ARTIST OF THE MOMENT: Olesia Elfa

As we started to descend in solitude around March this year Delayed stumbled upon Olesia Elfa and immersed themselves in her otherworldly ambient and techno mixes immediately and deeply. Olesia, DJ and producer based in Kyiv, Ukraine is - the internet says so and is right with that - a “sleeping giant”. Being a resident of the labels WEX and AHAAD her releases show a versatility that only makes us curious about hopefully more to come. Track selections and arrangements are expansive, mostly electronic shades in variations, that offer comfort and exploration simultaneously. 

Her soundscapes lay in front of you like a velvet carpet, one you want to touch, walk on it, lay down on it, and never want to leave it. Approaching music through a fascination for the universe and spiritualism, we have asked her to contribute a mix for Delayed...with and connected together in a beautiful conversation that showcases even more that she is a talent to watch.

Hi Olesia, nice to meet you. What are you up to these days?

Hey, nice to meet you too. These days I have been busy with the final move to Kyiv from my hometown Odesa - transporting equipment and my golden retriever.

You are based in Ukraine - Whilst the scene in Kyiv became a bit wider known through clubs like CLOSER or RiverPort, not many of the local artists gained a similar reputation yet and are still to be explored. Can you share with us a few thoughts on some Ukrainian artists and the situation in the scene?

The electronic scene in Kyiv has expanded significantly over the past few years. A large number of interesting parties and festivals take place here and new clubs emerge each year. In short, musical life here is very diverse and high quality. There is even an opinion that Kyiv is the second Berlin. In terms of musical intensity and variety, this connection can be easily made. Speaking about artists, there are many talented DJs and musicians in Kyiv and Ukraine in general, as well as many different collectives and creative associations. 

I found out about you when I was looking for female artists in the field of dub techno. There are not many - could you share your journey in becoming a musician and your influences?

Music has always been my natural habitat and a place where my imagination lived. My mom is a pianist, so I received the love for music with my genes, I guess. The first and vivid memories of musical experience I associate with listening to Pink Floyd, Space, and Tangerine Dream albums of my dad. Also brightly remember the album “Music for the Jilted Generation” by The Prodigy, which I was given at the age of 12. It shocked me in some sense and influenced me a lot. 
I started to get interested in electronic music from 14-15. At that time I discovered some radio stations where DJs played progressive trance, techno, and drum & bass. I recorded those sets on cassettes.  We had a few nice record stores in Odesa where I spent almost every weekend digging and buying cassettes and CDs.  Much of it sounds pretty nice for my ears even now.
I remember I used to fall asleep with music, experiencing unusual sensations, and “seeing” music via dreams. Some elements of the tracks were embodied in different unfamiliar visual images and perceived as if in 4d. I was getting a huge inspiration from dreams and tried to capture those feelings using Fruity Loops. I was 16 then. 
Next - passion for parties. The whole atmosphere of nightclubs was mine to the core, I felt at home there from the beginning. But to admit, I was never particularly eager to become a DJ. I just loved music very much and listened to tons of music - far beyond electronic... I loved the idea of being versatile, finding musical gems, and collecting them. At some point, I started to think - what is it like to stand behind the decks and tell my story? 
The turning point was in 2009 when I lived in Moscow. At that time, I was going through an emotionally difficult period which made me dive deep into my inner world and get closer to music a lot. The one significant moment was a cold and quiet February day, I was walking down the street when some guy gave me an advertising flyer with information about a DJ school. Instantly I thought - this is exactly what I need now! So I went there and fell in love with that new chapter of life. But I didn't expect at all that after a few months I would play in clubs and get a residency simultaneously in two cool clubs. As for producing - I started in 2011, releasing music somewhere between progressive trance and techno under another alias.

Your track “Ashtar Sheran“ caught my attention and I quickly ended up listening to most of your mixes, that range from Ambient over Dub techno to Psytrance. They all have something mystical or spacy in common.

Subconsciously I'm attracted by everything mystical and cosmic. Never liked to put me into any particular frameworks, including the musical genre “boxes” as they take away inner freedom. But I want to maintain a certain depth and mysticism, exploring things further. And adding some meaning between the lines...

