Aaron Pompey
On his most recent project Straight Razor, Vol. 2, Omar Doom delivers tracks that reflect a variety of influences, while consistently delivering the “Doom aesthetic” – a bleak, cinematic landscape marked by restrained aggression. MusicFiends caught up with Doom recently to chat about the impact of his myriad experiences and how he weaves it all skillfully into the Cimmerian pitch of his artistry.
AP: First of all, thanks for taking a few minutes to talk to us here at Music Fiends. I appreciate your time.
You’ve talked frequently about your creative inspiration coming from lots of different places: classical Indian music, horror soundtracks, 80s pop music, and even playing piano as a kid. All really different places, since that’s where our influences come from. How has that evolved into a kind of musical profile for you?
OD: Well, I think I developed a style pretty early, as all those things were meshing together. I think that what was going on in my life – just in adolescence, growing up, figuring out who I was – probably also added a lot to it as well. Because most guys, when they’re growing up, go through a lot of different phases trying to figure out who they are – they go through really aggressive phases. Like, who’s going to be the toughest guy in the room. It’s kind of like going to jail, you know what I mean? But it’s elementary school. It’s who’s the tough guy, you know? And everyone’s trying to figure out where they fit in. And I think a lot of my aggression – from not really doing that well in school and just all the stuff I was going through with that – kind of added an edge to my music, I think. That’s something that I haven’t really talked about, I guess.
AP: So, that edge really made its way in.
OD: Well, there was so much frustration, confusion, anger. Things were going on in my life – at home and at school. And I became very aggressive, you know, with all the music that I was making. It was getting harder and harder and harder and, at some point, it was just straight screaming. And at some point, I mellowed out. But it’s still…I never really lost that edge, I think.
AP: That definitely comes through in the music. Listening to Straight Razor, Vol 2 a few times, it was experiential in a way where I was simultaneously pumped while listening, but also relaxed.
OD: Well, there is also a softness in there. It’s not buried too deep, I guess.
AP: And you pursued fashion for a while, is that right?
OD: Well, I started a clothing company [Diabla] with my sister [Saira]. But I was more doing all the artwork. You know, we were doing a lot of t-shirts and we sold to Hot Topic. Shout out Jason Shelby and Shannon Krulish [Shelby and Krulish were both retail buyers at Hot Topic during those years]. Basically, young girl’s stuff. And then we kind of branched out into some dresses and different items. But it was mostly very simple and I was doing mostly the art work.
AP: Were you pursuing that as mostly a commercial interest, or was there an overlap there with what you wanted to do, perhaps across different media, different industries?
OD: Well, I had just gotten out of college and I didn’t really know what I was going to do. She convinced me. I knew I wanted to move to L.A. I graduated in New York City. And she convinced me to go out there [to L.A.] to start this company. At the time, she was at Art Center. And I told her, “Alright, you have to quit school, and then I’ll do it. If you’re not quitting school and giving it your all, I’m not going to do it.” My parents didn’t like that. [Laughs] But she quit school to do it. And we did it for a few years. And we ended up getting our clothes into some cool movies and TV shows.
AP: It sounds like there was some connection between that and what you started to do in music and acting.
OD: Well, at the time, when I was getting my stuff into movies, I was looking at the screen going “I really want to get myself into these movies.” I’ve been making all this effort to get these t-shirts into movies and I see them up there and I’m like, “I want to be in there.” And I realized that it [the clothing company] wasn’t exactly what I wanted to do. And I really just needed to focus on the specific goals that I had with acting and music. And actually take it on. I should give it a shot. Meeting Quentin Tarantino definitely helped that decision.
AP: Then you were able to parlay that all into an acting career.
OD: Yeah, I gave it my best shot. It was more like I got to see firsthand; and meeting people really making it in L.A., in this business. And I saw that it was actually possible. And just make the choice to just stop everything and do exactly what I wanted to do with my life. Acting and music.
AP: Volume 1 had a dark and driving intensity to it. In Volume 2, the sound opens up. It’s still driving, there is still darkness, but it’s a bigger sound.
OD: Well, I’m always trying to go big. With the song “Enemy”, I can hear what you’re talking about. That’s the newest song that I made. I added a more movie-inspired sense in there. Horror. More of that, I think.
AP: More like a film score.
