Formula Indie Sessions _ Interview with Deus Ego
Deus Ego (deɪ.ʊs iːɡoʊ), Formed by Sif and Omen, Deus Ego has always had a bit of a God complex- literally. The best garden centre wellness music of all time, Deus Ego combines electronic music trickery with high energy to sonically ‘heal the world’.
Meeting at University in 2017, Sif and Omen have been working on music ever since in various forms, finally landing on the Deus Ego moniker. Over time, the synth lines became beefier, and the hooks got catchier, finally landing them on their current, alternative synth-pop style. But don’t be fooled, Deus Ego don’t just dabble in one sound…
Taking their cues from contemporary trailblazers such as Artemas, Porter Robinson, d4vd, Gorillaz, 100Gecs, Biig Piig, Ramzoid, the band unshackle themselves from production and artist norms by reaching across several genres and styles.
After amassing a huge amount of demos and song ideas across home and professional studios, Sif and Omen knuckled down and finished their first single ‘cut the FAT!’, released February 2025, and as usual, produced, mixed and mastered the track themselves independently.
Mark from Deus Ego is answering these questions.
What is your earliest memory connected to music?
I remember when I was a kid, my parents had this old half key sized Yamaha synthesizer, with a big bright yellow button on it for a demo song that I became absolutely obsessed with. You could bring drums in, change the pattern, change the key, and I think that really sparked my interest as a child in creating music that has lasted through my childhood into adulthood.
How did your passion for creating music begin?
I properly started making music with mixcraft 5 in high school, which opened a lot of options for me as previously I had been just playing the guitar and piano. I learnt about arrangement, production etc gradually, but it really kicked off when I met Joe at University and was absolutely blown away by what he could do within Ableton. Since then, we’ve been making music almost non-stop.
What’s the story behind your current music project?
Me and Joe decided to take what we were making a bit more seriously during COVID which is when the Deus Ego moniker was born. We have about 150+ demos that we are gradually working through, sifting the good ideas from the bad. We wanted the music we make to still be fun, intimate, and feel like you could tell it was us that made it.
How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your music before?
Joe came up with calling it ‘Hyper Indie’ – a fusion of parts that we like from Hyperpop and Indie music and melding them together into one song, which is present through all our music. It’s like it an anthemic, cinematic indie band started using hyperpop production elements, fitting somewhere on a scale between the two.
What is one thing you’ve learned that completely changed the way you make music?
I think just to let ideas brew, we’ve tried to force certain songs or styles before but I think it’s better to just ‘cook’ and see what comes of it, instead of setting out to go and do X style or a song like X, we just tend to freeform and see what ideas come to us, and run with that.
What tools, instruments, or software are essential in your creative process?
We both use Bitwig, I used to produce using Logic and Joe with Ableton, but a year or so ago Joe recommended we switch to Bitwig, and I haven’t looked back since. The stability of the DAW is excellent and it’s what we use for our live sets as well. We don’t use any AI at all, we both hate the AI-Slop nature of it and it feels disingenuous. I write a lot on guitar which sometimes makes it into the final tracks, but we experiment a lot with new tools and new synths weekly.
Which indie artist or song are you loving right now?
I’ve been listening to a lot of Nxdia and Ledbyher recently, which doesn’t really fit into the Indie category fully but sometimes it’s good to listen outside of your comfort zone. Always a big fan of Fontaines DC, Porter Robinson.
How have your personal experiences influenced your music and artistic vision?
I think so, I don’t really think about that too much and just write what comes to mind for each track, but past experiences inevitably shape the music you make. I write almost exclusively introspecively in terms of lyrics, most of the time references are just a metaphor for myself or my own experience.
What emotions or messages do you hope listeners take from your work?
The vibe, I always love hearing how people relate to our songs, but the most important thing to me is just that they enjoy it, anything else is a bonus.
What’s the most important lesson music has taught you so far?
Baring the intimacy of writing a song and releasing it is stressful, it’s like letting people into your brain, and that takes a lot to get past and get over, but as an artist releasing music, you have to be willing to let that out in the open.
What is a dream venue or festival you would love to perform at?
For me, Boardmasters in the UK, or one of the many Ski Festivals, I’m a big fan of skiing so the idea of doing a show then skiing down a mountain is as close to heaven as I’ll get.
If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would it be and why?
Good question, I’ll go for past artists and I’d go for a curveball like Prince, just because you know no matter what happens, you’d walk away with a bunch of crazy stories.
Where can our listeners follow and support your music? (Website,Spotify, IG, links)
We are most active on TikTok and Instagram (@deusego / @deusegomusic), but you can also find us on all major streaming services. If you really want to support independent artists though, check out our bandcamp, or join our discord 🙂
Looking toward the future, what’s your dream for the next chapter of your musical journey?
We’ve got some shows planned for 2026 already, including playing Engine Shed in Lincoln, UK on the 30th January, so our main focus for 2026 is getting out there and playing more shows.
What do you hope listeners will discover about you along the way?
Probably how utterly chaotic we are!
