OGUZ (Oguz Gülcenbay) is a Dutch DJ and producer of Turkish descent and one of the prominent figures in today’s hard techno scene. His music brings together hard techno, hard groove, industrial techno, hardcore, hardstyle and trance, while the artist himself deliberately avoids being tied to a single genre. OGUZ gained wider recognition through tracks such as GOLDEN SZN and FC Horsepower, while his own creative platform 808 STUDIOS became an important part of his later career. His discography also includes the full-length projects ENTER MY SIMULATION and DAM SQUARE DANCE TRAX LV.1.
Gülcenbay grew up in the Netherlands in a family with Turkish roots. His serious interest in electronic music began to take shape around 2016, when he started attending illegal raves and underground parties around Amsterdam. The dancefloor, rather than a music school or professional studio, became his first real introduction to club culture.
Around the same time, OGUZ began learning both music production and DJing. At the start, he had no professional equipment: he even practised mixing with an app on his phone, gradually building up the gear he needed. His first public opportunities came through competitions for emerging DJs. In 2017, he performed in front of an audience for the first time and later began playing in Utrecht and other Dutch cities.
Early Years
OGUZ’s career developed gradually. For several years, he balanced performing, producing music and searching for his own place between different branches of the contemporary club scene.
Even in his early sets, it was clear that he had little interest in staying within a single form of techno. Heavy rhythms could sit alongside trance, industrial, hardcore, hardstyle and groove. This approach later became one of OGUZ’s defining characteristics: his music is shaped more by intensity and the way he manages energy than by strict genre boundaries.
GOLDEN SZN and FC Horsepower
2022 became a breakthrough year, with the release of two tracks that significantly expanded the producer’s audience.
GOLDEN SZN, recorded with Nyctonian, and FC Horsepower, created with Dutch producer Vieze Asbak, accumulated millions of streams and pushed OGUZ beyond the local scene.
FC Horsepower captures the character of his material from that period particularly well: a dense kick drum, high tempo, short synthesizer phrases and a combination of hard techno with more direct rave and hard dance energy.
OGUZ did not, however, build the rest of his catalogue around a single successful formula. His subsequent releases varied noticeably in tempo, structure and emotional tone.
The Creation of 808 STUDIOS
In 2023, OGUZ launched 808 STUDIOS, his own label and creative collective. One of the first notable releases on the new platform was PLATINUM SZN, produced together with American artist GRAVEDGR.
808 STUDIOS was conceived from the beginning as something broader than a conventional record label. Under one name, OGUZ brought together music, events, visual art, clothing and collaborations with other creatives. The project organised its own events during Amsterdam Dance Event and gradually became an independent part of the artist’s overall creative identity.
A central principle of 808 STUDIOS is freedom from rigid genre specialisation. Its catalogue can move between hard techno, hard groove, hardcore, industrial and significantly more melodic material. OGUZ sees the project as a space where artists can experiment without having to conform to one fixed sound.
808 STUDIOS became home to releases such as I AM NOT A WHORE, SUMMER ANTHEM, TOKYO SZN, DISTORTED and others, establishing the platform as the main base for OGUZ’s own music.
ENTER MY SIMULATION
On 28 July 2024, OGUZ released the album ENTER MY SIMULATION through 808 STUDIOS. The record contains ten tracks: Ayse, You & Me Forever, Wild West, Un'Ultra Linea, My Revenge, Dreamcore, Never Again, Out Of Love, Cillio's Therapy and Simulation Passed.
The album considerably broadened the perception of OGUZ as a producer. Alongside heavy club tracks, it introduced extended atmospheric passages and compositions built around gradual development rather than immediate peaks.
Some tracks run for more than eight minutes, a notable contrast to the tendency within parts of the contemporary hard techno scene toward shorter and more concentrated arrangements. This format allowed OGUZ to work in greater detail with dynamics, tension and melodic transitions.
Onlynumbers and 6EJOU took part in the project as executive producers, while Big4Slatt recorded vocals for Wild West. The album was officially released on 28 July 2024 through 808 STUDIOS.
DAM SQUARE DANCE TRAX LV.1
On 25 October 2024, OGUZ followed with another major project, DAM SQUARE DANCE TRAX LV.1, an eleven-track full-length mixtape.
