Name: Raz Ohara
Occupation: Singer, songwriter, composer, producer
Nationality: Danish
Recent release: Raz Ohara's Tyrants LP is out via Denature. He will perform material from the album like at Hamburg's Kampnagel on August 24th 2023.

If you enjoyed this Raz Ohara interview and would like to find out more about his work and current projects, visit his official website. He is also on Instagram, and Facebook.



Where does the impulse to create something come from for you? What role do often-quoted sources of inspiration like dreams, other forms of art, personal relationships, politics etc play?

It could be that I’m writing a letter to a friend, and then it just needs some twists to turn it into a song. Or a book, nature, an observation. Anything really …

For you to get started, do there need to be concrete ideas – or what some have called a 'visualisation' of the finished work? What does the balance between planning and chance look like for you?

Sometimes the process is trial and error. On other occasions I have a rather conceptual project.

My next one for example will be creating a soundscape, like a score, from recordings I did with an improv jazz quartet. There’s a clear base to start out from here and the journey is still open to some extent. I don’t know what the result will be in the end.

Do you have certain rituals to get you into the right mindset for creating? What role do certain foods or stimulants like coffee, lighting, scents, exercise or reading poetry play?

First I need a time frame for creation for at least 5 days. I need 2 days to get ready for the actual work. This means I’m spending time alone and retreat, I let go of all the noise in my head and pressure that life is confronting one with.

Only then am I ready to start on the actual work.

What do you start with? How difficult is that first line of text, the first note?

It can be text, it can be a melody, it can be a sketch I did in a DAW.

However, right now I feel I like writing songs on the piano to start out with.

What makes lyrics good in your opinion? What are your own ambitions and challenges in this regard?

If the content of the lyrics can give one a new insight on a topic, or put something in a new perspective, or make you think about something from a new perspective, if they awaken a new realm within yourself and something you have not discovered before – then they are good lyrics.

And if this interweaves with the aesthetic of the writing, if the images that appear are strong and present, and the lyrics invite you to go on a journey by the poetry, if the story, the aesthetic takes you on a journey from which you come back richer and with new insights … then the lyrics are good.

Once you've started, how does the work gradually emerge?

One thing leads to another.

A sound leads to a feeling, a feeling leads to a thought, a thought leads to a sentence, a sentence leads to a story that will define a melody – which gradually calls for certain sounds, chords, arrangements, rhythms, and a pace.

Many writers have claimed that as soon as they enter into the process, certain aspects of the narrative are out of their hands. Do you like to keep strict control over the process or is there a sense of following things where they lead you?

Yes, I can relate to that. I will often be able to finish it if it gets out of my hands and the process fluidly takes it’s course where I merely execute something that somehow needs to be done.

And then you listen to a track that you’ve done a while back and think: “really, I did this !?” And you don’t remember anything of the process. You were almost hypnotised.

Often, while writing, new ideas and alternative roads will open themselves up, pulling and pushing the creator in a different direction. Does this happen to you, too, and how do you deal with it? What do you do with these ideas?

Yes that happens a lot. But when you are on a journey with a clear goal you don’t turn right when the sign tells you that you get there by going left.

However, if your journey is open and the journey itself is your goal, you will need to consider and take decisions at every crossroad, whatever feels right each time.

There are many descriptions of the creative state. How would you describe it for you personally? Is there an element of spirituality to what you do?

Yes, it comes from a place of honesty. It comes from a place of goodwill. When you meditate, you align yourself to the source of life and give into it.

This is a good state to start out from. Life is a process of healing, music at it’s best can be powerful.

Especially in the digital age, the writing and production process tends towards the infinite. What marks the end of the process? How do you finish a work?

You have to respect when something is said the way it can be said in the most complete way at a certain time. You will then leave it and let it go, because it is finished.

Once a piece is finished, how important is it for you to let it lie and evaluate it later on? How much improvement and refinement do you personally allow until you're satisfied with a piece? What does this process look like in practise?

It is very important to give it time, to leave a piece for a while.

I listen to it on different occasions, sometimes for a year. You will always hear something you didn’t hear before as your perspective on the piece changes and you will have a broader view of the whole picture, and perhaps new ideas.

But I will always keep the initial takes in case I get lost in this process. It’s important to be awake when you start making subtle changes.

What's your take on the role and importance of production, including mixing and mastering for you personally? How involved do you get in this?

It’s essential and it can draw a track in any direction. Especially mixing is an essential instrument with which you are able to chose style or genre. A lot of times I mix while I compose.

After finishing a piece or album and releasing something into the world, there can be a sense of emptiness. Can you relate to this – and how do you return to the state of creativity after experiencing it?

It’s more a feeling of satisfaction, in the best scenario. I’m content I made it through. I will repose or turn to the next chapter.

Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. Do you personally feel as though writing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

Music is the only form of art that reaches you directly through frequencies. It vibrates through your ears and leads directly into your body and soul.

Other art forms reach you through the senses or the mind.