There were moments of focus on ambient and dub techno, then minimal techno, breakbeat, hypnotic techno, trance, and psytrance. Now I'm focused mostly on ambient, techno, and trance sound. But I like to be curious and open-minded and welcome anything that a soul resonates with. Internal transformations always entail discovering new music, so I look into music like into a mirror.

Following you, on Instagram, you seem very much attracted to the cosmos, the mystic beauty of nature, and spirituality. How does that influence the way you approach your mixes?

Spirituality, cosmos, and music are the 3 elements of the universal language with which I resonate. Same as with nature - a pure demonstration of a soul and life force. Disconnecting from society from time to time, immersing in nature, reading, and practicing kundalini yoga is something that I need and love. My places of power are mountains. Their energy gives a feeling of inner strength, wisdom, and peace at the same time. 

I am a perfectionist when it comes to music, but if I can’t make a compilation for a mix within 20-30 minutes - I will do it next time. I need to catch a flow and hypnotic state, then everything builds fast and harmoniously. Generally, my approach is very natural. I sincerely love to record mixes as they are fragments of my feelings and stories about space and everything else that it's possible to imagine while listening. Same with tracks that I make. I want to let the music speak for itself.

I find them very deep and layered, they basically lure one into a meditative or hypnotic state. Would you call yourself a spiritual person?

Yes, and I would call any other person spiritual as well since each of us is a soul having a body, not vice versa. The soul comes to get earthly experience and therefore any manifestation of earthly experience is nothing more than a spiritual experience in a global sense. The question of spirituality in my opinion is only how we express our spirit - whether we make decisions that bring us closer to our spirit or move away from it. I always had excitement in discovering everything mystical and digging deeper, however, balancing to keep my feet on the ground. Everything should be in harmony.

As for the connection with music - I love to inspire and fill people with emotions and thoughts. This is important for me as I don't want to do anything meaningless. When I receive warm feedback from people - I am happy. 

It has been often described how music impacts the brain from a young age and how it can affect us on many levels. What was your first memorable musical experience?

One of the memorable experiences I definitely connect with childhood memories of listening to Pink Floyd's records, especially the album "The Dark Side Of The Moon". I was only 6-7 years old and was in love with their music. It seemed kind of familiar to me as if I already knew it on some level. The children's psyche perceives such things rapturously and pure at the same time. Those moments are etched into my memory so much. Listening, I was warmed by fantasies of other worlds, other beings and sensed some melancholy of missing something or someone who is far away from you. Pink Floyd is very dear to me to this day, I'll always treat their music with special trepidation.

More conscious memories are connected to my first visit to the Kazantip festival, which was going in the Crimean peninsula every summer. It was 2006 when it opened a new dimension of electronic music to me. Everything was so different there - a special philosophy and an alternative concept for such kind of events. This festival was held from 1993 to 2013 and it was a true phenomenon of the Ukraine electronic scene that affected many people. Unfortunately after certain painful political events in our country, it no longer exists. But the founders did not stop and relocated it to Vietnam with the name "Epizode". 

So far, a lot of great music has been released this year. What is your candidate for the record of the year?

“Out Of Place Artefacts” LP produced by Vril and Rødhåd is in my top.

Loving the whole concept, the artwork, and the music of course - deep, mature, mysterious, and magical inside. My first impression was - this album is as wise as a good book. It has both - the soul and the character that I usually look for in music. 

 The year 2020 brought its specific challenges and hopes are high things will become different from 2021 on - what are your hopes for the next months?

A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor. My hopes are for people to be healthy, conscious, and not be overly affected by the media. Our system needs to be reorganized, just like every person needs some shake-up in order to hear their true selves better, to let go of something that no longer needed, to find new ways of development, or to introduce something new into existing ways. I want to believe that 2021 and subsequent years will be favorable for the whole planet and each person. I remind myself regularly that changes start in me and If I want to see changes around - I must change first because physical reality is a mirror. Therefore working on an authentic version of ourselves is the best thing each of us can do. Also, I wish people to be more kind and attentive to each other now and always because the world needs it the most. We are on a transition stage to something new, but in order to build new - the old must be demolished. Everything happens for a reason even if it is hard to see sometimes, so let's be positive and believe in a brighter future.