Ørjan Nilsen

Ørjan Nilsen

Ørjan Nilsen is a Norwegian trance artist from Sør-Varanger, born in 1982. He is also associated with the aliases O & R and nilsix, and releases on the label In My Opinion.

Early life and musical development

Born in Kirkenes, he develops an interest in music at an early age. He begins playing drums at the age of one and receives instruction from his father and brother during the first nine years of his life. He gets his first keyboard at seven and practises on it regularly for the next few years.

As he enters his teenage years, melody and rhythm become increasingly important in his musical interests. Trance then becomes the style that attracts him most, especially after he listens to trance compilations from Holland. He wants to make this kind of music himself, but financial limitations and a lack of technical knowledge delay that for some time.

Production work

At 16, he gets his first synthesizer, with an onboard sequencer and drum machine, and begins learning how to build tracks with drums, basslines, melodies, strings and chords. About a year later, he learns how to make music on a computer, which expands his production work further. He continues developing his productions and adds more equipment as he works to take his tunes to a higher level.