Overwerk Wants You to Rage out with Your Brain Out

Even from just the opening notes of his new single "Exist," it's apparent that there's more to Overwerk than your usual rabble-rousing electro producer. Comparisons to Deadmau5 or Nero might be warranted, but he brings a perspective entirely his own, as evidenced by his succession of (free-to-download) EPs that are populated with complex structures and baroque, near-classical themes.

"I'm a pretty technical person," he tells THUMP. "I feel like all my choices when it comes to music or design are all conscious. I try and think about what effect I want the song to have or the feeling I want to give to people, and then I work backwards from there as opposed to just coming up with a melody like a lot of people do."

Technique and detail are central themes of the Overwerk ethos. He explains, "I do all my own design. I have one vision and I want everything to be a part of that vision. I want the images, the look, the sound to be one package."

In general, Overwerk is quick to distance himself from common tropes in electronic music. "The general 'EDM scene' doesn't have too much substance when it comes to music," he says. "The top 100 Beatport tracks are basically one single idea that gets looped over and over again."

He's taken on combatting this trend is part of his mission. "I wanna influence the way people are affected by music, especially in the club scene. I want to be the gateway into some more depth of sound. I wanna connect the two scenes, people who enjoy just sitting, listening to music on their headphones, who really appreciate music, with this whole new scene of people who are just raging. They go to these festivals and they never even actually listen to the music at home, they don't know the artists. I wanna create a connection between the two."

Oftentimes, working with such a strong sense of self is like operating in a vacuum, in both positive and negative ways. "I'm so out of touch with the current scene," he says. "I work on tracks so much when I'm at home that I literally have no time to check out other people's music. When people name artists, I have no idea who they're talking about," he laughs. "I don't have time to stay super in the loop, but I think that helps me in terms of not being influenced by daily trends. I'm kind of staying true to what I enjoy and what I like to create."

Overwerk on FB // Twitter

Tour Dates
July 4 – Seattle, WA – Foundation
July 5 – Vancouver, Canada – Celebrities
July 10 - Santa Cruz, CA – Motiv
July 11 – San Diego, CA – Bang Bang
July 12 – Albuquerque, NM – Effex
July 17 – Denver, CO – Beta
July 18 – Los Angeles, CA – Create
July 19 – San Francisco, CA – Ruby Skye
July 23 – Oklahoma City, OK – Kamps
July 24 – Austin, TX – Kingdom
July 25 – Dallas, TX – Lizard Lounge
July 26 – Phoenix, AZ – Monarch
July 27 – St. Charles, MO – Ameristar
July 31 – Orlando, FL – Firestone Live
Aug 1 – Atlanta, GA – Opera
Aug 2 – Toronto, Canada – Veld Music Festival
Aug 8 – Boston, MA – Rise
Aug 9 – Miami, FL – Mansion
Aug 14 – Chicago, IL –The Mid
Aug 15 – Pittsburgh, PA – Static
Aug 16 (Day) – Philadelphia, PA – Bamboo Bar
Aug 16 (Night) – New York, NY – Webster Hall

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Jemayel doesn't have time to listen to music either - @JemayelK