For as long as we’ve known him, Øyvind Morken has been a force of nature in DJ booths around Oslo. A highly sought after DJ in the scene, he’s as versatile as he is eclectic and has a DJ there is no other that sounds like him in the city.
With an expansive musical purview, Øyvind Morken’s sets can cover the furthest reaches of the club music spectrum and beyond. From proto-Techno’s to deep cuts to the B-sides of eighties pop giants, there’s no region in music left unexplored in his sets.
It extends to his own music, where irreverent melodies and erratic beats run hallucinogenic gauntlets through electronic music’s archetypes. With releases for the likes of Mysticisms, Full Pupp, Snick Snack and his own assortment of labels, Øyvind Morken’s catalogue goes from Downtempo Balearics to swarthy Techno.
It’s as a DJ however where he began to cut his teeth, and it’s as a DJ where his prowess remains unmatched. His Untzdag residencies at Jaeger still evoke fond memories for the quality and expressiveness of the music and the bookings.
At the heart of that night was always Øyvind idiosyncrasies and his fearless approach to music. It’s something of this magic we tried to bottle here when we asked Øyvind Morken to join us for what was his debut at the Jaeger mix and we knew it would be special.
He delivered a 4-hour mammoth set that we only had to cut down for economics, but what we got was pure unadulterated Øyvind Morken, for your pleasure.
There was something magical that happened on the night when you recorded this mix. Between the crowd, the music selection and the atmosphere, it seemed special. From your perspective, what seemed to just click on the night?
Summer, nice weather, open air backyard with a decent sound system. This combined with a bunch of people who are open up to letting go for a bit, and a DJ with some knowledge and personality when behind the decks usually works wonders in a pale world.
Listening back to it, in the context outside of the DJ booth and dance floor, what are your thoughts now?
It’s more that I get small memory burst of certain moments when certain tracks or songs get played.
Those memory bursts you talk about; is it something like remembering what tracks or transitions worked and didn’t and adapting future sets accordingly?
Yes, but it’s not something I adapt for future sets.
For people listening to it at home, what do you hope they will get from it?
It’s 3 hours, so I would recommend jumping on your bike, and cycle around and take in the scenery. You’ll get a good exercise thats for sure.
The night did bring back memories of Untzdag. We talked about you doing a nod to Untzdag before the event, and while it was never going to be a throwback kind of thing, there’s definitely something of that spirit there. How would you define that spirit and is it something you thought about for this set?
Well, I played much more openly on this night than I do when I play on lets say Fridays at Jaeger which I do two times a month. I usually keep myself within the house and techno field for the Fridays. As that is what the booker wants. But house and techno to me, still means I incorporate some quirky electronica, a disco record, electro or new beat. I just keep it a bit more focused. I don’t really plan sets, but just let the night decide where we shall go, or rather end up. But some nights you know you can work a bit more of your repertoire in. Like in the case here.
At the heart of it, it was about you and your style as a DJ, I think. You said something to the effect that you could be free to be Øyvind Morken for this Jaeger Mix. When you do get to let your freak flag fly, so to speak, what changes in terms of how you approach a set?
I’m a freak at heart. But I’m also a professional, so I never put myself before the people, but I don’t put the people before the flow of the night either. It’s a balancing act, tying to keep it all together. I think It’s the reason why I still have the amount of work coming in that I do.
With all this work that comes in, is there that caveat of getting too complacent in what you do, and how do you avoid that in the long run?
I don’t think so. I don’t rest on my laurels. When people ask me about what my best gig has been, I always think it’s still in the future. It might be my next gig.
All I know is, that since I started playing in clubs, bars, raves, caves, boats and what else that floats. I have tried to treat the people who work in these environments with the respect they deserve. These are your colleagues, and in tougher times, they will stand by you.
What will usually prevent you from just doing your thing if you’re playing somewhere?
Usually the owner or manager of the place you play at. I don’t really have much of this problem, as the people who employ me know and like what I bring.
You’re always eclectic, and this set proves it again, as you moved into Jungle territory half way through. What is drawing you into those waters of late?
I used to listen to and DJ jungle and hardcore at the youth club back in the 90ies. So just nostalgia I guess.
I think there’s still this collective nostalgia for the nineties, as something a lot of us missed and frankly will never get back. Everybody responded to those tracks, even the gen z’s. What’s the positives and the drawbacks with that in your opinion?
A sort of collective back to the 90ies party or release or what else you want to capitalise on is hard to pull of with grace and style in my mind. But playing older music that means something to you will always be welcome in my world. It does not need to be made today to be new in my mind, If you have not heard it, it’s new to you. Nothing wrong with a few classics as well. Just as playing a few curveballs is OK.
You played Prodigy three times on the night, and they were all tracks from The Experience LP. Why that particular record and why now?
Again, nostalgia and truth be told, those tracks are fantastic and you don’t hear them much in a club anymore do you?
There was a moment that will stick with me; when you played the a capella of Madonna’s “like a prayer.” That was a spur of the moment selection, right?
Yes it was, but the whole set is always a spur of the moment with me.
You’re never afraid to play a popular tune, and while you often also have that obscure treasure in your sets, you have no qualms presenting these things together. What’s the red thread there to tie it all together from the popular to the underground?
Everything is done on intuition with no planing, and since I have ADHD, my mind works really fast and it is actually a very good match when you are a DJ.
Are there ever times when the ADHD overwhelms and it has some negative effects when DJing?
On a tough night, it can be hard to concentrate and establish some kind of groove.
Where would you draw the line in what you play, especially when it comes to a pop track?
Was there anything from your catalogue in this set?
I never play something that I don’t like. Other than that, I say find a place for it, and let it play. It might be the song/track of the night. No, I did not play some of my own music.
Besides a remix for Sadomaoistan earlier this year, you’ve been somewhat quiet on the production front. What’s going on on that front at the moment?
I did a EP for Snick Snack just before that. On a Detroit Techno/Sheffield Bleep vibe. I also had a House track on a four track compilation on Mysticisms which I think is a fantastic label out of the UK. I also have another 3 track EP of techno variations of the original art form sort coming out on Snick Snack on august the 29th. It’s called Don’t Techno For An Answer. There is a release party at Kafe Hærverk on the release date for that.
Techno variations? What does that mean for you in terms of what the music should sound like?
In the past, this music sounded like the future. It was/is the result of man vs. machine. Often with ideas and musical arrangements. This is no longer the case. It is just flat now, made with a computer with out any musicality, and highjacked by huge corporates with no values or interest in what this music really is. And the kids have fallen for it. The people who this scene was created to get away from, have now stolen it, and no one seams to mind.
Earlier evolutions of your music, would sort of skirt more obscure regions of Disco, House, proto Techno. What’s influencing this trend towards Techno (in all its variations) of late?
Like I said, man vs. machine. It’s the gear that I have accumulated and learned to use to get the results I want.
Is there a relationship to making music and playing music for you and how are those two things very separate from each other from an artistic standpoint?
Not really, it’s more of a being a music fan and getting stuck in. Just hearing great music, and wanting to be creative and be a part of the whole thing. I have been out of a studio for about 9 months, so I need to sort that out some how, and get stuck back in.
Getting back to the mix, we cut at around 3 hours, but you clearly had more to go on. If you could take it further today, where do you think you would’ve ended up eventually?
Who knows, if you enjoy the journey, the destination will be a bonus.