Oscar Key Sung Interview

Whether listed on your iPod or your must-see at a festival, Oscar Key Sung is something special. With a vocal ability that modernises ‘90s R’n’B and partnered with an intricate, layered production (not to mention model good looks), he truly is one to watch. Unequivocally passionate about his craft yet endearingly modestly, he speaks to us about Andras Fox, aesthetics and implicit undertones in music.

Oscar has just finished a driving lesson when he greets us. There’s something about musicians doing ordinary things that intrigues us, but we soon move onto his day job of performing to crowds. He spent last weekend at Paradise Festival at the Lake Mountain Alpine Resort in Victoria, and OutsideIn Festival in Sydney with his friend, Andras Fox.

“Paradise was beautiful; all the trees looked all spindly and white from the fires. It was very intimate and a nice calibre of human. I drove home that night and I think I drove the girl driving crazy because I was rapping along to Drake the entire way. I thought it would keep her awake because it was quite late, but I was probably being really obnoxious.”

When he’s not rapping along to Canadian hip-hop stars, Oscar is creating what he describes as “jam music” with Andras Fox. Releasing their collaborative album, ‘Café Romantica’, the record is different to Oscar’s solo work with softer lyrics that you can imagine playing in a beach house while having fun hanging out or playing table tennis – which the duo do in their spare time.

“We’re just bros. The way I like to interact with people is through music, it’s what I enjoy doing, it’s my hobby, it’s my passion and it also happens to be my job at the moment. Like all of my friends, even girlfriends, I like making music or art with.”

He credits their work as his friend’s, while he is the assistant with the captivating voice. But solo, he is very much in charge. Tracks like ‘It’s Coming’ and ‘All I Could Do’ are products of his interest in R’n’B, garage, contemporary electronic and “stuff that comes out on the Fade To Mind label.”

“I’m always into what sounds really bizarre and huge in a club and makes me want to move. Aesthetics are important because both of my parents work in fashion and were designers as I was growing up, so I’ve been around that kind of culture. I think styles and trends are very interesting; I don’t see them as superficial but expressive and interesting. I also think it’s amazing when music has an environment that follows through in the character, the performer and videos. I just discovered this rapper who used to dance for Missy Elliot, Sharaya J, and every video ends with a preview to the next video and I find that continuity and cinema really inspiring.”

While Oscar speaks highly of music as a creative outlet, there’s one aspect that he’s not such a fan of, which he calls the “derogatory paradigm towards women.”

“When I listen to the radio and commercial music, at large, there are so many implicit undertones of disrespect and misogyny that frustrate me, and a lot of the time it’s incredibly subtle, so if you pointed it out to someone they would just say, “No, you’re imagining it’. It’s something I’ve thought about a lot and a couple of [my songs] I’ve tried to intentionally twist and emphasise the issue. It just really annoys me and has turned me off so many artists in the past – I’m not gonna name anyone because I don’t wanna start a vendetta! I think it’s more about culture than the music industry; I have confidence that enough intelligent people will step forward and educate everybody.”

Looking forward, on 29th January and 4th February, Oscar will be supporting UK modern soul group, Jungle, who have breathed new life into pop music with ‘Busy Earnin’’, and Oscar is clearly the man for the job. As a staple of Australian music, he has become adored by locals and travellers who have discovered his smooth voice and warped production. Playing venues including Melbourne’s Boney and Hugs&Kisses, it is Sydney’s Oxford Art Factory that he raves about. “I love the sound on stage and the shape of the room – it feels cool and like a warehouse dungeon that’s been done up really well.”

While he’s a regular on the Australian circuit, he hasn’t toured outside of Australia besides small shows in New Zealand, Europe, America and Japan, but expresses his desire to play “a Nordic area like Sweden or Norway – or Korea would be really cool!”

Watch Oscar Key Sung ‘It’s Coming’

By Charlotte Mellor
@cmellor_03