In this conversation I had the pleasure of catching up with British/Swedish band, Ocna. So far the four piece have released two singles, their debut single 'Can't' and most recently their symphonic track 'When'.
I caught up with the band to discuss their musical background and the meaning behind their latest single 'When'. The band also discuss their plans for the rest of 2022 and share their advice to anyone who may be thinking about starting a band.
Hi Ocna, how are you?
Doing fine, thanks, and yourself?
I'm doing very well, just busy with final deadlines! Thank you for taking the time to do this interview. First of all, could you introduce yourself to our readers?
Ocna is Fiona on vocals, Matt on drums, plus Karl and Dale on instruments. We’re based in Brighton, where we have a little studio in which we lark around, fiddling with old guitars, computers and other bits of electronic equipment.
How did you guys meet and form the band?
Matt decorated Dale’s flat, at which point they bonded over a love of various shades of blue and grey. They decided to expand this aesthetic kinship into music, roping in electronics whiz-kid Karl and later the chorally gifted Fiona.
How would you describe your music?
Blue and grey. Big, bright skies with storm clouds lurking in the distance. Also symphonic at times, a bit lush, some would say dreampop, but hard when the need arises. On our song “When”, we start quietly and gradually build up to a wall of droning string synths, which we hope is immersive but kinda beautiful. Our next release, called “Because”, is a journey from calm, lilting, space guitar into an explosive pulse of distortion, but with a fragile guitar and keyboard melody cutting through. We like guitars, they’re cool, but with synths the possibilities are endless.
"Lyrically it’s a true story about losing someone and struggling to process it..." (Ocna about 'When')
Your latest single ‘When’ blends acoustic guitar with dreamy synth instrumentation, could
you tell us a bit about the meaning and inspiration behind the track?
Lyrically it’s a true story about losing someone and struggling to process it, so that’s a bit hard to talk about. Musically, the inspiration is a string synthesiser made by a company called Waldorf. It produces 70s-style movie-soundtrack violin and cello noises that sound almost real, but artificial at the same time, like an android orchestra. The waltzy keyboard riff arrived by accident and everything else fell into place.
I love how the song lulls you in with a waltz tempo in the percussion and the soaring vocal
line, could you tell us a bit about how you recorded this track?
Most of it was recorded individually at home during various lockdowns, with parts sent to each other by email. So that was quite DIY. Apart from the studio-recorded drums and vocals, which we wanted to spend more time on and get right. The vocal line is pretty acrobatic in this song, and the drums very precise. As for the waltz thing – a lot of our stuff comes out in 3/4 time. It’s probably because Dale spent some time in Vienna …
How would you say ‘When’ differs from your previous release ‘Can’t’?
“Can’t” has an immediate hook and is more poppy, which is why we chose it as our first release. “When” is more orchestral, a slower build, with a slightly operatic vocal. Lyrically they’re both a bit doomy. Maybe that’s because they were written during lockdown, when it was hard to be positive about much. But the music is uplifting. At least that’s the plan.
When it comes to writing new music do you collectively write as a band or do you write individually?
Both. During lockdown we wrote individually. We’re releasing that stuff now. At the moment, what we’re writing is collaborative. We have a lot in common, there are bands that we all like, and the stuff that we each pour out seems to gel.
What are your plans for the rest of 2022?
We have a few new tunes primed and ready to go. They’ll be released gradually. Yes, we need to do some gigs, and to play the Great Escape in Brighton next year. And work out how to use Instagram properly. We’re not very good at/excited about marketing, which, unfortunately, seems to be what a lot of music is about these days.
What advice would you give to someone who may be thinking about starting a band?
Understand social media or get someone to run it for you! Write songs about politics. Hardly anyone does that anymore, which is baffling when you consider how mangled the UK is. Few people vent anger creatively – they just get drunk and fight.
And finally, do you have a message for your fans?
Thank you for listening.
You can listen to Ocna's single 'Can't' and 'When' on my Spotify Featured Artists Playlist (link in bio) and make sure to check out their videos in the link above!
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