Dorwin John Talks ‘Haan, Ohkay’ EP, Working with Nucleya and Ritviz

Mumbai artist Dorwin John has just come back from speaking to school students about his music at his alma mater, about eight years after he graduated. He also got to perform his songs on the very day that his EP Haan, Ohkay released on Jun. 21.

Although it’s just the three songs that are out, Dorwin’s manager Rahul Sinha mentions that the artist behind songs like “Aasha” and “Kya Karoon” has written about 100 songs in the last year. He says he’s not choosy about the songs he puts out, but there is a selection process. “It’s also about how satisfied I am with my art, how satisfied I am with my song,” Dorwin says.

Sinha mentions that there are collaborations with the likes of Nucleya, Ritviz (both mentors to Dorwin in a way), plus artists like Bawari Basanti and ace producer Karan Kanchan that they haven’t rushed to release. Sinha adds, “We kind of consciously took a decision to not put those out, because we wanted to push the solo tracks and really establish his identity and sound before we collaborate.”  

Work on Haan, Ohkay started about seven months ago and wrote “Moze” first, inspired by listening to punk rock favorites Blink-182 but also drum and bass. “I did not plan on it to be like this. It just happened,” he says.

The arcade game music and early mobile ringtones-inspired “Naksha” was written in January this year, followed by the title track in February. Dorwin says, “The second part of ‘Naksha,’ like the bridge, was stuck for two-three months. That was the longest I was stuck.” Sinha called him over to Goa for a much-needed break, which turned out to be Dorwin’s first visit and sure enough, opened his mind up enough to complete the song.

The three songs off Haan, Ohkay are all visually rooted, according to Dorwin, who has also studied Hindustani classical vocals. He says about his process, “I had a mic in front of me while I was writing these songs. All of these songs are one-take songs. All of them have been recorded a maximum of two times, but they’ve been recorded right after they have been composed.” The title track, for example, opens with the sounds of a mobile phone keyboard, specifically to the words “I love you” being sent as a text message. Dorwin adds, “Probably when we do a music video or something in the future, I would really incorporate this idea behind it.”

Before the slew of hit songs and sync deals with big brands, Dorwin found fame after he covered Ritviz’s “Sage” in 2019. The Pune-bred singer-producer – also working with Sinha – became an early supporter of Dorwin, right from when the latter played a gig at a pub in Pune as a 19-year-old. Dorwin, now 24, recalls putting up a Story about the show and getting a reply from Ritviz, saying that he’d show up. “I couldn’t believe it and in the evening, I see him sitting in front of me and he’s vibing,” Dorwin says, the incredulity still present even today.

Soon enough, at that very gig, Ritviz convinced Dorwin to set aside his planned performance of English songs and play his own songs. “So for the next one hour, I was singing all my demos on a keyboard,” Dorwin says. He’s also gone on to support Ritviz at his Mimmi album launch tour in India, plus worked on a few tracks together.

Similarly, it was after doing a flip of a Nucleya song that the Goa-based desi bass music artist reached out to Dorwin in 2019. “I bunked my classes for, like, three days in order to make a good demo for him [Nucleya]. Finally, I landed one and I sent it to him. He really liked it and so we went to [Mumbai studio] Island City and recorded it. We have around five or six songs together,” he adds.

Along the way, Dorwin bought his first laptop in 2020 and was convinced by Sinha to learn production as well. “This was like a new tool that was given in my hand, an empty canvas,” Dorwin says. True to the process, he’s already written more material in the time that it’s taken to prep and release Haan, Ohkay EP. “I’ve already started writing two new tracks, and in fact, I’m actually thinking of writing an album,” the artist says.