«For me, it’s primarily a connection to my roots,» says DJ and producer wev in a conversation with Newsweek , in a studio filled with toys, figurines, and visual cues that help guide his imagination. "Where and why I make music." This statement instantly reveals OST , his debut full-length album. The record is more than just a collection of tracks. It's a living space, drawing inspiration from the sensual language of video games, the emotional intensity of soundtracks, and a deeply personal creative philosophy rooted in memory, curiosity, and play.
Create a room and then follow the mood.
Vev describes himself as a visual person, and his workspace reflects this. While he works, characters from various franchises and eras are on display, creating a constellation of shapes, colors, and moods. Some are tied to specific interests—Bomberman, frog characters, strange little collectibles—while others simply "resonate with me somehow." He keeps them more than just decoration. They serve as cues, almost like portals.
«"It's very easy for me to just stare into space and get distracted," he says. "Or to become fixated on a particular character, for example, their figure, color, or pose. And this becomes a very fruitful source of ideas.".
He chooses his words carefully when discussing his source of inspiration. Nostalgia, in its simplistic marketing sense, doesn't fully capture what he's striving for.
«"It's not so much about nostalgia as it is about respect for the roots," he says, echoing the phrase precisely. He's referring to the personal source of his connection to electronic music: sounds that reached him through games, textures that imprinted themselves on his imagination before he had the vocabulary to name them. He explains that the creative process begins with visual and emotional perception, then moves into sonic translation. "There's a transformation," he says. "You see something, and then it's transformed into chords, a sound choice, a melody, or a structure.".
This approach to work gives the album O ST extraordinary texture. The album feels tangible, vibrant, and cinematic, as if each song is composed of flowers as well as percussion and melody. wev doesn't primarily pursue genre. He listens to the energy in front of him.
«"My goal is simply to capture whatever's happening in the room that day," he says. "Whatever the atmosphere, whatever the source... when you look around curiously, something lights up, and in that moment, my only goal is to try to capture what was there at that moment.".
DJ and producer wev.
From soundtracks to game language
Long before he had his own studio, he had a Nintendo 64 and an instinctive response to sound. He recalls Bomberman Hero as a founding text in his musical life, a soundtrack whose electronic language deeply ingrained him. "It was the first soundtrack that truly captured me," he says. Growing up, the house was filled with a variety of music—his father played classic rock, his mother R&B, soul, and international tunes—and later, the internet opened another door. He and a friend spent time poring over early YouTube, searching for trance and techno without much context, simply following whatever caught their attention.
Like many artists, his path to music wasn't straightforward. In high school, he picked up a pirated copy of FL Studio, dabbled in jazz alto saxophone, made an unsuccessful attempt to master DJ equipment, and then dedicated several years to professional photography. Music remained in the background until one turning point put everything into perspective. While photographing a festival in Dallas, we found ourselves backstage during Hardwell's set. The interaction itself was brief, almost casual, but it changed something. The next morning, seeing a set of CDJs still waiting for him at the house where he was staying, the direction of his life became clearer.
«"I was in the right rooms, but in the wrong shoes," he says.
He returned home, pulled his old gear out of storage, and started over. A year of self-study in his garage led to a deeper commitment to music after moving to New York in 2018. Even now, his approach to electronic music is difficult to pin down to any specific genre, and that's precisely what makes his work so versatile. He's not interested in narrowing his musical preferences to any particular scene.
«"I don't see my job as creating work in any particular genre," says the Brooklyn-based artist. "I'm simply a lens shaped by my own experiences and what has captured my curiosity or imagination over the years.".
The Instagram embed will be displayed here.
Soundtrack to the game "Life"«
On OST album wev takes the logic of game soundtracks and turns it inward. The title itself alludes to the original soundtracks, though the project feels more like a self-portrait in motion than an homage. "The music is a spectrum of different emotions that I feel, or have felt, or that I think reflect my experiences," he says. He describes the album as an emotional arc with ups and downs, moments of introspection, and returns to playfulness. One section devolves into darker, more complex feelings. Another track, "Why Do I Run Away," strives for candor and introspection. By the end, quirkiness returns as an integral part of his nature.
He's clear about the album's intentions: "I wanted to make a great electronic album." This phrase carries a sense of responsibility, especially when he explains the tradition he wanted to follow. He didn't focus on what was currently dominant in club culture. He wanted to trace a deeper line through the music that shaped him and push it forward on his own terms. OST was the result of this approach: emotionally open, technically detailed and guided more by internal logic than by external trends.
What makes the album particularly appealing is how it captures a familiar atmosphere to many listeners without slipping into imitation. wev isn't trying to recreate the exact sound of a late '90s or early 2000s game. He's aiming for something more elusive. "I just use a palette and then create something as honest as possible," he says. When listeners recognize a certain feeling—echoes of a racing game, a virtual platformer, a vibrant digital expanse—it's because he tapped into a shared sonic memory rather than copied a template. The result is a sound that's both intimate and unifying.
DJ and producer wev
Involving people in the process
For listeners familiar with his work from videos posted on the Internet, OST It also represents the public side of his deeply personal practice. He admits that documenting it is not easy for him.
«"It's really hard for me to be involved in social media and document everything in that way," he says. "It's definitely not natural for me.".
Nevertheless, he understands the role it plays in helping people discover music and connect with artists. Sharing snippets of his work has become a compromise between publicity and self-protection, a way to open doors without imposing a performance.
He describes the act of publishing itself as "an exercise in vulnerability," especially in a climate where artists can feel pressure to turn every gesture into content. Instead, he seeks a simpler exchange: to show the world where he creates music, to share the objects and instruments that surround him, and to offer people an authentic entry point.
«"I'm not trying to compete for people's attention," he says. "I'm just trying to give people who are interested in what I do… something they can find.".
Tunnel vision, the big picture
«"This is more music than I've ever released at one time," he says. Some of these songs have been with him for years, waiting for the right form and moment. Vev describes the album as the result of constant refinement, like customizing a character's loadout before missions. As a final step before release, one of the key additions was ensuring a seamless transition from track to track. "My favorite albums are the ones without gaps," he says. "This one was produced so you could listen to it from start to finish and get the full experience.".
This emphasis on experience is at the heart of what makes OST so memorable. wev has created an album that honors the sounds and images that first sparked his imagination, yet refuses to reduce them to simple reference points. He's more interested in spirit than reproduction, world-building than citation. The music evokes both a sense of recognition and the thrill of discovery. For an artist who often speaks of origins, OST It feels like a new beginning—a beginning embodied in vibrant colors and filled with the playful intuition that was present from the start.
Listen soundtrack You can here.
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