Run On: An Interview With Owen Ni
An Interview by Adam Harmless
Though he's a very
prolific musician in his own right, Owen also shares the music of
others through his Run On Recordings label, as well as his podcast on
Huntsville’s Spice Radio, "Run On Radio". Run On
Recordings was started by Owen in 2015 after he’d tried to release
his work on other labels. “I noticed a lot of labels had
restrictions and exact sounds they were looking for. I wanted a hub
where artists could just be artists. Without having to worry about
sounding like other people.” Owen Ni is a true believer: "DIY
is the way to be anyways. If you can run your own label with your own
music and make money from direct fans that comes directly to you,
then you’re set.” This independence offers freedom that is simply
difficult to find elsewhere. “The music on my label is all over the
place, but I like to sum it up as all being creative. We have punk,
techno, noise, ambient, leftfield, shoegaze…something for everyone,
really. It all works because it’s all made by artists/bands that
believe in their work. Something that’s a must for me.” His
podcast is still relatively new, but is already showing a lot of potential (I'm honored to have appeared on the
first episode). "Run
On Radio started while just talking to Ben Jobe over at Spice Radio's
HQ, Spice Rack Studios. I was pitched the option to host my own
podcast live from the studio and I decided to dedicate it to the
label rather than focusing on my own material. Made more sense to me
that way."
“Used
to, I would have dreams about meeting a hero or having everything be
a cakewalk once you made your “hit”, but as an artist, you grow
and mature and learn that music is so much more sacred. It’s such a
higher power than to simply want to be famous. I make music for my
own self-consumption nowadays… My motivation is to attempt to
continue to push my own limits and create something beautiful from
it.”
Growing
up, Owen Nye's dad introduced him to the music of KISS and Pink
Floyd, while his mom shared a love of Prince and Michael Jackson with
her son. Owen credits them with his early taste and interest in
music. Today, under the moniker of "Owen Ni", he continues to
voraciously search for and consume interesting sound. As soon as one
speaks with Owen Ni, it’s becomes abundantly clear how passionate
he is about music and his philosophy toward his own music, which he
at first describes as “electronic”. He quickly elaborates,
“Specifically, I would say Techno. More specifically, Minimal
Techno. It goes on and on. So I simply say Electronic Music. I don’t
make “EDM” which is what most people try to group in all
electronic music under. I just simply make electronic music.” He
considers EDM to be “the system’s label”. “Oversaturated Pop
music that is disposable at best to me.” Owen takes pride in the
honesty of his work. “It’s not all drugs and partying for me. My
music is a state of mind. My music, I like to think, can be a
statement for someone. An expression. Like having a piece of art
speak to you in different ways. I make music that was once/still is a
way of life for people.” The music is not without its
roots. “I like to think that the respect for my predecessors in the
genre leak out in my music. I have influences from Detroit, Berlin,
Chicago. etc. and they all show in my work. I’m very inspired by
the heroes of the 90’s techno era. Richie Hawtin, Carl Craig, Jeff
Mills, and so on. Trying to keep the genre that I work in, and most
importantly, the music, true to its original form.”
Owen
keeps plenty busy and it doesn't appear that'll be changing anytime
soon. "You
never know what
the future will bring when it comes down to it. But I do know that I
have landed a lot of deals with
(other)
labels and will have some actual vinyl releases coming later this
year. The label is constantly growing, and still looking for more
ways to spread the word as well as different ways to distribute the
works. I'm still frequently traveling this year but in 2018 I might
try to sit down and focus on more full length, conceptual LPs rather
than EP releases. Probably the distant future goal of mine would be
to spend some time out of Alabama for awhile. I will always call
Alabama home, but you're in a desert when trying to grow as an artist
here, especially as an independent one. Berlin has been on my bucket
list for a long time, but I like the atmosphere in Asheville, NC
specifically. Who knows? Time will tell."
As
I'm prone to do with loco locals, I asked Mr. Nye what he thinks of
the scene/scenes
in Alabama. "The Alabama music scene(s) is an interesting one. I
remember talking about this with an artist while in North Carolina.
He said something that really put it in perspective for me. He said
something along the lines of "In the States it's like a desert".
That's very loosely transcribed but basically we both agreed that in
the US, it's hard to get respect for your work, but some towns, cities, it's like an oasis. Which brings me back to AL, it's hard to get
respect from people here. Especially if it's not country or a Lynyrd
Skynyrd cover band. However, that makes it much more rewarding when
you do find like-minded artists/bands with similar goals. It can be
any genre you're working in, but it's all still music. All still art.
I have personally met a lot of artists/bands in AL that excite me
with their projects. So, the best way to explain the music scene in
AL to someone not familiar is that there are a lot of diamonds in the
rough."
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