BUS4C004P-001 – 25103165 – Cyrus Taylor – Portfolio (A&R module)

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Cyrus Taylor 25103165

Oleksii Panasenko – Orisin

Introduction

This document presents an artist analysis and development strategy for my chosen artist Oleksii Panasenko, or under his musical name, Orisin. This portfolio’s aim is to review his identity and career journey from an Artist & Repertoire (A&R) perspective, along with discussing the possibility of growing him into an influential and notable presence within the modern music industry. Orisin was chosen for this study due to his visible passion and ability to compose creative material, to tell stories of his life experience and expressing his emotions through his music. His distinct background of growing up in a foreign country and desire to be seen has further captivated me to explore the reasoning behind his ambition to one day become a successful artist. Furthermore, with the recent resurgence of the Shoegaze genre, his musical experience and talent to create a captivating and distinct sound, I strongly believe that Orisin possesses the potential to flourish into an emerging artist who can attract attention and emotional connection of many listeners, changing into the established musical figure that he aspires to be.

Despite being in the early stages of his career, he has already developed a clear route for where he wants to take his music, with Shoegaze being the sole genre and aesthetic to form his artistic direction. The following sections will discuss the experiences and influences that inspired Orisin  to pursue music, alongside an overview of his musical identity and potential market appeal. Additionally, an artist development plan will also be laid out, considering the steps needed and resources required to allow Orisin to sustain a long-term career, while also covering any possible weaknesses and how to overcome them.

Overview of Orisin

Oleksii Panasenko, known as Orisin, is an aspiring musician currently based in the UK, making music revolving heavily around the Shoegaze genre. Although his influences spread across various sides of alternative music, upon interviewing him, he stated that Shoegaze is going to be the main genre and aesthetic to build his future artistic career around. From an A&R point of view, that matters a lot, because many artists at this stage are still jumping between genres and identities to figure out where to start. Orisin already has a direction, making him much easier to develop properly.

His music is built around guitar-led writing and atmosphere. The thing that stands out most is how much the mood matters to him. “Perfect” songs in a technical sense are not his main goal in mind when composing his songs, he’s trying to make projects that feel like something. Music to him was described as one of the only fields where he feels like he can fully express his thoughts, labelling it as something that helps him process his emotions and calm his mind. That kind of relationship with music is special, often indicating that the artist isn’t doing it carelessly but with aspiration. This may suggest that he’ll persevere even when progress is slow, which is one of the most valuable things needed in order to help establish someone’s career.

Background and why his story matters

Orisin’s background is a major part of why I took interest in choosing him for this project, due to him growing up in a foreign country, giving me a closer perspective on international musicians. Additionally, his elaborate past aligns with the nature of his music, which also reflect off his beliefs and upbringing. He was born in 2005 in Kharkiv, Ukraine, and his love for music sparked at an early age of six, when he started learning the guitar. His father eventually introduced him to various rock and alternative bands such as Papa Roach and Bring Me To The Horizon, which had a big influence on his interest in the musician lifestyle. He mentioned that he remembers his dad selecting different genres of music to figure out which resonated with him most.

“Hearing heavier rock for the first time made me want more of that rockstar life of girls, money and rock & roll!”

His connection to emotional, intense music from a young age suggests why his composition leans toward catharsis and meaning, even though the genre has alternated. He mentioned specific songs from his childhood, including Ukrainian folk music, which were among the first songs he learned on guitar, further adding to the sense that music has always been tied to his overall identity and not just for entertainment.

The beginning of the war and moving to the UK recounts to him as one of the most pivotal stages of his life. He described that period as a “reality check”, forcing him to become more independent and more concerned about his future. He was very honest about the fact he doesn’t want a “standard” and colourless life where he feels stuck and miserable, therefore given another reason to why music matters so much to him. He states: “It’s about living a life that feels fulfilling and fully experienced”.

This is important from an A&R perspective because it’s not a storyline fabricated for branding, it’s genuine, and it links smoothly to his sound and theme. Furthermore, in genres like Shoegaze and alternative music, audiences often seek authenticity in their artists. Essentially, if the music feels genuine, with emotion and a message behind it, people tend to build a more passionate attachment than they would with an artist lacking depth and expression (Moore 2002).

Experience

Before diverging into a solo act, Orisin had a significant involvement in performative music, playing as the lead guitarist, most notably in bands such as Trepidation, Past Life, and Tripswitch, in addition to a supportive role under the name Garageflower. Those experiences granted him the confidence and understanding needed to construct a new identity as a solo artist. Currently, he works mostly alone due to his immense value in creative control; as he explained, “there are positives to working alone. You are in charge in the creative process and you would know how to properly represent the material you compose.” However, he also agrees that collaborations can take projects to the next level when creators share the same vision.

Market Positioning and Potential Market Appeal

Orisin’s market appeal aligns most closely within the alternative guitar scene, specifically the modern Shoegaze side where its audience tend to be captivated by distinctive mood and aesthetic of the genre, along with its songwriting. Orisin and his music would serve as an excellent appeal to this community, as his sound isn’t manufactured to be average or mainstream in a traditional sense in the modern industry. While Shoegaze could be seen as minuscule compared to mainstream pop, it is a niche that holds a dedicated and loyal fanbase. It has also gained renewed attention in recent years, with increased recognition through online culture and streaming, particularly within the younger generation, helping the genre reach a wider audience than it has for decades (Sherburne, 2023; Enis, 2023). Discovery and small venues are often where Shoegaze artists build community, followed by word of mouth and online exposure.

