Reconnecting with old friends is something we love to do especially when it involves music into the conversation.
Making his return to Frequent Players we linked up O-Dessa to rekindle the fire that was left at the 110 Mantra Party earlier in the year. With so much time passed since that memorable night we wanted to catch up with O-Dessa to find out what he’s been up to and also put together a mix.
Take a read at the interview below and enjoy this Frequent Players Guest Mix feature with O-Dessa.
Footpatrol: O-Dessa welcome back! It’s great to be able to bring you back and this time have you throw down a mix for us, how have you been?
O-Dessa – Yes, big ups FP gang!! Thank you for having me do a mix, means a lot. I’ve been good thank you. Maintaining through the madness.
FP: Last time we saw you was for the 110 Mantra party! How have you been keeping yourself busy?
O-Dessa – Wow that was a great night, impromptu b2b with Ollie Rant was a vibe. I think that was the last time I played in a club, glad that was the one to go out with. I’ve been keeping busy with a few projects at the moment. Working on a compilation with my label Ghost Notes Worldwide. It includes some of our homies from around the world, super talented and making a lot of noise right now. You can hear a few tracks from the comp and other forthcoming bits in the mix. Excited to drop that very soon. I’ve also been working with a good friend on Flock Together, an outdoor focused initiative representing non-white communities, we have some great projects in the works there.
FP: What about DJing have you been able to work on anything both live or virtually?
O-Dessa – I recently got to play on this dope platform Free Yard and Fiya Wata have put together. Filmed in an amazing liquor store called Harry’s in Tottenham. Literally stacks and stacks of rare alcohol, confectionary and smoking goods. It’s like your favourite bodega in New York times a million, wild.
FP: Now I know you already have mentioned your label Ghost Notes Worldwide, but how did you end up creating it?
O-Dessa – Being a producer and around so many talented music makers I realised there was a tendency for artists/producers to release music with labels who wanted everything defined by genre. If you make grime, you should only make grime, if you want to make something else, you release it under another name/label. I’ve always experimented with all kinds of tempos as others do and realised there’s a ton of music that gets overlooked. I’m interested in the music that is there but doesnt get heard, the ‘Ghost Notes’. I did a few parties under that name and asked DJ’s to come play whatever they wanted, those parties were LIVE. I later teamed up with Impey and we set up the label with the same notion. We’ve since recruited Nicky Soft Touch, who’s a serious producer too. Watch out for him!
We also do every first Thursday of the month 10 – 12am on NTS. It’s an honor being on a platform that allows us to express our ethos through their airwaves. 4 years strong!
FP: What about the new music you have in the works is there anything else you can tell us about that?
O-Dessa – You’ve got good intel there! I’ve been making music on and off for years now. It’s something I love to do when I have the time, which is very rare these days. I’ve got a tune coming out on our compilation I made a year ago. It’s 95bpm so I guess you can say it’s hip hop? For me, it’s just an expression of what I’ve been listening to at the time all in one track. You can peep it in the mix :).
FP: How about the wider music scene have you been enjoying what’s been releasing lately? Is there anyone artist you recently discovered you can’t get enough of?
O-Dessa – The UK music scene is so healthy right now. Loving what Pa Salieu and M1llionz are doing. Potter Payper, Nines, Meeks, OFB, V9, Central Cee and all the others from that pocket. Then you got the jazz dons like Yussef Days and his trio with Charlie Stacey, Rocco Palladino and Mansur to name a few. Come to think of it, besides the odd thing here and there I’m mainly listening to UK sounds at the moment. I think the mix really sums up what I’ve been rinsing of late.
FP: With us being Footpatrol we have to ask about sneakers, what’s your collection like? What do you look out for when buying sneakers?
O-Dessa – I think my misses would wish it ended with me collecting trainers for me. LOL. I tend to collect a lot of shit people probably don’t care about…vinyl, swing tags, stickers, magazines among other things. I always think I’ll need things like that for a reference at some point. Trainers on the other hand are a mix though, some hype like the Wotherspoons and Visvim FBTs but also then I got the odd ‘luxe’ trainer from some suede america cups from prada to margielas which are based off the german military shoe. I managed to pick up the Stranger Things ‘Upside Down’ Nike Cortez QS for 40 euros the other day. What a steal! I’m definitely a nike head when it comes to trainers. I love all the older models kids don’t want. Fragment Tennis and footscapes are a bit of me but I always get suckered into the hype releases from time to time. Wish i didn’t batter my Undercover Reacts, the most comfy shoe I’ve worn for a while. Also into what ACG, ROA and Merrell have been making with Vibram too in terms of outdoor gear.
FP: With all the strange times we have been incurring as of late we would like to do a little quick fire round to find out some of your favourite spots that those at home can visit and support…
Best Coffee shop?
Eat Vietnam, deptford for ya Vietnameese coffee needs!
Favourite restaurant?
Theo’s Pizzeria. Camberwell
Best place to buy vinyl?
Bandcamp – support artists directly if you can.
Favorite place to hang out?
Not that i’ve been doing much of this but Crystal Palace park
Best store for clothing?
Nepenthes, Dover Street Market or Gimme5
Favourite music venue?
God I miss going out. Tola for the homies!
FP: Boom! Food, music, shoes I think we have covered it all! O-Dessa it’s always great to spend some time with you, hopefully it won’t be as long next time! Have you got anything you wanted to share with our readers and listeners before we let you go?
O-Dessa – Big love for having me. Always mad love for the FP team. I hope you all enjoy the mix! Go follow the gang at @ghost__notes and keep it locked for more exciting projects from me over at @odessa_bntl <3
