Name: Olivier Raymond aka OXIA
Occupations: DJ, producer, label founder at Diversions
Nationality: French
Current Release: Oxia's new album Aelle is out via Diversions.
Shoutout: My friend and label partner at Diversions Music, Nicolas Masseyeff, whose music I greatly appreciate and respect. We have collaborated several times; he contributed to my latest album on a track called “Faces,” and also helped me with the album’s mixdown.

[Read our Nicolas Masseyeff interview]

If you enjoyed this interview with OXIA, visit him on Soundcloud, Instagram, Facebook, and tiktok.

[Read our earlier OXIA interview] 



When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

On my side, music mostly triggers physical sensations and emotions. And depending on the style I’m listening to, it can awaken very different feelings: soft, emotional, melodic tracks can put me in a kind of melancholic or wistful mood, while something more energetic tends to bring me joy or make me want to move.

With my eyes it’s similar: I close them when I want to focus or really sink into the music, and otherwise I keep them open. I actually did this with the tracks on my latest album, Aelle, listening to them in different ways to experience all the sensations and emotions they could evoke, depending on how we listen.

How do listening with headphones and listening through a stereo system change your experience of sound and music?

When I listen with headphones, the experience feels much more intimate. I feel the emotions more and can notice every little detail, texture, and subtle layer.

With monitors, the sound fills the space and becomes more physical; you can feel more of the energy, and it turns into a more open, shared experience rather than just an internal one.

Do you experience strong emotional responses towards certain sounds? If so, what kind of sounds are these and do you have an explanation about the reasons for these responses?

Yes, I experience strong emotional responses to certain sounds. It often depends on the texture, tone, or intensity of the sound.

I think these reactions come from a combination of personal associations, memories, or certain frequencies. But most of the time, I can’t really explain why, it’s just something I feel.

Are there everyday places, spaces, or devices which intrigue you by the way they sound? Which are these?

It’s not that it particularly intrigues me, but sometimes certain sounds, like for example the steady noise of a train when you’re inside it, can make me think of music, often very repetitive, creating a rhythm that I can feel.

The sound of rain can have the same effect.

Do music and sound feel “material” to you? Does working with sound feel like you're sculpting or shaping something?

Not really, especially with electronic music, there aren’t physical instruments, so for me it’s more something I feel rather than something material. It’s often imperceptible, a vibration, a texture, a mood.

I don’t really feel like I’m sculpting something, but still, in a way, I do feel like I’m bringing something into being that didn’t exist before.

How important is sound for our overall well-being and in how far do you feel the "acoustic health" of a society or environment is reflective of its overall health?

Yes, I think sound is important for our well-being. It can affect our emotions and how we feel in a space.

Environments with balanced, pleasant sounds feel calming and harmonious, while noisy or harsh spaces can create stress. I once saw a TV program where they measured people’s heart rates in a very noisy urban environment, surrounded by traffic, and then did the same in a forest, and the heart rate dropped significantly in the forest. This really shows how sound can directly affect our body.

In that sense, I think the ‘acoustic health’ of a place can reflect the overall well-being of the people living in it.

Many animals communicate through sound. Based either on experience or intuition, do you feel as though interspecies communication is possible and important? Is there a creative element to it, would you say?

To be honest I don't really know, but I like to think it’s possible. We can sometimes sense animals' moods or intentions through their sounds, even if it’s subtle.

I’m not sure if it could bring a creative element, but it feels like there’s a kind of communication happening, even if we can’t fully understand it.

Tinnitus and developing hyperacusis are very real risks for anyone working with sound. Do you take precautions in this regard and if you're suffering from these or similar issues – how do you cope with them?

Yes, it’s actually a fairly common problem for people who work with sound, but not only for them. I know people who have developed tinnitus just from being exposed to very loud sound too often.

Personally, I’ve been protecting myself for a long time by wearing earplugs with a -20dB filter that are moulded to fit my ears. Still, I have a little tinnitus because I sometimes have trouble keeping the earplugs in during my sets.

It’s okay for me though, it’s not very loud and doesn’t really bother me, even if I know it’s not a good sign to have it.

We can surround us with sound every second of the day. The great pianist Glenn Gould even considered this the ultimate delight. How do you see that yourself and what importance does silence hold?

Yes, I love being surrounded by music — it brings me emotions, energy, and inspiration.

But when there’s no music, I like it to be calm, so I really appreciate silence too. Silence is important for me, and I enjoy listening to music even more after a period of quiet.

I especially love silence when I’m sleeping — it feels essential and restorative.

Seth S. Horowitz called hearing the “universal sense” and emphasised that it was more precise and faster than any of our other senses, including vision. How would our world be different if we paid less attention to looks and listened more instead?

I don't really know if the world would be different if we listened more, but probably. Focusing less on looks would certainly be better.

Even though I think all our senses are complementary, sound can carry so much, emotions, atmosphere, that we often miss when we rely mostly on vision. Listening closely could make us more aware of people and the space around us.

But I think it’s not easy in the age of social media, when we’re constantly distracted by images and screens.