Behind the Sound: Ooyy
Epidemic Sound’s artists make our company sing. Join Swedish producer-songwriter Ooyy for the third edition of Behind the Sound, where we deep-dive into our talent’s inspiration and creativity.
Epidemic Sound is the ultimate soundtracking partner because of our elite-tier roster — without our artists, we have no catalog. Together, we help everyone from solo creators to world-famous brands march to the beat of their own drum. That’s worth celebrating.
Today, we’re continuing Behind the Sound, in which we salute the musicians who’re taking Epidemic Sound to the next level.
This month, it’s Henrik Olsson, a Swedish songwriter and producer with whom we’ve worked since 2018. Or, as millions of listeners around the world know him, Ooyy.
Inspired by pioneers like Odesza and M83, Ooyy’s blend of ambient house, future bass, and organic tidbits just works — people can’t get enough of it. His most popular track, Come 2gether, has soundtracked more than 6.6 billion YouTube views, and has racked up over 15 million Spotify streams.
Following Come 2gether’s fifth birthday in February, Ooyy released a three-track Anniversary Remix Edition. The small-but-mighty celebration includes the original track, a phonk remix, and a house rendition.
Ooyy took a break from dropping red-hot beats to chat with us. Keep reading for his take on the songwriting process, field recordings, the randomness of electronic music, and more.
Your music has such a distinct atmosphere. How do you approach building a track from scratch?
Ooyy: “I love working with images and keywords that help build a ‘place’ the sounds should soundtrack. Once I have a rhythm or hook, I build out the track with elements that complement what’s already there.
“I usually start fresh from a single sound or rhythm that feels unique and matches the mood I have in my head. Often, it’s a section from an existing Epidemic Sound track that I like. I’ll chop it up and manipulate it until it delivers the feeling I’m aiming for.
“Lately, I’ve loved the process of playing around with full tracks from the Epidemic Sound catalog. With the help of a few plugins like Quanta 2 and image distortion, I granulate them into new, interesting sounds that spark fresh ideas. It’s a really fun and unpredictable process.”
How do you make electronic music feel so organic?
Ooyy: “By enabling randomness in my instruments and carefully selecting the sounds I begin with, I can keep an organic touch in the production. That helps the track avoid feeling too ‘digital.’
“I’m a big fan of Kasbo, Les Gordon, and Steve Angello’s solo work. Genre-wise, they’re all quite different, but they really resonate with me in terms of sound design and how deeply they evoke emotion.
“I’ve always admired the passion Steve Angello has for combining music and visual art. For me, visuals and music go hand in hand. I’m inspired by imagined places as much as real ones I’ve seen or experienced. I also think the amount of YouTube I watch plays a role — I love seeing content creators doing their thing, and that inspires new ideas and directions for my music.”
Is there a particular sound you’re obsessed with at the moment?
Ooyy: “The lead sound in “Nights Like This” by The Kid LAROI. I’m totally hooked on it. I have no idea how it was made — whether it was sampled, granulated, or just a really well-crafted synth — but it’s stuck in my head, and I love it.”
Did your sound’s electronic/natural balance come from a specific realization, or has it always felt inherent to your creative process?
Ooyy: “It started with me wanting to enhance the feeling of a specific place, so I began adding sounds from those environments into my music. Over time, that evolved into a desire to push boundaries — exploring how much I could do with a single sound, and how far I could transform it into something meaningful.
“I think music really benefits from a bit of roughness and imperfection. There’s something powerful about finding a balance between mechanical and natural textures — it creates a more human and honest sound.”
If you had to choose one natural element — a forest, the ocean, mountains, or something else — that best represents the soul of your music, which would it be and why?
Ooyy: “Definitely the mountains of the Swedish north. It’s not just the landscape — it’s the remoteness and the sense of freedom I feel there. It helps me reconnect with myself and my thoughts, and that clarity sparks new creative ideas. It’s like the rest of the world fades away and I can fully focus on what I want to create.
“Even though I live in the city now and enjoy its energy, I deeply value nature. I actually feel like I need those getaways to reset my mind and body. Nature is my happy place, and without it, I probably wouldn’t function the same, or make the kind of music I do.
“That’s why taking care of our planet and its nature is so important to me. ‘Leave only footsteps’ is a beautiful motto I try my best to live by.”
Where do you think electronic music is headed next?
Ooyy: “I feel like the electronic music scene is moving more and more toward remixing existing songs. There’s a lot of creative reuse happening — whether it’s using parts, stems, or doing full remixes.
“Sampling is becoming more innovative, and with the constantly growing music library out there, I think exploring and reimagining what already exists is where things are headed.”
With so many genres at your disposal, is there a specific genre you haven’t yet experimented with that you’d like to explore in the future?
Ooyy: “I’d love to explore more of the classical side of music — experimenting with orchestral instruments and genres. I think that could create a really cool blend with the music I’m making now. I’ve always been fascinated by how powerfully classical music can evoke emotion.”
Your tracks are used in tons of content. How does it feel knowing your music scores so many different moments?
Ooyy: “It’s honestly a dream come true. Every time I see something created with my music, I get goosebumps. Just knowing that someone chose one of my tracks, out of billions of others, is wild to think about. I’m incredibly grateful for that.
“One of my favorite commercials is ‘Vintersaga’ by Volvo. Scoring something with that kind of emotional depth and visual storytelling would be an absolute dream for me.
“I’d love to score a documentary or film one day, too. I try to tell stories through my tracks’ arrangement and sound design, but a visual project would give me more space to explore storytelling in a new way.”
How did you find your sound?
Ooyy: “It’s hard for me to define what my own sound is. I feel like others are better at saying, ‘Oh, that sounds like you.’ But if I had to describe it, I’d say it’s a mix of distinct vocal chops with a moody, expansive tonality — without sticking to a specific genre.”
What’s the most accidentally genius thing you’ve ever recorded?
Ooyy: “That would have to be my track Thunderbird. The arpeggiated melody that defines it was actually a happy accident. It started as plain chords, but I accidentally added an arpeggio — that mistake became the version you hear today.”
What can you share about your upcoming project and what can fans expect?
Ooyy: “I’m currently finalizing an EP inspired by a trip I took to New Zealand. I wanted to capture the feeling of the places I visited by sampling sounds from each location and building tracks around them.
“I sampled all kinds of field recordings. A lot of them were wind-damaged, but that actually ended up being a blessing in disguise. I used those distorted sounds to create unique drum textures — definitely an unexpected discovery that turned out better than I expected!”
Ooyy’s latest release, Come 2gether (Anniversary Remix Edition), is available on all major streaming platforms. His new EP will be available later this spring.
Listen to Ooyy’s entire discography below, and keep an eye out for the next edition of Behind the Sound.
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