LONDON, UK (Top40 Charts/ Emms Publicity) Following the chart-topping success of 'Bom Bom,' producer and film composer Raz Olsher has confirmed he's back in the studio with Sam & The Womp. They're currently at work in Fossil Studios, Hackney, writing and recording their debut album with Raz, who's also confirmed he'll be joining them on the road, playing synths and bass on their upcoming European tour.
Raz first met
Sam & The Womp on the summer festival circuit in 2010. After realising they shared the same tastes, and approach to music, the band asked Raz to join them on tour, where he was impressed with their power over the crowd. "When I saw people womping like there was no tomorrow I realised there was something there. It definitely felt right. We went straight into the studio and got to work."
The result, 'Bom Bom' was released on August 13. The track stormed onto radio, with heavy plays from Rob Da Bank and Fearne Cotton, making Greg James's'Dance Anthems' and John Kennedy's 'Hot Ones' on Xfm, catapulting it straight to the top of UK Official Singles Chart and cementing itself as one of this year's biggest summer anthems. "It felt quite surreal," says Raz. "Seeing something I co-wrote and produced having such mainstream success is very rewarding, but kind of unexpected. It's not what you hear at the top of the charts week in week out."
Raz is now busy producing the band's debut album, and has just spent three days in the Fossil studios with them, writing new material. "I'm really excited about Sam & The Womp's unreleased material and to see the response it will get" says Raz. "They have some great records up their sleeve."
Born in Tel Aviv, Israel, 33-year-old Raz moved to London in 2003 to study Recording Arts at SAE. Whilst working as a session bass player, he began picking up work at recording studios across London, mixing live instruments with his own electronically produced sounds. "Having grown up with a love for playing instruments and producing electronic music gives me a clear vision of how to fuse them together - it's the best of both worlds."
In 2009 Raz started Fossil Studios, transforming a warehouse in lower Clapton into a state of the art studio and living space. "I was very active in the East London underground scene, and knew a lot of artists that wanted albums made, it made sense to build my own studio." And the name? "We take an organic musical creation and imprint it on a record for ever. Like a fossil."
Raz has since worked with an array of artists, including GillesPeterson, Clare Maguire,Nathaniel Rateliff, Krust, DZ Deathrays, Ebe Oke (for album 'Valor 2011' - one of Brian Eno's Top 10 albums that year) and South Africa's Thandiswa Mazwai (2010 World Cup Opening Ceremony).
Alongside the music production, Raz has also been making a name for himself in the film world, writing scores for a number of acclaimed indie films, including 'Raw Muscle' (2011) and 'The Ninth Cloud,' starring French actor Jean Hugh Anglade (Killing Joe / Nikita) and MichaelMadsen (Reservoir Dogs/ Kill Bill) due out next year. He's about to start the score for 'Twelve,' a short staring 2011 Bafta winning actress
Monica Dolan (Appropriate Adult).
Raz and
Sam & The Womp are currently in the studio recording the band's debut album. They'll be hitting the road this autumn. Stay tuned for more details, or visit
www.fossilstudios.net
