Biography
On his own and through his partnership in the Knife, Olof Dreijer has injected electronic music with a inventive and frequently playful sensibility. Alongside sibling Karin Dreijer in the Knife, he fused electronics nodding to 1980s pop and experimental techno, lyrics that foregrounded queer viewpoints, and a biting humor within deceptively infectious tracks on releases including the 2006 album Silent Shout. His output as Oni Ayhun throughout the 2010s sustained this spirit of sonic inquiry, while his productions, remixes, and DJ performances showcased an expansive grasp of electronic, pop, and worldwide sounds together with a persistent creative inquisitiveness, qualities evident once more in the steel-drum investigations of 2023’s Souvenir and the gliding, pitch-shifted lines of that year’s Rosa Rugosa EP.
Still a student in the late 1990s, Dreijer launched his career behind the decks, at first favoring disco, house, garage, and drum’n’bass before broadening into hip-hop, techno, and trance. His abilities as programmer and producer gained initial recognition via the Knife, the duo he started with Karin Dreijer in mid-1999. Their union of her experimental-pop leanings and his enthusiasm for dance music and jazz generated distinctive results, as heard on the self-titled 2001 debut and 2003’s Deep Cuts, both of which earned acclaim and mounting domestic chart traction in Sweden. International attention followed with Silent Shout in 2006, which established the Knife for its forward-thinking sound and visuals. Concurrently, Olof performed minimal techno under the alias DJ Coolof, curating lineups in which male-identifying artists never exceeded half the bill.
Once the Silent Shout tour concluded, the Dreijers each pursued separate endeavors. Karin introduced Fever Ray, while Olof issued material under his own name, among them the track “Al Jazeera,” which featured on the 2008 anthology Music for Alien Civilisations assembled with the Swedish Space Corporation and Space Port Esrange. He simultaneously explored more experimental territory as Oni Ayhun, a vehicle that entwined gender-fluid themes with ambient-techno foundations. Issued on his own Oni Ayhun label, the singles OAR001 and OAR002 surfaced in mid-2008 and OAR003 in early 2009; that same year he also reworked Nine Inch Nails’ “Me, I’m Not.” Two further Oni Ayhun singles appeared in 2010, and the project made its live bow with sets augmented by striking stage design and drag-derived attire.
In the same period the Knife reconvened with Mt. Sims and Planningtorock to create Tomorrow, In a Year, an opera honoring the centenary of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species. First staged at Copenhagen’s Danish Royal Opera House, it received a studio release in March 2010. Dreijer meanwhile continued solo work and outside collaborations, remixing Emmanuel Jal’s “Kuar” and appearing as Oni Ayhun alongside Oneohtrix Point Never in London late that year. Additional performances ensued, capped by the 2011 Honest Jon’s Records collaboration “Oni Ayhun Meets Shangaan Electro” with Detroit techno producer Anthony “Shake” Shakir. The Knife resurfaced in 2013 with their concluding album Shaking the Habitual, a disquieting ninety-minute reflection on gender theory, economic disparity, and ecological concerns that yielded the 2014 EP Shaken-Up Versions.
Following the Knife’s dissolution in late 2014, Oni Ayhun joined Decon Recon, a collective with rRoxymore, Aquarian Jugs, and Jaguar Woman centered on the open exchange of sounds and concepts. The project issued a 12-inch on Noise Manifesto and played multiple 2015 engagements. DJ commitments dominated Dreijer’s schedule through the latter half of the decade, including a contribution to the Knife’s streamed twentieth-anniversary observance. He produced Swedish/Kurdish pop artist Zhala’s single “Holes” and reworked Mehdi Bahmad’s “Rouge À lèvres” in 2020; the next year he helmed Tunisian composer and multi-instrumentalist Houeida Hedfi’s album Fleuves de l’Ame for Errol Alkan’s Phantasy imprint. Also in 2021, Ben UFO’s Melodies Record Club installment introduced the vinyl edition of “Echoes from Mamori,” a house-inflected score for the 2009 exhibition There Is No Audience. Dreijer additionally contributed to the creative team behind Fever Ray’s 2023 album Radical Romantics. That year brought Souvenir, a collection of experimental steel-drum pieces realized on an instrument crafted by Trinidadian specialist Ellie Mannette. He shifted back toward dancefloor-oriented material with the October release of Rosa Rugosa, a Hessle Audio EP of buoyant, tuneful cuts. Several U.S. DJ appearances followed in early 2024.
