By Joslyn Keenan
April 3, 2018
Conoley Ospovat. Courtesy Continental Drift Records Facebook.
The next in the Golden Ratio series of live DJ showcases is set for Friday at Marz Bar, 1140 O St.
Usually held on First Fridays, the event — Golden Ratio Vol. 14 — will start at 6 p.m. and will end around 1:30 a.m. and features KZUM’s own DJ Conoley Ospovat and a guest appearance by “Eastern Standard Time” host Carter Van Pelt. DJ $pencelove will also be on the bill. The show will be presented by Ospovat’s record label, Continental Drift Records, launched in 2009.
Ospovat’s radio program “Golden Ratio Radio,” first aired on KZUM in early 2017. An electronic and dance music show on the air every Thursday morning, from midnight to 1 a.m., it occasionally features guest DJ sets from producers and DJs in the U.S., but includes an international fan base around the world.
Ospovat grew up in Lincoln, traveled abroad for 15 years and moved back to Nebraska in September 2016. His specialty is techno and house, but he plays a wide variety of music. Usually featuring guest DJs, he tries to keep a strong presence of electronic music each month.
“Techno and house music is very popular in Japan and Europe, and I wanted to bring some of that vibe to Lincoln. I started Golden Ratio with the idea of focusing on these dance genres, but since the event is in a bar, not a club, I play a mix of genres”, said Ospovat.
Ever since moving back, he has looked for ways to stay involved with his love for electronic music, which he claims he is most passionate about.
Some of the DJs featured in Ospovat’s shows are well known and had been active in the local dance music scene around the late 90’s and early 2000’s, when Bricktop and Club 1427 were going strong. Ospovat comments on other DJs he features, saying, “my guest DJs are professionals, are passionate about what they do, and have their own special ways of presenting the music they select and play in their sets. I’ve featured DJs from Lincoln, Omaha, Oklahoma City and New York City.”
Ospovat has been writing and performing music since he was young, and has produced, performed and DJ’d electronic music for the past 15 years in Tokyo and Berlin. He explains that he sees storytelling as the main goal of his DJ sets, explaining it as taking the listener on a journey. In a club atmosphere, he sticks to more dance-oriented “stories”, but Marz Bar on First Fridays provides the perfect environment to experience with a mix of different sounds.
Each Golden Ratio event is inspired by sights, sounds and experiences locally and across the world. Ospovat reiterated how living abroad for 15 years changed his outlook.
“After growing up in the center of America, collecting music from the U.S. and around the world since I was young, I find music and the world to be inextricably linked,” he said. “Each a door, each a key.”
He also explained his favorite dance music producers are also worldwide. Since Ospovat has traveled to over 20 different countries in those 15 years, all of them opened his mind, in more ways than music. This unique combination is what he wants to bring to Marz Bar for a good seven hours each First Friday.
As for the Golden Ratio Vol. 14 show, expect an experience and a diverse range of music. Guest DJs $pencelove and Carter Van Pelt have decades of record collecting and DJing experience. All three DJs will trade hourlong sets, with a back-to-back session the the last half hour of the event. It will be an opportunity to listen and dance to all different kinds of music, selected and mixed by people who have made collecting and presenting music their life work. It will be a special, all vinyl event, with no cover charge.
Ospovat will tour Europe in April and May of this year, performing live and DJing.
Ospovat’s SoundCloud can be found at www.soundcloud.com/conoley-ospovat, and Golden Ratio Radio streams live every Thursday morning from midnight to 1 a.m. on www.kzum.org. You can listen to the last two episodes via KZUM’s Radio Free America page.
For more on Golden Ratio Vol. 14 this Friday at Marz Bar, visit the Facebook event page.
Joslyn Keenan is an editorial intern with KZUM.
