Q&A: Darius Creates a World of Comfort and Dance with 'Oasis'
CREATING AN IMMERSIVE SOUNDSCAPE FOR YOU TO ESCAPE INTO - Darius gives us an album to melt away your worries with Oasis. Bringing together funk, disco and R&B, Oasis manages to create a warm, charming and ultimately cohesive sound reflective of Darius’ growth.
The French producer and artist celebrates the release with a worldwide tour, hitting London, NYC, LA and more, giving listeners an opportunity to quickly get a sense of the project in a live setting, and ultimately connect in a whole new way. Oasis highlights the artist’s ability to effortlessly blend a variety of sonic worlds, from R&B and soul to dance and electronic. Featuring collaborations with Benny Sings, Lo Village, Kadhja Bonet, Amaria and more, the album manages to create a dreamlike flow, gliding you from track to track.
With the goal of creating comforting music that makes you want to move, Darius hones in on groovy basslines, charming guitars and keyboard moments that get you dancing in just a few beats.
With just one listen, you’ll quickly find yourself putting Oasis on repeat, craving more with each track. Read below to learn more about the making of the project, the importance of the visual side of his work and more.
LUNA: Congrats on the release of Oasis! The project truly takes the listener on a journey of so many soundscapes including R&B, soul, and dance music. Sonically, what are some of your favorite elements you got to explore?
DARIUS: Thank you very much! It was indeed one of my biggest challenges for this project, to expand even more the sound ambiances through several genres that are dear to me and that translate the emotions I want to share: a warmer and more comforting music that makes you want to move. Finally I took a lot of pleasure in exploring the dance side by looking for the best possible groove with heady bass lines, filtered guitars and powerful keyboards. Mixing the tracks was a very important part of the process and it took weeks and weeks of work to get the desired results.
LUNA: For “MATERIAL GIRL” you got to work with the incredible Lo Village. Can you share a little bit about what that creative process was like?
DARIUS: We worked remotely throughout the process. I mainly communicated with Kane on Whatsapp and he was the person who coordinated the band and prepared each recording before sharing them with me.
Initially, I sent them the instrumental version of the song and after several attempts at voice recordings + iPhone voice memos of chorus ideas that we sent to each other we finally agreed on a structure that we all liked. It was very meticulous work and working with them allowed me to approach the voice in a different way compared to my usual productions. I had a lot of fun working on this track and we are really proud of the result.
LUNA: Which track is your favorite off of the project?
DARIUS: It's hard to choose because I really like them all and each of the tracks on the album has a story. I'm very attached to “Feels Right” because it really confirmed a tone I was looking for on the Oasis project, and I love the video. But 2 new tracks have taken a big chunk out of my heart.
The first one is “Ease Your Mind”, because for the record I was originally thinking of releasing this song as an instrumental version. In the last week before the release of the masters to the label I received a private message from Devin Tracy explaining that he loved my music and he proposed to work together. I didn't know his music but when I heard it I immediately loved it too. I sent him a wetransfer with two instrumentals and he chose “Ease Your Mind”. 24 hours later I received his recordings and it was a shock to me. I remember listening to his demo in my bed when I woke up, I hadn't slept much because I was working day and night on the finishing touches of the tracks and I was so tired and emotional that I had tears in my eyes when I listened to it. It was a great moment of relief and happiness and his voice brought a richness to the sound that I could never have achieved alone. It's exactly what I was hoping to have on this instrumental, both in the groove and the depth of the lyrics that make so much sense to the messages I want to share with people.
The second track is “CHÉRIE” because it's a collaboration with Darianna Everett. It was very important to me and very symbolic to have her on the project because today our track Hot Hands is platinum and her comeback on my project is a way to pay tribute to her. I'm a huge fan of her talent and I think she needs to be highlighted more. It was a great pleasure to collaborate on this new track which I love today and I had a lot of thrills working on her voice. We are so happy with the final result and can't wait to share this track with the world!
LUNA: Which track was the most difficult to finalize? What made you stick with it?
DARIUS: “NOTHING TO ME” was definitely the most "difficult" track but in a good way. In fact it required more resources than the other tracks in the production and went through different stages of research and production.
Before arriving at the final result we had several different demos to work on, with different moods. I was very lucky that Kadhja was so motivated and involved in the work despite the distance between us.
Once we had found the track and the desired energy, I invited several musicians to record on the track to push the production to the same level as her voice which I personally admire a lot: drummer / violinist / harp.
The final mix phase was also very decisive because it was the first time for me to work around a live drum set while preserving a powerful electro sound.
I see this piece as a painting canvas because I could hardly stop working on it, but I am very proud of the final result and of having been able to collaborate with Kadhja.
LUNA: Who have you been listening to lately?
DARIUS: Kashif - “Help Yourself To My Love”
LUNA: You’ve hit the ground running with international tour dates all over - what did you miss most about live music?
DARIUS: The contact with the fans, and in cities at the other end of the world far from my country.
Nothing can replace that, even if there are streams numbers, the messages on social networks, nothing can replace this live connection with people. Seeing the happiness in their faces thanks to my music and their message touches me deeply and gives even more meaning to what I do. I feel like I'm doing something good and that motivates me and pushes me to go even further.
LUNA: I really dig the visual aesthetic you have to accompany your music - the gradients really match the vibe of the music. What role do you tend to play in this side of your work?
DARIUS: Since the beginning of Darius I imagine and create every visual / cover I share. Having trained as a graphic designer, it helps me a lot to create all the images I have in mind to support my music. This colour circle is really the synthesis of the different sounds I wanted to bring to Oasis. I wanted a simple symbol that was easily identifiable, strong and universal at the same time. Finally, I have the impression that it makes sense to many people too, so I'm very happy that the AD is so appreciated because for me the image is as important as the music.
LUNA: With this project out, what intentions do you have for the upcoming months?
DARIUS: Oasis will continue to evolve, it's like a new project that will never stop. I have a real desire to continue to collaborate with lots of new singers, bigger and bigger artists that I respect and admire and to be able to federate around my music.
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