Still a student in the late 1990s, Dreijer launched his career behind the decks, at first favoring disco, house, garage, and drum’n’bass before broadening into hip-hop, techno, and trance. His abilities as programmer and producer gained initial recognition via the Knife, the duo he started with Karin Dreijer in mid-1999. Their union of her experimental-pop leanings and his enthusiasm for dance music and jazz generated distinctive results, as heard on the self-titled 2001 debut and 2003’s Deep Cuts, both of which earned acclaim and mounting domestic chart traction in Sweden. International attention followed with Silent Shout in 2006, which established the Knife for its forward-thinking sound and visuals. Concurrently, Olof performed minimal techno under the alias DJ Coolof, curating lineups in which male-identifying artists never exceeded half the bill.
Once the Silent Shout tour concluded, the Dreijers each pursued separate endeavors. Karin introduced Fever Ray, while Olof issued material under his own name, among them the track “Al Jazeera,” which featured on the 2008 anthology Music for Alien Civilisations assembled with the Swedish Space Corporation and Space Port Esrange. He simultaneously explored more experimental territory as Oni Ayhun, a vehicle that entwined gender-fluid themes with ambient-techno foundations. Issued on his own Oni Ayhun label, the singles OAR001 and OAR002 surfaced in mid-2008 and OAR003 in early 2009; that same year he also reworked Nine Inch Nails’ “Me, I’m Not.” Two further Oni Ayhun singles appeared in 2010, and the project made its live bow with sets augmented by striking stage design and drag-derived attire.
In the same period the Knife reconvened with Mt. Sims and Planningtorock to create Tomorrow, In a Year, an opera honoring the centenary of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species. First staged at Copenhagen’s Danish Royal Opera House, it received a studio release in March 2010. Dreijer meanwhile continued solo work and outside collaborations, remixing Emmanuel Jal’s “Kuar” and appearing as Oni Ayhun alongside Oneohtrix Point Never in London late that year. Additional performances ensued, capped by the 2011 Honest Jon’s Records collaboration “Oni Ayhun Meets Shangaan Electro” with Detroit techno producer Anthony “Shake” Shakir. The Knife resurfaced in 2013 with their concluding album Shaking the Habitual, a disquieting ninety-minute reflection on gender theory, economic disparity, and ecological concerns that yielded the 2014 EP Shaken-Up Versions.
Following the Knife’s dissolution in late 2014, Oni Ayhun joined Decon Recon, a collective with rRoxymore, Aquarian Jugs, and Jaguar Woman centered on the open exchange of sounds and concepts. The project issued a 12-inch on Noise Manifesto and played multiple 2015 engagements. DJ commitments dominated Dreijer’s schedule through the latter half of the decade, including a contribution to the Knife’s streamed twentieth-anniversary observance. He produced Swedish/Kurdish pop artist Zhala’s single “Holes” and reworked Mehdi Bahmad’s “Rouge À lèvres” in 2020; the next year he helmed Tunisian composer and multi-instrumentalist Houeida Hedfi’s album Fleuves de l’Ame for Errol Alkan’s Phantasy imprint. Also in 2021, Ben UFO’s Melodies Record Club installment introduced the vinyl edition of “Echoes from Mamori,” a house-inflected score for the 2009 exhibition There Is No Audience. Dreijer additionally contributed to the creative team behind Fever Ray’s 2023 album Radical Romantics. That year brought Souvenir, a collection of experimental steel-drum pieces realized on an instrument crafted by Trinidadian specialist Ellie Mannette. He shifted back toward dancefloor-oriented material with the October release of Rosa Rugosa, a Hessle Audio EP of buoyant, tuneful cuts. Several U.S. DJ appearances followed in early 2024.
Albums
Singles
