The Work That Made Me: Oliver Stutz
Oliver Stutz is a Cape Town-born sound designer and composer, creating impactful audio for global brands and media. Throughout his 12 years in the audio-post industry, he’s worked across film, animation, radio, games, commercials, and sonic branding. In 2022, Oliver was lead composer for Mkhuzi: The Spirit Racer, a short film nominated for Best Original Composition at the Music+Sound Awards 2024.
As the creative audio lead at Two AM Music, he’s focused on fostering a creative space that encourages the team to take risks and create unique sonic ideas. While continually refining his own skills is important, collaborating with other creatives to bring concepts to life through both audio and visuals remains at the heart of his work. He’s also fuelled by copious amounts of coffee and spends a little too much time recording random sounds.
LBB> The ad/music video from my childhood that stays with me…
Oliver> It’s got to be the South-African 5FM commercial 'Go With It' from the late '90s. That dusty beat and chugging bass paired with the floaty visuals really caught me off guard. I never changed the channel when it came on, I was just pumped to get a chance to hear the track. I even went back to listen to it after writing this, it still slaps!
LBB> The ad/music video/game/web platform that made me want to get into the industry…
Oliver> I grew up playing a game on Windows 98 (or was it 95?) called The Adventures Of Lomax. I remember it being tricky, but the music and sound kept pulling me back. The adventurous synth melodies and classic drum sounds totally brought the world to life for me.
That was probably the first time I realised how much of an impact audio had on me, it completely made the game and I still sometimes (when no one is around) jam to the OST and get transported to that era.
It didn’t directly make me want to join the industry, but it definitely sparked my curiosity around how the tracks were made and I’m pretty sure it nudged me to experiment with my first digital drum machine (Hammerhead) and DAW (Cool Edit Pro, now known as Adobe Audition).
LBB> The creative work (film/album/game/ad/album/book/poem etc) that I keep revisiting…
Oliver> Honestly, I just can’t stop rewatching ‘Batman The Animated Series’, I go back to it pretty much every year! It has such tonal cohesion throughout the sound, visuals, and script. The art style is so fictionally gritty, yet so real and perfectly grounded by the insanely iconic score, and the voice acting is just untouchable.
I’ve also been playing 'Returnal' multiple times over the last year, and I’m always blown away by how incredible the game’s sound design is. It’s definitely a source of inspiration to improve!
LBB> My first professional project…
Oliver> I remember this so clearly, it was a composition pitch for a big drink commercial. At the time, I was still in audio college, working with a close friend of mine. We’d team up on compositions to boost our chances of landing jobs. The brief called for a super bouncy track with fat saw basses, catchy percussion and a lot of production. We had two days, and we hardly got a wink of sleep. We'd take breaks in the middle of the night by going for skateboarding sessions and then come back with new energy.
After submitting, we didn’t expect much, but a few days later we got an email saying the client shortlisted our track. We looked at each other and just started jumping around the room like we were in some kind of mosh pit. Good times!
LBB> The piece of work (ad/music video/ platform…) that made me so angry that I vowed to never make anything like *that*…
Oliver> Tough question! Creating something is tricky and there's a lot behind every project that only the people who made it would know.
LBB> The piece of work (ad/music video/ platform…) that still makes me jealous…
Oliver> This Kenzo World commercial by Sephora springs to mind right away, it's just so solid. The choreography locked with the composition and acting is perfection. I love how effortless it feels, even though it’s clear that insane amounts of thought and effort went into crafting every moment. Despite being nearly four minutes long, it never loses momentum and I honestly wouldn't even skip it. Also, there’s no actual voiceover, lyrics, or titles (besides the end product shot), but it easily manages to make a clear statement.
LBB> The creative project that changed my career…
Oliver> It would most likely be the first pitch I mentioned earlier, it completely flipped a switch for both of us. The excitement and energy pushed my friend and I to open our own audio post company, and even though it didn’t last long, it was a big part of our early career. Starting a company was a crash course in every aspect and I’m super grateful we got a chance to do it, that kind of learning is invaluable.
LBB> I was involved in this and it makes me cringe…
Oliver> My friend and I shot a video (I’ll probably regret linking it here) to promote our company towards the end of college, and yeah... it’s a little cheesy! That filler time lapse at the end is just classically funny, not sure what we were showcasing there.
But honestly, the actual embarrassing part was breaking a brand new mic we had rented while filming the skate scenes. Returning and replacing that poor thing was a pretty awkward conversation.
LBB> The work that I’m most proud of…
Oliver> I’m really grateful to have worked on this short film collaboration with Bandai Namco Studios Malaysia. It was such a wholesome experience, they really made us feel like we were part of their team. On top of the relatable story and nostalgic theme behind the film, finding a sound for the world of Tom Majors and his crazy imagination was super fun. The balance between spacey orchestration and '80s synths was tricky, but I’m stoked with how it turned out!
LBB> The recent project I was involved in that excited me most…
Oliver> In terms of most recent, I just worked on a little festive animation for Versace. They’re super short, but the visuals are so cute and crafting sound for their fluffy mascots was good fun!
