Oliver Sabin – aka Unicorn Kid – is taking the world of 8-bit by storm, with fans including the Pet Shop Boys and Scissor Sisters

Published on Saturday 1 August 2009 15:37

ROUND the corner from the school he's just left, Scotland's newest dance music sensation leads the way, hood up and jeans falling off his backside, as we climb the stairs to his bedroom. "This is where the magic happens," says Oliver Sabin, better known to two million MySpacers and countless Tweeters – if not yet you – as Unicorn Kid.

The surroundings seem pretty unmagical: bed (duvet on the floor); chest of drawers with the only adornment a can of Right Guard; giant clumpy Nike trainer in a violent shade of green, its partner presumably floating off nearby Leith Docks as a hazard marker buoy; guitar (surprising, considering all of Unicorn Kid's music is made on computer), laptop – and four stark white walls.

What, no posters? "I need a completely clear head for this," says Sabin, 17. Even if you love pop music and think you know a lot about it, you may need one here as well. Unicorn Kid is most closely associated with the electro-genre known as 8-bit. Far from some two-bit fad, it's been around for longer than Sabin himself, transmitting seemingly demented beats that probably sound like Bach to the faithful but must make others worry that the Space Invaders have escaped from the videogame arcades, and having learned much niftier moves, are marching on the town hall.

Here's some more familiar names. Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters is a fan and Pet Shop Boys love Unicorn Kid so much they got him to remix their last single. Sabin was studying for five Highers at Leith Academy at the time so had to finish the job in the Easter hols, his most striking contribution being the zapping of all of Chris Lowe's instrumentation (ah, the casual insouciance of youth!). Shears courted him on Twitter and they've since met to discuss future collaborations but right now he's working on his debut album and having deferred his place at art college is free to tour America, spreading the word some more about 8-bit.

Some call it chiptune, others gamewave. Whatever, Sabin says he's probably managed to offend all of the purists. "Traditionally, 8-bit has used old-school videogame consoles to make music, but I have a computer to replicate the sound and hopefully create something for the stadium – more accessible, more tuneful."

Sabin wants to follow Calvin Harris from the bedroom to the mainstream, which must be sacrilege to true believers. "I'm not well-regarded on the scene," he admits. "Some want to keep it underground so they don't like me having any success. Others object to me using modern technology. And then there are the guys – they're a bit older – who don't like the fact I'm young and have a fringe. They're probably upwards of 25 (wow, that old] and wear normal jeans and normal T-shirts and work in IT. And I don't suppose these will help my case either… "

Sabin has just emptied the contents of his wardrobe on to the bedroom carpet: lion hats, lots of them, the wolf from his brief flirtation with synthetic comedy lupine headgear as stagewear – but now it's lions all the way. "The lion hat is my thing," he says. "I bought the first one from the German Market on Princes Street the Christmas before Unicorn Kid's first gig two years ago. Now my manager's tracked down the manufacturer and struck a deal for merchandising so the fans can have their own ones instead of nicking mine."

Sabin's first grand obsession was videogames. "I loved Sega Megadrive – Sonic the Hedgehog, Golden Axe, Streets of Rage – and then I had my PlayStation. But by the time the Xbox came along I was more into music and art (he designs all the Unicorn Kid artwork]. The first music I liked was heavy metal, extreme stuff like Slipknot, and aged 14 I played bass in a metal band." And they were called? "Exit To Nowhere!" He chuckles at the memory and reveals dance music has always been a guilty pleasure. "I love the terrible hardcore tunes – example, Darren Styles – that everyone else hates. There's a bit of a crossover with metal and what I do. The other day this girl on Twitter was like: 'So on Saturday should I go see Unicorn Kid or Bleed From Within?'"

Most grown-ups' exposure to the frantic bleeps of the Unicorn Kid's world is confined to the commercials for dance compilations – "100 bonkers blammers!" – which interrupt primetime drama on ITV with that nice Martin Clunes. But Sabin's parents, Mike and Michelle, must hear his music reverberating in the plasterwork, so what do they make of it?

"They're really supportive of Unicorn Kid, morally and financially," he says. "When I told my mum I'd got my first gig she was like 'What, you, playing that?' but now it's her gym music and even her ringtone. I'm always asking my dad: 'If I wasn't your son would you really be into this?' He says yes and I suppose that's to do with him having been a punk, back in the day."

Although he accepts his fanbase is teenager-dominated, Sabin sees no reason why, in time, he cannot extend the appeal of 8-bit. "Underage gigs are more popular. At an over-18s one in Chelmsford recently only two guys turned up. They danced badly – and when a party of Essex girls gatecrashed, they got self-conscious – but they were still pretty into it."

It's possible to detect strains of Scottish country dance and even prog in Unicorn Kid's music. Well, long-established practitioners of 8-bit have been known to meld it with jazz. One day, then, maybe even the normal haircuts will like what Sabin does. "That's the great challenge," he says, popping the lion hat back on his head and revving up the laptop.v

Unicorn Kid plays Cabaret Voltaire (as part of Edge Festival), Edinburgh, 20 August; City Nightclub, Edinburgh, 28 August; Killiefest, Kilmarnock, 29 August

www.myspace.com/unicornkid