Chicagoist Mix #12: Olin
By Jake Guidry in Arts & Entertainment on Feb 20, 2012 8:00PM
Chicagoist Mix Series is an ongoing feature that profiles local DJs/producers and features a mix compiled exclusively for Chicagoist. This is mix No. 12, brought to you by Olin.
After a few months of dormancy, we're excited to bring back Chicagoist Mix Series. We've got a very talented group of people lined up to contribute mixes, and first on our list is techno producer Olin, a.k.a. Jason Garden.
We've written about Olin a few times on Chicagoist, most recently to fawn over his and Savile's remix for Jokers of the Scene's "In Order to Trance". Since then, he's released another collaborative effort with Savile, this time the Horizon EP, which dropped last week on Wazi Wazi. The Horizon EP is a wonderful, low-key and deep collection of techno bliss; the title track will seriously put you in a trance.
While Garden has found his stride as a techno producer here in Chicago, his roots are a bit indirect. He started DJing in 2005 in Kansas, where he was born and raised. "I got my start DJing like I figure most people did: just playing tunes for my friends at parties," says Garden. "Back then, I was still doing the Thunderous Olympian thing, which was my first moniker. I was mostly playing electro, ghetto house, Miami bass, juke, blog house, stuff like that." Garden continued to hone his skills by playing gigs and hosting a local radio show, where he eventually learned to spin vinyl. "I didn't have two turntables at home, but I had vinyl," he says, "so I just said screw it and threw myself into the fire on the air. Since I had kind of gotten an ear for beat-matching by doing it on my computer, it wasn't a total disaster (OK, sometimes it was)." After a while, though, Garden felt a desire to shift his style. "I started the Olin thing when I just got tired of everything so over the top," he says. "My taste had shifted, and I wanted an outlet for my more subtle inclinations. After a while, it sort of became my main focus, and still is today."
Garden has called Chicago home since 2008, when he decided to move here to attend law school. "When I moved here, I was so excited to be able to go see DJs that I could never see in Kansas pretty much every weekend," he says, adding, "I mean, I'm still excited about that, to be honest." It's that same excitement that motivated Garden to continue pushing. "[The Chicago] atmosphere really inspired me to kind of kick things up," he says. "As I got to know people in the scene, I started playing more shows around here, specifically after-parties and things like that." Since then, Garden has continued to raise his profile as one of the city's premier young talents.
About today's mix, Garden calls it "a love letter to warmer temperatures and friends." It's a supremely laid-back collection of tracks that will conjure thoughts of those all-too-short Chicago summers. It also features a few tunes he knew he wanted to fit in, including the Good Guy Mikesh and Filburt remix of "Horizon", which Garden calls "just stunningly good," and a currently unreleased tune by the Chicago-based Black Madonna, whom Garden proclaims has "a whole barn full of criminally excellent music that everyone should be on the lookout for."
If you're looking for more Olin, he'll be doing a set with Savile at Katacombs this Friday. He also recently relaunched his label, Forem, as a "pay-what-you-want kind of deal," so be sure to check that out and give support.
MP3 - Chicagoist Mix #12: Olin