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Music

Vancouver’s OHNIN Goes Dark on His 'Area Code' EP

James Hopkins explores a minimal new sound on Justin James’ Refused label.

Fresh off his sophomore release, Vancouverite James Hopkins is ready to take things deeper and darker as his new alias OHNIN. The Canadian has been learning to ply his trade in the studio, on stage, and overseas. His most recent project, Area Code, caught the eye of Justin James, who released the EP on his Windsor-based label Refused Records.

Born and raised on the west coast, Hopkins was lured into Vancouver's nightlife at a young age. From the first time he entered a club and saw a DJ perform, Hopkins wanted to make music. Although he was originally interested in commercial music like Steve Angello and Chris Lake, his tastes evolved quickly.

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Inspired by the craft and rhythm of Sci+Tec's releases, Hopkins gradually drifted from faster, bouncier tunes to the dark and spooky side of techno. "I bought my first set of CDJs and started messing around on those," says Hopkins. "A couple of years after that, I started learning Ableton, but it was a steep learning curve." After getting the hang of it, Hopkins found he was spending all of his time making music. A year of trial and error and a handful of releases later, Hopkins decided to move to London, England and attend the famed Point Blank Music School.

Discovering the institute through their YouTube tutorials, Hopkins committed a year's worth of time and effort to mastering the art of digital music production. "I don't have a musical background and have never played instruments, so I wanted to learn a little bit more about theory," says Hopkins. Taking advantage of the guidance and equipment available, Hopkins returned to Vancouver in 2014 with a different vision in mind.

Fresh off his sophomore release, Vancouverite James Hopkins is ready to take things deeper and darker as his new alias OHNIN. The Canadian has been learning to ply his trade in the studio, on stage, and overseas. His most recent project, Area Code, caught the eye of Justin James, who released the EP on his Windsor-based label Refused Records.

Born and raised on the west coast, Hopkins was lured into Vancouver's nightlife at a young age. From the first time he entered a club and saw a DJ perform, Hopkins wanted to make music. Although he was originally interested in commercial music like Steve Angello and Chris Lake, his tastes evolved quickly.

Photo via Facebook

Inspired by the craft and rhythm of Sci+Tec's releases, Hopkins gradually drifted from faster, bouncier tunes to the dark and spooky side of techno. "I bought my first set of CDJs and started messing around on those," says Hopkins. "A couple of years after that, I started learning Ableton, but it was a steep learning curve." After getting the hang of it, Hopkins found he was spending all of his time making music. A year of trial and error and a handful of releases later, Hopkins decided to move to London, England and attend the famed Point Blank Music School.

Discovering the institute through their YouTube tutorials, Hopkins committed a year's worth of time and effort to mastering the art of digital music production. "I don't have a musical background and have never played instruments, so I wanted to learn a little bit more about theory," says Hopkins. Taking advantage of the guidance and equipment available, Hopkins returned to Vancouver in 2014 with a different vision in mind.

"I started the [OHNIN] project a little over a year ago," says Hopkins, who uses his new alias strictly for minimal techno. Having released plenty of music earlier in his career, OHNIN is all about stripping things back. "I wanted to focus on less releases with fewer labels—just kind of a fresh sheet from the music I had been releasing previously," says Hopkins.

Originally producing a more tech-house influenced sound, with an upbeat tempo and four-on-the-floor roots, his OHNIN work has been nothing of the sort. "I like the freedom of making upbeat tech-house music, which I intend on still doing with my James Hopkins name," he says. "I just wanted to get my separation between the music I'm making now.

Photo via Facebook

After years of following James' trajectory in and out of the studio, Hopkins realized that his finished product would be a perfect fit for his compatriots catalogue. "I've always liked the music they've released, that sort of minimalistic and sort of m-nus sounding," says Hopkins. "I wanted to work with quality labels that would actually get my music into the right people's hands," says Hopkins. "I knew with Justin's label, the EP was going to be properly presented and pushed."

