Oscar Scheller

Oscar Scheller crafts music that fuses multiple styles through his intimate and accessible perspective as a vocalist, composer, and studio craftsman. His initial releases and the 2016 debut album Cut and Paste wove Britpop, dub, hip-hop, and synth pop into engaging patchwork arrangements, yet his growing role as a sought-after producer and songwriter for forward-thinking pop acts prompted a sharper emphasis on the electro-pop and hip-hop threads in his later output, notably the 2019 album HTTP404 and the 2021 album Boys Cry.

Born to the lead singers of the 1970s new wave group the Regents, Scheller spent his London childhood surrounded by music that spanned Bach and Blur to Blondie and Nirvana; his mother began piano lessons when he turned six, and he started composing original material at age eight. During high school he pursued piano more rigorously and became the sole male member of the gospel choir, while simultaneously developing a passion for 1990s East Coast hip-hop production methods and the sound of indie acts such as the Radio Dept.

After completing art school, Scheller devoted himself fully to music, creating songs and recordings in his childhood bedroom. His first single, “Never Told You,” surfaced in April 2013 and earned praise for pairing a repetitive dance rhythm with lyrics of heartbreak. In 2014 he became the inaugural signing to Brown Rice Records, an imprint of Smalltown Supersound, which put out the upbeat single “Sometimes” before issuing the 146b EP in May 2014; titled after his bedroom workspace, the EP broadened his blend of indie and electronic pop. He subsequently signed with Wichita and released the 2015 singles “Daffodil Days,” “Beautiful Words,” and “Breaking My Phone.” For his debut album he enlisted drummer Aramis Gorriette and mixing engineer Ben Baptie, who amplified the dub textures in the arrangements; Wichita issued the resulting Cut and Paste in May 2016. Scheller supported the album on tour alongside GIRLI, who contributed to an alternate take of “Breaking My Phone” issued the same year.

Following Cut and Paste, Scheller paused to reconsider his direction and established himself as a songwriter and producer working with artists including Mabel, Ashnikko, Brooke Candy, and Charli XCX. Upon resuming his own projects he chose a more autonomous path and embraced a fresh sonic palette; the self-released HTTP404 arrived in October 2019, spotlighting synth pop and hip-hop while featuring appearances by several of his production collaborators plus Shura, Kero Kero Bonito’s Sarah Bonito, and Tyson McVey. After additional production on Shygirl’s 2020 album ALIAS and Ashnikko’s 2021 album Demidevil, he issued his third album, Boys Cry, in March 2021—a collection of electro-pop tracks examining male vulnerability that also included vocals from MUNA’s Katie Gavin. His 2022 single “Hard Being Alive” featured Detroit’s Chloe Moriondo, and he later appeared as a guest on Tayo Sound’s “Two Left Feet.”