Feeling Everything: oskar med k’s Journey From Uncertainty to Breakthrough
The Oslo-based electronic artist talks to Beatportal about his journey so far and the story behind his debut album.
Ben Jolley
Norwegian chill house maverick oskar med k wasn’t just a fan of music growing up – it has been a huge part of his life for as long as he can remember.
After learning to play piano as a child and later discovering Avicii, Skrillex and Calvin Harris – as well as Metallica, Dream Theater and Avenged Sevenfold – the Oslo-born artist got into producing in his early teens. “I just enjoyed it so much and figured I’d try to make a career out of it,” he says, adding that he wasn’t concerned about anything else back then.
Despite listening to a wide range of genres, electronic music interested him the most. “It was never just sound to me,” he says. “It was how I dealt with emotions I didn't know how to explain.” Since DJing at a small club with his roommate in Bergen in 2022 – “we were so nervous, but it was a fun night” – his own music as oskar med k has gone on to showcase an effortless fusion of different styles.
Blending EDM with a pop sensibility, he turns emotion into something people can dance to. “For me, it’s just the best way to experience dance music,” he suggests. “It’s so important.”
Rather than restricting himself to work within specific genres, his artistic approach is refreshingly honest. “I just make what I feel is right in the moment,” he says; “you never know what comes out when you're in the studio.”
This well-placed confidence to create freely led to his breakthrough single, "Make Me Feel." which was the result of “sampling some cool vocals and just messing around with it in my bedroom studio”. Built around a moment of silence, the lyric trails off after “make me feel like…”, leaving the synths to deliver the word unsaid.
While he could never have anticipated just how big it would become, he remembers not being able to switch off after making it. “It really was one of those songs that kept me up all night because of the excitement,” he adds. “You never know why people like what they do, but I’m glad it reached so many people.”
Having since taken his live show on an international tour, this month he’ll make his Coachella debut, before heading to iconic London clubbing institution Fabric in mid-June. Getting to travel the world and play his music for people in different countries is a “huge dream” come true.
At the same time, he’s still adjusting to success. "I don't think I've ever really stopped to process any of this,” he ponders. “Ten years ago, I was just a kid with a laptop, headphones on, completely lost in my own world, dreaming about stages l'd never even seen in real life. A sold-out show felt like something that only happened to other people,” he says, adding that even two years ago he was still “questioning everything… exporting tracks, refreshing stats… hoping someone out there would connect with it.”
Despite his busy schedule ever since, he’s certainly not slowed down when it comes to making more tunes. Just a few weeks ago, he released feel, his brilliant debut album. “I've been living with these songs for a long time,” he says of the record, adding that he felt a mixture of emotions in the lead up to it being shared with the world. “I was excited and nervous, but I hope people find something in it that stays with them."
The atmospheric 17-track collection is driven by one key idea: melody should say what language can’t. “Melodies are kind of a language,” he argues, adding that he sees music as a way to express himself. “You can clearly hear how I was feeling when I made a song,” he explains. “When I’m feeling happy, safe and things are nice, I’ll always end up making brighter and more uplifting melodies. If I’m feeling anxious or sad, I’ll end up making something more dramatic and dark.”
Working with other artists – including ZHU, maryjo, Izzy Bizu, Haley Joelle, ODARA and kris. mondaé – not only helped him to flesh out his ideas for the LP but enabled him to look at his songs in different ways. “It’s really cool to learn how other people work,” he says of the importance of collaboration. “There are so many talented musicians and people always have different styles, so you never really know what’s going to happen when you mix it up.”
It’s unsurprising, then, when he shares how proud he is of his biggest body of work to date: “I listen to it a lot and will do so for a long time, so I hope that others will enjoy it as well.”
As for the future, it’s not something that he thinks about too much. Instead, he prefers to focus on the here and now. “I just enjoy making music and playing shows. Hopefully, I’ll get to do that for the rest of my life.”
On the strength of his recent rise, oskar med k need not worry.
