t keen on, because I never wanted to be a singer. So, this is going back to the start - back to dance music.

Explain your writing process. What key themes influence your music?

I started writing a year or two after making music. Because I was making dance music, I looked for vocalists and none of them gave me the style or sound I wanted and that suited the beat, so I learnt how to sing and write myself. I started with learning from YouTube and then went to a vocal trainer about two or three years into making music. I write all the time or just freestyle.

I think the themes in my music are quite sad. I’m not actually a sad person, I just like sad music.

Have you added any new sounds to you latest EP?

The base lines are much dirtier and the tone is a bit darker. It also has less vocals and more dance music. The genre for the EP is deep house/base house.

Any plans to collaborate with other artists?

I collaborate with Ryki on my next single. I’d like to collaborate with The Weeknd one day.

Any upcoming gigs and tours?

Huawei Joburg Day on Saturday, 5FM Live Loud in Cape Town, a lot of rages in December all over the country and I hope to tour overseas in the next year or so.

Buy ORIGINS on iTunes