Ohbliv (MySpace, Tumblr, S
Ohbliv (MySpace, Tumblr, Soundcloud) is a Richmond, VA ambient / glitch / beat producer. His work reminds me of Flying Lotus, Nosuj Thing, and others from the LA beat scene of the last few years. This interview was done by his label, Cascade Records, who are from France.
CR- Where are you from?
OHB- I am from Richmond, Virginia born and raised.
CR- What the first time did you want make a beat?
OHB- I first wanted to make a beat when i was 12-13 but I didn’t have a sampler so I would make pause tapes
I remember looping up the end of “Lyrics 2 Go” from my A tribe called quest tape many times that way.
CR- What sort of sounds are you drawn to?
OHB- I’m drawn to anything that sounds interesting to me. Whether its jazzy chords, raggedy guitar riffs, dusty drums. I’m digging it. I’m a big fan of the sounds I grew up listening too, smooth jazz and RnB, smooth rock some would call yacht rock, and of course soul music.
CR- Why did you choose the alias ohbliv? What does this mean?
OHB- I’ve had many aliases this is the one that stuck. At first I was rapping under the name Brad Oblivion
I’m a fan of cult movies and one of my favorites is the film Videodrome. There is a character named Brian O’blivion who
was like the creator mastermind in the film so I was digging that. Also when it comes from a lot of people telling me I’m in my own world and I’m oblivious to what others are doing so there you go.
CR- How would you describe your style and creative approach?
OHB- Raw smoothness, off kilter smoothness, lo-fi smoothness, i don’t know, as long as its smooth. My creative approach changes with the beat honestly. I’m a fan of rough edges though, i try to keep the sound as loose and human as I can.
CR- Can you describe your mix for CR?
OHB- This is a dirty mix featuring sounds that have been inspiring me lately, some unreleased music from myself, and some from my closest RVA cohorts.
CR- Any future projects you care to share with us?
OHB- I’ve been working on an album with rapper NickelusF called Yellow Gold which will be released soon. A few mixes, collabs are in the works
with some special people and an official Ohbliv album.
CR- Anything else you’d like to share?
OHB- Brush your teeth twice a day and floss.
CR- Favorite Motto??
OHB- Music is a mission, not a competition.
CR- Specials Shouts?
OHB- Man, I’m not gonna get too specific, too many people but everyone whose down with we’re doing and continues to support this beat music. Umm.. CMLK, JustPlainSounds, Wigflip, Klipmode, HW&W, RVA and The World. Love.
Keep on man!
