Olly James is Shuttin' It Down [Exclusive Interview]

Olly James is Shuttin' It Down

9/3/2019

For over half a decade, you have consistently put out quality big room and festival tracks working from small labels and self releases to becoming a regular face on Maxximize, Revealed, and Spinnin' Records. I'd like to start off by asking about your work ethic and avoiding burnout throughout the years. How have you been able to stick to what was initially a hobby and turn it into a career while maintaining an incredulous release and tour cycle?
The thing that really keeps me going is the desire to develop my sound to keep giving my fans music that is fresh and current. Also, playing shows around the world really shows me what kind of stuff works on the dance floor, so I'm always learning what style works best in certain parts of the world, allowing me to take influence from lots of different genres.

Then creatively, how have you avoided burnout over all these years?
To keep inspired, I love listening to music of all genres and not just the ones I play as this allows me to combine sounds from these genres with my own sound, constantly progressing my sound

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A post shared by Olly James (@ollyjamesmusic) on Aug 31, 2019 at 10:10am PDT

In addition to all of your releases, you've also been putting out a new track each month for a year, which includes sounds from your Patreon producer boxes. Since you were one of the first to move to the Patreon and stick with it, can you tell us about your overall experience engaging with fans and patrons through that platform?
Since I started YouTube, I could see my videos were actually helping people and it made me want to dive in deeper and be more personal with my fans. In addition to being able to give my fans sounds and presets from my songs to help with their own tracks, I've been able to Skype with a handful of guys on a monthly basis, allowing me to give more personal advice and feedback which has resulted in us becoming good friends.

It was certainly a surprise for us to see your name pop up alongside one of our friends and past interviewees, RudeLies for a collaboration on the independent label, Lowly Palace. Can you walk us through the workings of this track and finalizing it for release?
The collaboration was a really fun and easy for us as we both had the same vision for the track. Rudelies is a really talented guy! In fact the very first idea he sent me was the drop which made the final version, I was so inspired by it I finished up the track in a few days.

What have been some of your most memorable moments while performing your live shows?
I've had so many great moments but for me the best one has to be my first Asia tour of the year which was across three countries. It was really amazing to see people at the front of all the shows singing along to the hooks of my songs, it makes all the hours in the studio worth it.

Outside of the booth and studio, how do you like to spend your free time?
I absolutely love playing video games, especially FIFA.I even bought a Nintendo switch so I could play it on tour!

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Backstage FIFA Street âš½ï¸ PS. I finished the Tokyo VIP today so will finally drop it Friday!! â–¡â–¡

A post shared by Olly James (@ollyjamesmusic) on Jul 23, 2019 at 8:19am PDT

Looking forward, what are some of the goals that you've set for yourself in the years to come?
My goals are to play more shows and release more music. These have always been and always will be my goals. Reaching as many fans as possible with my music is my main aim.