OddKidOut Gives Us the Lowdown on "On My Mind" and More

OddKidOut swung by to chat about his recent release “On My Mind,” remixing Ash Leone’s “Physical,” and his growth as an artist!

It only takes one listen and you will be hooked on Los Angeles-based artist Butch Serriani, aka OddKidOut. Since first breaking onto the scene, he’s received plenty of acclaim by releasing beats on labels including OWSLA and STMPD RCRDS, while throwing down some sensational posts on platforms like Instagram that truly pop. Whether it’s his wicked finger drumming videos or one of his recent productions, his talents are both inspiring and captivating.

All that aside, his genre-bending music is a fresh take in the electronic music space and quite frankly, it simply speaks for itself. If you enjoy hip-hop, lo-fi, and electronic music OddKidOut masterfully blends the three to create productions sure to reel you in as a fan. Most recently he delivered a fresh tune dubbed “On My Mind” that’s an absolute jam while also putting a spin on Ash Leone’s “Physical” to take it to the next level.

After these releases, we had the chance to chat with this incredible emerging artist, so read on as OddKidOut gives us insight into his creative mind and talks about his new releases and plenty more. Listen to “On My Mind” on Spotify or your preferred platform, and let us know what you think of this rising star in the comments!

Stream OddKidOut – On My Mind on Spotify:

Hi OddKidOut, thanks for chatting with us today, and congrats on the release of “On My Mind.” What was the production process like behind the tune, can you walk us through it?

Hell yeah, thanks for having me. I made this record in Ableton and mostly used just my computer and my Maschine to record all of the music. I started off with the kalimba part that I played right on my computer keyboard, actually. Once I felt the vibe of the chords, I began finger drumming some of the drums out on my Maschine. From there, it was just a natural flow of arranging, chopping, and eventually getting the vocals put on top. I wanted to create something that felt happy, but still had bits of my unique sound.

This year saw you drop a fantastic remix of “Physical” by Ash Leone. What drew you to that track and made you want to put your twist on it?

So Ash Leone is actually a super long time friend of mine. We went to high school together and played in a band in our teens. We eventually went on to do our own artistry stuff, and I always tease her that we don’t do enough records together. Once I heard the original of “Physical”, I was like yo let me get the acapella. I sent her back the remix and she loved it, so we released something together finally.

I know you’re from Philadelphia but have since moved to LA. You mentioned that your environment influences the beats you produce and I was wondering what are the biggest inspirational differences you feel between producing in Philadelphia and producing in Los Angeles?

So I’m an East Coast boy at heart. Growing up in Philadelphia, I learned how to play with “swing,” I learned how to play funk and soul, I learned how to play punk, jazz, etc. The soundscape of Philly is pretty wide and being immersed in it from a young age is what helped me develop my sound. However, LA is a place of opportunity. It’s also a place of bumping shoulders with people who understand more than just the creation of music. So I feel like Philly gave me the tools to create myself, while LA gave me the platform to showcase it.

As you’ve grown as an artist and producer you mentioned you create through a lens. At this point in your career, what lens would you say you are creating through? Or what is your intention with your current projects?

Right now, I just want to make music that resonates with people. Whether it makes them feel happy, sad, melancholy… it doesn’t matter. Just as long as it helps someone, or is cathartic, or helps them get laid. And of course, no matter what vibe I’m creating, I always will infuse that OKO sound.

Your music videos and visual companions are always very visceral and in the past, you mentioned that you see scenes in your head when producing music. What has been the track and video companion that has most accurately mimicked the scene in your head to real-life production?

To be honest, I don’t think I’ve quite nailed that yet. I’m a super perfectionist so I’m often hard on myself about how accurate everything is. I think pretty soon with some of this new music I will get it. But my favorite visual I’ve released is the music video for “6 Years” off of my Solstice EP with OWSLA. That jawn is a vibe.

In your PISSY Playboi Carti performance, your live set up consisted of a drum set, DJ controller, and drum machine. Blending all your skills, was this set up specific to this performance or do you plan to include all those dynamics in future live shows?

Great question, this is the exact format I want to bring to my live shows once covid is over and we can all play again. I think merging those three elements is really exciting, and helps marry the electronic and analog world together.

It’s really enjoyable to watch you jam with people like MAKJ and Mateus Asato, what are some other dream jam sessions you’d like to manifest?

TRAVIS BARKER. I want to make a drumming video with him so badly. I have him on DM, we follow each other, but I haven’t met him in person yet so hopefully, we can link soon.

You use social media to generate conversations between yourself and other big artists like Flume, A$AP Mob, Logic, Will Smith, etc. Can you remember a specific chat with an artist that resulted in something great or simply impacted your career/growth?

Yes, out of the privacy of these individuals I won’t get into details of our conversations, but some artists I’ve spoken to who have changed my trajectory or gave me something special were Skrillex, Timbaland, Illa J, will.i.am and Ryan Leslie.

During the pandemic, you also teamed up with BeatStars for the “STUMP OKO” series where people try to stump you with samples. What has the experience been like engaging with your audience in that fashion?

The STUMP OKO series started out on my Twitch channel and has been a fucking blast since I’ve started it. Partnering with BeatStars on it was great; taking it to their channel for a bit was a lot of fun to see new users interact with the series. The series has since left BeatStars and is back to just my channel, but it’s a lot of fun for people who want to see music sampled, and more specifically hard ones that challenge me. And from my end, it forces me to be a better producer every time I do it, cause it’s really hard. [Laughs] It’s actually one of the best exercises for my production brain.

Finally, with most of 2020 in the rearview window, what do you have in store for the next year? Are there any specific goals you’re hoping to achieve?

Just keep making good music and making connections with people all over the world.