HÖR takeover: otik

Since 2013 Ashley Thomas has steadily been building up his artillery of forward thinking hard hitting club music under his moniker Otik. In 2018 Otik joined the ranks of Rinse for a bi-monthly residency which gave him the opportunity to explore the deeper recesses of his record collection alongside guests such as Martyn, Andrea & Cosmin TRG. He has also contributed to mix series like Dekmantel, Crack Magazine, Lobster Theremin, Club Qu (named as Resident Advisor’s Mix Of The Day) and guested on radio stations like NTS and Worldwide FM whilst holding down a residency on Rinse France. In 2019 things stepped up on a production level. The year began with the ‘Stoned Ghost’ EP on Berlin’s Nous Disques imprint, which explored a more emotive dreamy side of UK Techno.

In quick succession Otik’s followed up with a debut outing on Midland’s Intergraded imprint with a track titled ‘Actress’ and later the experimental ‘Dioxide’ EP via DEXT Recordings. In 2020, Otik self-released 3 EPs on Bandcamp and his momentum continued in the same year with EPs on Gobstopper Records, Shall Not Fade and a return to both Intergraded and Keysound Recordings. His ’Trifecta’ EP marked a further progression in his career as he joined the roster of the Berlin based imprint Club Qu - one of the true champions of lockdown, their VR events have become legendary, projecting the feel of Berlin’s nightlife worldwide in the most forward thinking way. November 2021 was Otik’s debut on Martyn’s label 3024 with his ‘Soulo’ EP, which received early support from Mary Ann Hobbs on Radio 6 and saw Otik explore various tempos and genres, infusing Jungle and UK Techno with other components of his sound. He recently launched his own imprint Solar Body, with inaugural EP Psyops, a journey through Jungle, Footwork and Intelligent Breaks.