Oscar Key Sung
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Oscar Key Sung

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Oscar Key Sung has exploded onto the dance/pop music scene with his own unique brand of beat-making. The 23-year-old Melbourne singer, songwriter and producer just released his first EP, Holograms, and he is currently on a national tour. A festival regular, Oscar Key Sung has also played to thousands at Falls Festival, Meredith, Sugar Mountain and Melbourne Music Week.

He has created a genre of his own by using a spacious melody of vocal samples, his own soulful voice, keyboard and drums. “It’s quite emotional in a way,” Key Sung said. “Quite sensual and electronic, R&B and soul influenced.”

Key Sung’s passion for creating unusual and enjoyable sound, stemmed from a love of all things creative. “I’ve always liked being creative in a lot of ways,” he said. “I grew up painting, and did a lot of acting and singing. I just liked the arts. Music is just one of the things I’ve always done since I was little.”

He got into beat-making a few years ago and his music took off when he decided to combine it with his soulful voice and lyrics. “I wanted to work with a limited palette. Using a lot of vocal samples as the source for my keyboard sounds and drum sounds,” Key Sung said. “I like having it all tie in and fit together.”

In recent years, Oscar Key Sung has become a regular in Melbourne’s beat-making scene, as one half of Oscar + Martin, and Brothers Hand Mirror. Holograms sees him forging further partnerships, this time with Melbourne based producer, Andrei Eremin. “He was able to give me technical advice that helped me make changes to the music,” he said. “Because his ears are more trained to the production side, whereas when I went to University I did more conceptual stuff.”

Key Sung’s influences vary, from Just Green, to Beyoncé and everything in between. “There are a lot of artists who I think are amazing. Like Rhye, his album Woman was a big influence on me for the EP,” he said. “I even listen to really poppy stuff like Disclosure, Bjork and Arthur Russell. I listened to Radiohead way too much when I was younger.”

Key Sung’s peers in the industry have also been a huge influence. “I definitely don’t draw from one particular thing and I think that’s really obvious when you hear my music,” he said. He studied Sound Art at University, but admits it influenced his music in an unusual way. “A lot of the emphasis in the course was about avoiding clichés and the pop-mentality. That’s what drew me to the course initially,” he said. “But then it also led me to react to that, and make things that were a bit more poppy, because I’m a reactionary kind of person. I like doing the opposite of what I’m told.”

Oscar Key Sung is looking forward to the rest of the tour, including his May show in Perth. He played in Perth a couple of years ago and enjoyed the effusively welcoming reception. “I had people coming up to me and saying they had a really good time so that was really good,” he said. After Australia he will head overseas, making sure he stops by Japan. “I’m a huge Japan freak. A huge goal of mine is to live there and I can’t wait to get into the dance scene. I hear its massive.”

BY EMILY WOODS