Daniel Lopatin (born 25 July 1982), better known by the recording alias Oneohtrix Point Never, is an American electronic musician, composer, and producer born in Wayland, Massachusetts. Based in Brooklyn, Lopatin began releasing recordings under the OPN moniker in 2007. Much of this material was later collected on the 2009 compilation Rifts, which brought him early critical acclaim. In subsequent years he has received praise for albums such Replica (2011) and R Plus Seven (2013) as well as a variety of side-projects and collaborations. In 2013, he signed to British label Warp. His latest album, Garden of Delete, was released in 2015.
EARLY LIFE
Born in Wayland, Massachusetts, and raised in Winthrop, Massachusetts, Lopatin is the son of Russian immigrants from the former Soviet Union, both with musical backgrounds. Some of his first experiments with electronic music were inspired by his father’s collection of dubbed jazz fusion tapes and his Roland Juno-60 synthesizer, an instrument that has since been used extensively by Lopatin in the studio and on-stage. Lopatin attended Hampshire College, before moving to Brooklyn, New York to attend graduate school at Pratt Institute, studying archival science. During that time, he became involved in Brooklyn's underground noise music scene.
CAREER
Lopatin initially released music under several pseudonyms and as part of a number of groups before adopting the pseudonym Oneohtrix Point Never (a verbal play on Boston FM radio station Magic 106.7). Early OPN recordings drew on 1980s synthesizer music, new age tropes, kosmische, and contemporary noise music. Lopatin released a series of cassette and CD-R projects interspersed with a trilogy of full-length albums: Betrayed in the Octagon (2007), Zones Without People (2009) and Russian Mind (2009). Much of this material was eventually collected on the 2009 compilation Rifts, which brought him into international acclaim; it was named the no. 2 album of 2009 by UK magazine The Wire. Also in 2009, Lopatin released the audio-visual project Memory Vague.
In June 2010, Lopatin followed Rifts with his major label debut Returnal, released on Editions Mego to positive critical reception.Also in 2010, he formed the duo Ford & Lopatin with friend and collaborator Joel Ford and released the limited-edition pseudonymous cassette Chuck Person's Eccojams Vol. 1, often credited as a progenitor of the hypnagogic and vaporwave styles. Lopatin's next album, Replica, was released in 2011 on his newly formed label Software Recording to further critical praise. It saw Lopatin develop a sample-based approach that drew on the audio of 1980s and '90s television advertisements. That year, Lopatin participated in the collaborative album FRKWYS Vol. 7 with musicians David Borden, James Ferraro, Samuel Godin and Laurel Halo as part of RVNG's label series. Also in 2011, Ford & Lopatin released Channel Pressure and OPN was chosen to perform at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival. In 2012, Lopatin collaborated with Tim Hecker on the album Instrumental Tourist and released the split LP Music For Reliquary House / In 1980 I Was a Blue Square with Rene Hell on NNA Tapes.
OPN performing in New York in 2016, with visuals by Nate Boyce. In 2013, Lopatin signed with Warp Records. His label debut, R Plus Seven, was released September 30, 2013 to positive reception. Lopatin collaborated with several artists on visual accompaniments, live performances, and internet projects for the album, including frequent collaborator Nate Boyce, Jon Rafman, Takeshi Murata, Jacob Ciocci, and John Michael Boling. In 2014, Lopatin supported Nine Inch Nails on their tour with Soundgarden as a replacement for Death Grips. Lopatin released his second Warp LP Garden of Delete in November 2015 following an enigmatic promotional campaign. Lopatin also contributed to British singer Anohni's 2016 album Hopelessness and Chicago footwork producer DJ Earl's 2016 album Open Your Eyes.
STUDIO ALBUMS
BETRAYED IN THE OCTAGON
(2007, Deception Island)ZONES WITHOUT PEOPLE
(2009, Arbor)RUSSIAN MIND
(2009, No Fun)RETURNAL
(2010, Editions Mego)REPLICA
(2011, Software)R PLUS SEVEN
(2013, Warp)GARDEN OF DELETE
(2015, Warp)- Intro
- Ezra
- ECCOJAMC1
- Sticky Drama
- EMBED VIDEO HERE
- SDFK
- Nil Admirari
- Describing Bodies
- Stress Waves
- Returnal
- Pelham Island Road
- Where Does Time Go
- Ouroboros
- Preyouandi
Lopatin has received commissions for numerous performance, festival, and film pieces. He has composed the film score for Sofia Coppola’s 2013 film The Bling Ring (together with Brian Reitzell) and the 2015 film Partisan, directed by Ariel Kleiman. In 2013, Oneohtrix Point Never also participated in the Warp x Tate event and was commissioned to create a piece inspired by Jeremy Deller’s The History of The World. On October 4, 2014, Lopatin presented a world premiere live soundtrack for Koji Morimoto’s 1995 anime film Magnetic Rose. The event took place at the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics in Manchester, England, and featured Anohni on a rendition of the Oneohtrix Point Never song Returnal as well as audio-visual works from Nate Boyce which have been hosted by The Barbican in London, The Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and MoMA PS1 in Long Island City.
In 2014, Oneohtrix Point Never released Commissions I for Record Store Day; the collection contained an interpretation of Lutoslawski’s "Preludes" under the title "Music For Steamed Rocks" for Polish Icons at Sacrum Profanum, "Meet Your Creator" originally from the Saatchi & Saatchi viral Quadrotor performance video for their New Director's Showcase in 2012, and a version of "I Only Have Eyes For You". He also contributed "Need" to the Bleep:10 compilation in celebration of the online retailer’s 10th anniversary. This was followed by Commissions II in 2015.