OD: That’s definitely something I want to do more. Track 5 [“Lady Midday”] on Volume 2 is the title track in this horror movie called Spree starring Joe Keery of Stranger Things. That would be really cool – to be able to see my music up there in a horror movie. I definitely want to do that more in the future.
AP: Anybody that you’d want to work with?
OD: Well, I want to do my own. But I would definitely work with other people too. I can’t think of anyone specific – I’m not really pursuing anybody right now to work with. But I am definitely open to scoring someone else’s work as well.
AP: You’ve done collaborative projects with Corvad, as well as on the film you mentioned, Spree. With so many voices and the sheer number of contributors involved in albums and especially films, it can be challenging to bring something unique to something of that size and scope. What do you bring to those kinds of collaborations?
OD: Well, I haven’t yet. I haven’t looked at a movie and scored it yet. But I think that everything that I do has my stamp on it. There’s a Doom aesthetic, I think, that really just encompasses everything that I do. And I think that I would try to bring… I mean, I wouldn’t try anything, I would just attack it with everything I had.
AP: What have been some of the challenges that you faced in your career? And how did those emerge or even manifest in the production of your music?
OD: Challenges…Well, the biggest challenge would be my hearing. Right before I made Volume 2, I lost most of the hearing in my right ear. Doctors couldn’t really figure it out. They tried for a long time to find out what was going on. They did everything. They shot my eardrum up with steroids. They stuck a big needle in my ear – didn’t feel that great. And I have very loud tinnitus sounds in my ear. So, mixing the album was a little more stressful than the last. Because you’re panning sounds left and right all the time – so having to turn my head to the left to hear the music in its entirety, it was really challenging actually. I think you can probably hear my frustration in it – it really affected me when I was making the song “Enemy.” I didn’t really set out to make that song – that song just happened. I think all my anger was coming out into that song.
AP: Perhaps why that song resonated the way it did. How did that impact the way you were able to collaborate on the album?
OD: I actually didn’t work with anyone on this album. It was all me 100%. Some of the songs were older and I had taken them to some friends’ studios to help me with the sounds – through their speakers. The sounds of the drums and dialing them in. Basically everything else was me.
AP: Let’s talk a bit more about another track that’s getting a lot of attention: “Lady Midday.” You noted earlier that film scoring was something you wanted to do more. Was “Lady Midday” written for Spree, or was it written for the album and then used in the film?
OD: That was a song that I wrote about a year before they called me for that song. They got a hold of it somehow. It wasn’t even out yet. And I gave it to them. But when I made that one, I was more in a sad mood. Actually, I was going through a break-up at the time. I broke the song up into acts, like a movie, when I made it. Actually, structure-wise, it wasn’t like a song structure. It was different acts with different drums, and different acts in different moods. It was kind of like a progression of my relationship, I think. That was a lot of fun – playing with structure like that.
AP: How would you define your usual structure?
OD: There’s a dance music structure that most people use. There’s structures in rock music that people use. We bend the rules here and there, creatively, and that’s what sets us apart. But this is just a whole different direction. I just looked at it like a movie.
AP: What’s next for you in music or film?
OD: Well, I want to do all three [Laughs]. All three, meaning music, acting, and art. Obviously, I would love to combine all of them together into a project. I’m actually looking to pursue acting a little more in the future. I just had this music come out, so I have a little break from that anyway. So, you might see more of me on the other side of things.
AP: As you have been touring in support of the album, what’s been the response? What have the live shows been like?
OD: They’ve been great. I did this mini tour in May where we hit New York, the Midwest, and also the West Coast. It was great. These songs are being heard for the first time for most people – introducing them. The response has been great. And then all leading up to my release party that we had recently in Los Angeles, in my hometown there. It was a great turnout. It was packed and so much fun. Everybody was responding really well. I feel like it was a real success.
AP: That wraps it up. Anything else you want to add before we sign off?
OD: Watch out for more stuff. Hit my links. I’m always posting news. And I have vinyl that just came out. You can get Volume 1 and Volume 2 together on vinyl.
AP: Excellent. Thanks for your time, Omar. Good luck with everything and I look forward to seeing you on the other side of things.
OD: Thanks for having me. Nice talking to you.
For more information, check out:
Website: https://omardoom.com
Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/omardoom.straightrazor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/omardoom/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/omardoom?lang=en
Watch Straight Razor’s “Iblis”:
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