Today, in 1051 Magazine, we have the pleasure to talk to Oskar Szafraniec, aka Oscar Burnside aka Szafran on the occasion of the release of his new EP Home Again 003… and we´re really interested in his intense career, to know a bit more about him.

Hi Oskar, thank you very much for talking with us. Let’s start from the beginning, from your musical origins. You were born in Poland in 1994, and since you were ten years old you started to be interested in music with more intensity… How were those first years of musical education and learning in your life?

It was very intuitive. I have realised how much I love music and I pushed my entire energy into it. I was trying instruments, software plugins, listening to music, reading about music, watching documentaries. It was a full time job really back then already.

Later, when you were thirteen, you made your first remix for the Italian label NuZone and the following year, when you were fourteen, you released your first track, Dark Side, on the same label. Tell us everything about those first works, please… in which studio you did it, which machinery did you use…

I was thirteen and playing with sounds on my computer. I think it was a remix competition that I saw on a music forum. I probably wouldn’t be proud listening to it now but it was the first of my works – a first attempt. I had sent an email in English using a translator, and the label owner said he loved my remix and he wanted to put it out on his label. I felt motivated, so I sent another work of mine which was called Dark Side. He put it out on his digital imprint. He checked the date of my birth and couldn’t believe I was just 13 years old. Afterwards DJ Mag contacted me for an interview, and wrote an article about it, saying I was probably was of the youngest producers in the world and it all sort of began. Not long after that I started playing in various clubs in Poland. My father had to always come with me. Funny times.

There’s something we always ask the artists we interview in 1051 Magazine… tell us about those first records you bought, some that made you change your perspective on music, that inspired you to become a DJ and producer… Because we imagine you were already DJing in those days, right?

Before I bought my first record I was already DJing with Final Scratch by Stanton. I did have a few records that I got from my dad and uncle but it was music for listening and not playing at parties. Since you have asked me about the records that I bought myself I have realised it was back in 2009. I got offered to play at a club in Poznan and I really wanted to play with records which I didn’t have, I ordered online about 10 records from a small record shop in Poland and I picked it up on the way to the gig. I played it without trying – it was Paco Osuna Lemon Juice on Plus 8, Dewalta’s Nightshade EP and few others but I cant remember.

 

 

In 2010, with only 16 years old, you released The Suicide, your first album. Honestly, I personally find it a tremendous piece of intelligent Techno, full of elegance, good taste and tremendous maturity. We’d love to hear how you created that great album…

I had my dark teenager phase at that time. I began playing a bit harder and darker. I was wearing black, doing dark often suicidal photo shoots. I cant explain where it comes from. I guess it’s just one of the phases in a kids life. I was exploring it and expressing myself in that way.

The following year, and changing register completely, you release Water Under Dream, an album that navigates between melancholic piano melodies and very Warp Records sounds. Why such a radical change?

Again. Another phase. Capturing feelings through music. I felt different and so I played the music differently.

Let’s talk about clubs and your DJing (you´ve been in the most prestigious ones like Watergate, Tresor, etc.). Where was young Oscar DJing in 2011? You hadn’t moved to Berlin yet? 

I was playing in various clubs in Poland. I can’t remember now which clubs exactly in 2011. At that time I was also singing in a rock band and doing concerts all around.

We also like to ask which club, festival, what session do you especially remember?

Back 2 Back Live Show with A Guy Called Gerald in the mountains of Osaka, UP Festival in Prague on the main stage and my birthday in 2019 which started with a party in Wilde Renate and continued the next day and night at Club Der Visionaere.

One of the questions I most wanted to ask you (because he is one of my idols!) and I’m sure our readers will love to hear your answer… When did you meet Gerald Simpson aka A Guy Called Gerald? And how did you end up on one of his tours (specifically in Japan)?