The project featured artists from different generations and areas of the electronic music scene, including DJ Mad Dog, Marcel Fengler, Deborah De Luca, 6EJOU, Aida Arko, Steya, PARAMOD, Dancer, Ruiz OSC1, Spilo and Nobody94.
Rather than forcing every guest artist into a single stylistic framework, OGUZ built the release around contrasts. Toxic with DJ Mad Dog leans toward hardcore, Kings Of Tomorrow with Marcel Fengler and Steya draws more strongly on the classic techno tradition, while Vampire Empire with 6EJOU represents a darker and heavier side of the contemporary scene.
The tracklist also includes 808 Studio Tool with Dancer, Simulation Level 5 with DJ Mad Dog, Devil Never Leaves with Aida Arko, Compress2Drumrack3 with Dancer and Ruiz OSC1, Possess (You) with Deborah De Luca, PARAMOGUZ with PARAMOD and M3SS with Spilo and Nobody94.
DAM SQUARE DANCE ANTHEM holds a special place within the project. The first ideas for the track date back to the early stages of OGUZ’s production career, while the finished version became a link between his initial experiments and the more developed 808 STUDIOS period.
International Stage
Alongside his studio career, OGUZ gradually moved from smaller venues to some of the largest festival stages. He has performed at Tomorrowland, Verknipt, Kappa FuturFestival, Dour and other major international events, while his touring schedule has expanded far beyond the Netherlands.
OGUZ’s sets are not built solely around maximum intensity. He pays close attention to audience response and can change direction significantly during a performance. Depending on the venue, one set may lean more heavily into industrial and hard techno, while another may move toward hard groove, trance or hardcore.
This approach allows him to maintain a recognisable sense of energy without having to reproduce the same sequence of genres and tracks every time.
The Musical Style of OGUZ
Techno remains the foundation of OGUZ’s work, although the term hard techno describes only part of his catalogue. He regularly incorporates elements of hard groove, industrial, hardcore, hardstyle, trance and other forms of dance music.
One of the most recognisable features of his sound is a heavy, distorted kick drum that creates a dense low-frequency foundation. Over it come synthesizer sequences, short vocal fragments, industrial percussion and rave motifs.
Melody also plays a much larger role in his music than his hardest releases might suggest. Some tracks feature emotional trance sequences, extended atmospheric sections and pauses that sharply contrast with aggressive climaxes.
This collision between heavy rhythm and melodic or euphoric passages has become one of the most characteristic techniques of OGUZ’s more mature period, particularly on ENTER MY SIMULATION.
His catalogue is also defined by constant shifts in tempo and genre logic. One release may sit close to hard groove, the next may move toward hardcore or industrial, followed by another with a strong trance or vocal component.
Discography
Full-length releases
- ENTER MY SIMULATION — 2024
- DAM SQUARE DANCE TRAX LV.1 — 2024
EPs
- Remember EP — 2022
- BABY DROP IT HARD EP — 2026
Selected singles and tracks
- GOLDEN SZN — with Nyctonian
- FC Horsepower — with Vieze Asbak
- So Alive (VIP)
- PLATINUM SZN — with GRAVEDGR
- I AM NOT A WHORE
- SUMMER ANTHEM
- TOKYO SZN
- DISTORTED
- DAM SQUARE DANCE ANTHEM
- Toxic — with DJ Mad Dog
- Kings Of Tomorrow — with Marcel Fengler and Steya
- Possess (You) — with Deborah De Luca
- PARAMOGUZ — with PARAMOD
- Vampire Empire — with 6EJOU
- In Your Eyes — with PARAMOD and Sophie Castriota
- Secret Weapon III — with PARAMOD featuring Big4Slatt
- Spartak Mosgroove
- Einmal Schranz Bitte
OGUZ’s journey from illegal raves and self-taught DJing to major international festival stages was never built around a single genre or one viral track. GOLDEN SZN and FC Horsepower gave him broad recognition, but the albums, collaborations and development of 808 STUDIOS that followed revealed a much wider musical range. At the core of the project remains a contrast between heavy club energy, groove and melody — a combination that allows OGUZ to move freely across different areas of the contemporary electronic music scene.