While Hopkins has yet to give OHNIN an on-stage debut, he's remaining patient. "I've got a few more releases lined up and I'm thinking maybe a live-set," he says. Continuing to play under his given name, Hopkins is looking to grow his HideOut promotional brand beyond the studio. Teaming up alongside Vancouver's Cato Kane and Rob Caruk, HideOut aims to bring a European sensibility to the Canadian city, booking venues and playing music that Vancouverites have had little prior exposure to. "We wanted to do something a little different and focus specifically on a dark, minimalistic techno sound," says Hopkins. "We have a great underground scene here, but it is small." HideOut is oriented around roughed-up buildings instead of pristine clubs. It seeks to communicate a slightly more authentic message than what has been previously floating around Vancouver.

With the weather cooling, frosted clubbers are taking refuge from outdoor festivals to body heat warmed clubs. Hopkins hopes that this will be another successful season of HideOut in Vancouver, something he'll be able to take to other cities in the future. "I would definitely like to come to Toronto," says Hopkins. "Funny enough, I've never been to a Canadian city other than Vancouver—I've done a lot of travelling around Europe, and even the States, but I have never been to Montreal or Toronto." With the nightlife in Canada continuing to not only expand, but thrive, the timing couldn't be better for Hopkins to hit the road on home soil.

OHNIN is on Facebook // SoundCloud
James Hopkins is on Facebook // SoundCloud
HIDEOUT is on Facebook
Refused. is on Facebook // Twitter // SoundCloud

"I started the [OHNIN] project a little over a year ago," says Hopkins, who uses his new alias strictly for minimal techno. Having released plenty of music earlier in his career, OHNIN is all about stripping things back. "I wanted to focus on less releases with fewer labels—just kind of a fresh sheet from the music I had been releasing previously," says Hopkins.

Originally producing a more tech-house influenced sound, with an upbeat tempo and four-on-the-floor roots, his OHNIN work has been nothing of the sort. "I like the freedom of making upbeat tech-house music, which I intend on still doing with my James Hopkins name," he says. "I just wanted to get my separation between the music I'm making now.

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Photo via Facebook

After years of following James' trajectory in and out of the studio, Hopkins realized that his finished product would be a perfect fit for his compatriots catalogue. "I've always liked the music they've released, that sort of minimalistic and sort of m-nus sounding," says Hopkins. "I wanted to work with quality labels that would actually get my music into the right people's hands," says Hopkins. "I knew with Justin's label, the EP was going to be properly presented and pushed."

While Hopkins has yet to give OHNIN an on-stage debut, he's remaining patient. "I've got a few more releases lined up and I'm thinking maybe a live-set," he says. Continuing to play under his given name, Hopkins is looking to grow his HideOut promotional brand beyond the studio. Teaming up alongside Vancouver's Cato Kane and Rob Caruk, HideOut aims to bring a European sensibility to the Canadian city, booking venues and playing music that Vancouverites have had little prior exposure to. "We wanted to do something a little different and focus specifically on a dark, minimalistic techno sound," says Hopkins. "We have a great underground scene here, but it is small." HideOut is oriented around roughed-up buildings instead of pristine clubs. It seeks to communicate a slightly more authentic message than what has been previously floating around Vancouver.

With the weather cooling, frosted clubbers are taking refuge from outdoor festivals to body heat warmed clubs. Hopkins hopes that this will be another successful season of HideOut in Vancouver, something he'll be able to take to other cities in the future. "I would definitely like to come to Toronto," says Hopkins. "Funny enough, I've never been to a Canadian city other than Vancouver—I've done a lot of travelling around Europe, and even the States, but I have never been to Montreal or Toronto." With the nightlife in Canada continuing to not only expand, but thrive, the timing couldn't be better for Hopkins to hit the road on home soil.

OHNIN is on Facebook // SoundCloud James Hopkins is on Facebook // SoundCloud HIDEOUT is on Facebook
Refused. is on Facebook // Twitter // SoundCloud