I was playing on one of the stages at Camp Tipsy, a small outdoor event / festival outside of Berlin. I performed on the same stage as A Guy Called Gerald. I was singing during my performance and Gerald really enjoyed it. He has invited me to come to Berlin to his studio and record with him. I came to Berlin. I joined Laboratory Instinct label and agency run by Japanese people based in Berlin. By 2012 I moved to Berlin and was living a few hundred meters from Gerald, recording music with him and playing at various events in Berlin, Russia, Poland or Japan where we had a tour. We did Liquid Room in Tokyo, Dommune in Tokyo, and Sea of Green Festival to mention few.

 

 

As you seem to have plenty of time ? you have also been A&R for Deset Music and beta tester for Roland on their AIRA series. Are you still doing any of those tasks?

I joined Roland AIRA project mainly due to Gerald. We were playing in Tokyo’s club Liquid Room in 2013, where people from Roland came to see Gerald performing with his old 808, 303 and 101 to mention few. They were keen to talk to Gerald about their concept of creating AIRA.  Afterwards I got involved in the project. I did a few interviews, tested the machines, I gave my feedback, performed live with the machines. I also released a vinyl together with Ricardo Villalobos on Rawax AIRA Series which was a collaboration between Roland AIRA and the label Rawax which is a very respected label from Frankfurt am Main. I have been helping to develop the music direction of Deset for the last few years, and we also threw a lot of parties. At the moment the pipeline of releases for the label is scheduled way upfront, giving me space and time to focus on new projects. I also had an opportunity to work with Ableton last year. I recorded a 1 hour video in which I showed how you can use the software to create a track from beginning till end.

You are a real traveler, from your native Poland you moved to Berlin (where you have been living for eight years), and a year and a half ago you moved to Croatia coinciding with this world break due to Covid. How are you in your new location? Is this beautiful country bringing something new to your creations? Have you recorded there during this time Home Again?

Home Again 003 has been recorded in Berlin. It’s been my last work in Germany. I then finalised the tracks in Poland while staying with my family just before I left to Croatia. I’m super happy in Dalmatia, it’s my new home. I learned the language very quickly. Me and my girlfriend are running a restaurant here at the coast and I work for Defected Croatia managing Barbarellas during their nights. I found my inner peace. I am going to be a father next month, it changes my perspective, I cant wait to expose my daughter, Ayla, to all the sounds, flavours and feelings that our planet has to offer. It gives me more strength and motivation than anything else.

Congratulations on your upcoming fatherhood, Oskar!

Let’s talk about the EP. It’s the kind of record that grabs you almost immediately, recalling certain sounds from the golden age of electronic music of the last century. In the press release you talk about inspiration taken from two greats, Richard D James aka Aphex Twin and Tom Jenkinson aka Squarepusher. Any more references to name, other sources of inspiration?

It’s the melodies that inspired me. This album is a fusion between harmonies, melodies full of emotions those known from releases of WARP, Squarepusher or Aphex Twin placed on a raw groove of house music. Thats how I like it – groovy and emotional so I can dance and soothe my mind at the same time. What makes it special and different though is my personal touch and the story behind it. It’s years that I have spent traveling, meeting people and playing music. Everything what we go through in life shapes our personality and that shows in the art that we do.

 

 

It’s Just A Feeling denotes those aforementioned references, and a very 303 sound that gives it a very distinctive feel. Leo Pol’s remix is pure French House, a dancefloor banger full of elegance. Did you know each other previously, and if not, how did you get in touch?

It was my friend Thabo, owner of Home Again, who came up with this idea and contacted Leo to do the remix for me. I loved the idea from the very beginning as I’m a big fan of Leo’s sound. I’m totally in love with the remix!!

You Don’t Know and Infuse explore other terrains than It’s Just A Feeling. If one takes a look at your discography, it’s clear that you don’t like to stay in one terrain, in one style (which is so appreciated these days…).

You are right, the form of my music is changing through years. It’s feelings that I focus on, and this particular record is a first solo EP released under my new moniker. It’s a statement and an opening of a new chapter in my life.

Oskar, thank you very much for your time.

Thank you so much.

 

Home Again 003 is released on January 21st and pre order is available here

 

 

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