Ollie Olsen

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Ollie Olsen (born Ian Olsen^[1] 1958, Melbourne, Australia) is an Australian composer, synthesist and sound designer who has been producing and performing rock, electronic and experimental music for the past thirty years. He is probably best known in the mainstream for his collaboration with Michael Hutchence, Max Q in 1989.

History

Olsen began his forays into electronic music as a teenager in the mid 1970s, studying with Felix Werder. He has gone on to produce a large body of work, ranging from experimental work to film and television soundtracks, pop and dance music, installation projects and creating record labels.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s. He formed a series of punk and post punk bands, as leader and vocalist, as well as being a key figure in the Melbourne little band scene. His punk bands included The Reals and The Young Charlatans (with guitarist Rowland S. Howard). He formed a series of confrontational post-punk bands beginning with Whirlywirld, which also began a long period of collaboration with drummer John Murphy (from Whirlywirld through Hugo Klang, Orchestra Of Skin And Bone, NO and finally Max Q).

Olsen and Murphy lived in Europe and Britain between 1981 and 1984 and attempted, unsuccessfully, to get Hugo Klang off the ground. Ollie returned to Australia in 1983 and continued Hugo Klang for a short time with Alan Bamford, Tom Hoy and Laughton Ellery. John Murphy eventually returned to Australia and he and Ollie began the Orchestra of Skin and Bone with David and Marie Hoy, Dugald McKenzie and Peter Scully. Olsen and Marie Hoy would then go on to form NO with Michael Sheridan and Kevin McMahon.

In 1984 film director Richard Lowenstein approached Olsen to have Whirlywirld appear in the feature film Dogs In Space. Olsen supervised the reforming of many of the "little bands" and then worked on the production of music recordings for the soundtrack. The film was released in 1986. Shortly afterward, he and Dogs In Space star Michael Hutchence collaborated on a musical project under the name Max Q, producing an album combining electronic music with political paranoia. The Max Q band included John Murphy and keyboard player Gus Till. After recording Olsen and Hutchence spent time in New York, USA mixing the tracks, and re-mixing with DJ Todd Terry.

Olsen later returned to Australia and turned his attentions to trance music, co-founding Australian electronic music label Psy-Harmonics with Gus' brother Andrew Till and recording under the name Third Eye. From the 1990s onwards he has worked increasingly in film and TV sound design.

Olsen has lectured on and taught electronic music at various universities and symposia and performed with a wide variety of artists from across the globe.

As of 2006, Olsen is worked on a number of recording projects, mostly electro-acoustic pieces, with artists from Australia, Japan and South Africa, for performance and release in 2006. He released the album I Am The Server through the Greek record label Creative Space, and an electro-acoustic album, entitled Simulated.

List of past bands

• The Reals
• The Young Charlatans
• Whirlywirld
• Hugo Klang
• Orchestra Of Skin And Bone
• NO
• Max Q
• Third Eye
• The Visitors
• Shaolin Wooden Men
• Psyko Disko
• Antediluvian Rocking Horse
• I Am The Server
• Primitive Ghost
• Taipan Tiger Girls
• Spectral Electron Chromas
• Kitty Chrome
• Vanish from this state of Whatever

Recent collaborations & projects

• Nominated for Best Music Score for the movie Head On at the Australian Film Institute Awards (AFI Awards, 2001);
• Composed music and sound design for Troy Innocent’s interactive installation Semiomorph (2001);
• Contributed the electronic component to Australian composer Richard Mills' acclaimed opera Batavia. (2001);
• Invited to be guest soloist with the Australian Art Orchestra (2002);
• Recorded with Japanese bands Boredoms and AOA (2001-2002);
• Performed original work Generative/Regenerative live at Sonic Residues with Andrew Garton, Justina Curtis and John Power;
• Composed sound for Andrew Garton’s D3 installation at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI, 2003);
• Created sound design fx for Zhang Yimou’s film House of Flying Daggers (2004);
• Performed numerous concerts as a member of Damo Suzuki’s Network ensemble (2004-5);
• Performed as a member of the Terminal Quartet featuring Andrew Garton with Paul Abad and Ross Bencina (2006).

External links

• Ollie Olsen official site
• http://www.toysatellite.org/secession/artists/ollie_olsen.php
• Psy-harmonics Official website
• Michael Hutchence official site
• "No Middle Eights": An interview with Ollie Olsen

References