Exclusive Interview with OLEC MÜN

“While” is the third piano album by OLEC MÜN. Piano music to be played “while” doing transcendent, poetic activity rather than just anything else. This is music to relax to and take in. Check out the exclusive interview below:

1. Can you tell us a bit about where you come from and how it all got started?

OLEC MÜN: I come from Argentina, from a family that taught me how to play with music and create and connect through music. So today is just a continuation of my first toddler years.

2. Did you have any formal training or are you self-taught?

OLEC MÜN: Both. I had many teachers throughout my life. I’ve studied jazz and Argentinian folklore music. I studied harmony and composition. I also studied Indian and African music. But all of them in a very personal way. I would go to the lessons, and out of something they taught me, I would then go back to my house and practice on my own terms thinking always about creating my own style, my own language. I still do this!

3. Who were your first and strongest musical influences and why the name ‘OLEC MÜN?

OLEC MÜN: My first influences were my elder brothers with whom I played music all day long. Then I started listening to a lot of jazz. Probably Keith Jarrett is the pianist I’ve listened to the most. Then came Terry Riley with his minimalist music. When I listened to him it was as if someone had already done what I had been doing for quite some time without knowing. The name Olec Mün has many reasons for existing. At the time I started with this project I was doing so many things in music that I felt I needed a new name dedicated only for my music. I was doing music for children, healing music, playing for a jazz singer, etc. So I said to myself, I will give me a name to use only for music I compose with a certain message, search and aesthetic. The name Olec is the last part of my real name, Marcelo, backwards. And the Moon is very present in me. It represents the unconscious, the feminine side, the night, that which awaits to be named and expressed. The name Olec Mün has also helped me expose myself and lead my own project. It feels as a costume I use, a game I am playing. It helps take things not so seriously.

4. What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?

OLEC MÜN: It is not easy to talk about the music I make. I prefer making it. I can only say what drives me to compose and play and share what I do. I like to create space with my music, to generate a field where my Soul can be and dwell. I hope something similar happens to the listeners. There is always a search in my music. A search of beauty and truth. I find silence important and always try to make it part of my music. The music I make is not easy to listen to, because if you are in an anxious mood, you will immediately change song. In order to enjoy my music, you need to breath a couple of times and stop what you are doing.

5. Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfillment as the amount of work you are putting into it or are you expecting something more, or different in the future?

OLEC MÜN: Being a musician is not easy. There is a lot of self discipline and sacrifice. I put a lot of hours into my routine, a lot of dedication, energy and money. It is not like an investment where you put X amount of money and you come out with X amount of money. It is much more complex to calculate. With the music I make, I feel it is a very long road trip and I get to enjoy every moment I can, be it my solitaire moments of creation, the listeners feedback saying how my music makes them feel better, the interviews such as these. I couldn’t think of a better way of spending my days than making music.

6. For most artists, originality is first preceded by a phase of learning and, often, emulating others. What was this like for you? How would you describe your own development as an artist and music maker, and the transition towards your own style, which is known as modern-CLASSICAL?

OLEC MÜN: I’ve learnt music for all of my life and have always created my own music emulating what I was listening or studying at the time. I’ve played jazz, tango. I’ve written many songwriter songs that were very similar to songwriters I was listening then. It was only some years ago, around 2018, that I noticed I was creating music that although it had influences, it had my own signature. I think this comes after many many hours of search, of knocking at endless doors within until one opens. I find it difficult to identify with a specific genre. My piano pieces are often classified into modern classical, but I feel there is some jazz there, and some minimalism. I also compose electronic ambient and experimental music. So it is not easy to label music. I understand the industry needs the labels, but I try not to think much about this when creating.

7. What’s your view on the role and function of music as political, cultural, spiritual, and/or social vehicles – and do you try and affront any of these themes in your work, or are you purely interested in music as an expression of technical artistry, personal narrative, and entertainment?

OLEC MÜN: I believe it is impossible to think music outside of these fields because we are all interdependent. I personally concentrate in the spiritual aspect of music because I feel it is the foundation of everything. If we are able to connect with our spirituality, all other aspects of reality will be transformed for good.

8. Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song? Do you usually start with a tune, a beat, or a narrative in your head? And do you collaborate with others in this process?

OLEC MÜN: I improvise a lot, just playing until a melody appears and then I start pulling the string. Some ideas last for a couple of hours, others weeks, and some make it until a piece is over. Sometimes a tune comes through in a day, others need a couple of years before they are finally ready. The process is every time unique and mysterious. It is fascinating how I start with many ideas and slowly slowly a few of them remain until the album is ready. Sometimes before, and sometimes during the process of composing, an idea appears that makes the project coherent, even systemic. I find in all the pieces something that relates them. It is often a very solitaire process. I sometimes share some pieces with my friends before they are ready but I don’t like opening the discussion much because many opinions can distract my composition and start judging what I`m doing.

9. What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?

OLEC MÜN: There is constant self motivation. There is no boss telling you to arrive early and deliver. It is only me in front of the piano, having to deal with insecurities, procastination, internal dialogues, expectations, etc. I guess the biggest challenge is to stay true to what is thriving to come out, without listening much to what should be done, or what the market wants. The artists I truly admire have followed that path, even sometimes being recognised after they passed away. The most difficult thing was not a precise moment, but the everyday work, mainly prioritising my work above all. If this is not done, it is difficult to have a prosperous and prolific career.

10. On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?

OLEC MÜN: When I started believing in myself and my music. The moment I said: “I will do this, no matter what”. It takes some courage to take that decision and I am definitely proud of that.