Based on my interview with Orisin, he described his suitable audience as “teenagers and Shoegaze lovers”, also including individuals that “appreciate story and meaning”, even if some listeners primarily recognise the sound and aesthetic first. This aligns with how younger audiences often discover and share music now, with friend recommendation still playing a major part in music discovery among 16 to 24 year olds (PRS for Music, 2014). Additionally, according to multiple data collection sources, artist discovery is increasingly influenced by personal social feeds and recommendations, with teenagers and young adults being the majority of users to access Youtube, TikTok and streaming platforms as main routes of how listeners find new musicians over the traditional formats (MIDiA Research, 2025; Ofcom, 2025; IFPI, 2023). As a result, Orisin’s music is well suited to platform led discovery, where a preview of his passion and emotion in his music can gather attention, leading to a full listen of the track and eventually converting that engagement into a long-term interest in the artist (Ingham, 2021).

Orisin’s branding choices also increases his market appeal within the Shoegaze community. He stated part of his aesthetic comprised of “VHS effect videos with a nostalgic feel”, with light blue as his main colour because it “presents feelings of nostalgia and melancholy”. In terms of branding, colour is regularly used as a simple but effective shortcut for displaying emotion and identity, namely Owsinski (2019) who advised artists to choose a primary colour early as part of defining their brand. According to Verywell Mind (2024), blue is commonly associated with calmness and a reflective mood, and it can also carry emotional connotations that suit a nostalgia driven theme. By integrating a consistent colour scheme with a VHS style aesthetic to emphasise a further nostalgic feeling, Orisin creates a distinctive world around his music, enabling people to associate with his image with his overall identity and to recognise it across different posts or promotional material.

Live performance also supports Orisin’s commercial potential, especially in a scene where reputation is usually built from smaller settings before wider recognition follows. In the UK, smaller and independent venues are often known as providers for emerging artists, giving more opportunities to perform and develop, assisting in building early foundations for growth and to sustain a presence in the local community before taking off (Culture, Media and Sport Committee, 2024). Orisin acknowledged the reality of his current career stage, stating that “realistically” he could only perform at venues with a capacity of around 100 people, even if only around 50 people might attend. He also mentioned venues he would like to play at again (when performing in a band) such as Hyde Park Book Club, the Lending Room, Key Club and the Wardrobe, showing a realistic pathway from smaller spaces into larger stages as his audience increases. This indicates that Orisin already has an understanding in career planning, with achievable goals in choices of venues and a clear sense of progression over time.

Song Analysis

Orisin recently released his first single “goodbye” of which is now available across multiple platforms (Orisin, 2025). He wanted his first song to portray a special meaning, taking aspects of Shoegaze and his own personal narrative, presenting as the official introduction to his public image. Following the section discussing Orisin’s connection to the Shoegaze community and his ties to the genre, this piece of musical evidence could be analysed to further support how his music fits in that field of music, allowing him to centre his identity and musical career around it.

As described earlier in the portfolio, the track carries an emotional tone and message that links back to his childhood, growing up and leaving it all behind. This is shown through the lyrics: “All the time in the world could fit, just in my hands”, suggesting a time in the past where he felt less pressure and at ease, without the worry of responsibility and when life felt less demanding. Also, “All the time I could spend it again”, signifies his yearn to return to that same feeling of joyous content he felt when he was younger. That sense of nostalgia and sentimentality is carried throughout the song, not only portrayed in the lyrics, but the instruments and vocals too. The guitar utilises thick layers of reverb and effects to capture atmosphere throughout the song, along with a dreamy vocal melody, especially in the chorus where a vocal lift is included for more emotional intensity. In terms of instrumentation, the roomy and powerful drums involve patterns which are more intricate and dynamic in comparison to typical Shoegaze songs, where they stay simple to support the guitar and vocals. This difference helps separate Orisin from the usual artists of the genre, with his in his music’s sound allowing him to be more distinguishable and recognisable as his own. Despite this contrast, the song still includes composition techniques and effects that matches Shoegaze’s typical sound, particularly through its emphasis on the overall texture and atmosphere instead of a clear separation between instruments (AllMusic n.d.). As discussed earlier, “goodbye” will overall be a strong appeal to Shoegaze audiences and listeners that engage with or enjoy songs that have meaning and a strong sense of nostalgia and emotion, indicating that Orisin is a suitable artist for the Shoegaze fanbase and will likely attract many newfound audiences within the community.

goodbye.

Artist Development Plan

The purpose of this development plan is to translate Orisin’s current positioning in the market into a practical set of steps that can be achieved at the early stage that his career is in. From an A&R standpoint, investing into an artist’s development is not only about public profile, but also about refining the overall artist product so that the music, visuals and live experience all delivers an enhanced and defined artist image. From an A&R standpoint, development means refining the artist product so music, visuals and live delivery work together (Negus 1992).

Current Following

As established earlier in this document, Orisin’s strongest appeal is within modern shoegaze market, where atmosphere, identity is valued and discovery led by the community is the more prominent method of finding artists compared to mainstream exposure. Therefore, the plan aims to build recognition through a realistic release schedule for new original material, consistent uploads of promotional content, and to eventually introduce live performances. At the time of writing, Orisin’s platforms still remains in it’s early phase in terms of following: he has 204 Instagram followers, 77 TikTok followers, and 11 monthly listeners on Spotify, although his statistics show promising results. His TikTok posts containing his music typically reach 800–1500 views and his view-to-like ratio for his content stays consistent around 10%, being around 80 likes per video. This presents the amount of attention short-form discovery has to offer, making it important to prioritise and build upon with consistency to maximise this early exposure (Ofcom, 2025; IFPI, 2023).

With gaining traction being the main priority at this stage, new releases should be published in a fashion that assists with growth instead of aiming for a big project such as an EP or album. Due to having a lack of original material as of now, an approach involving single releases would be the most suitable for Orisin, with each latest track being another way to clarify his identity and sound as a musician for his audience. He mentioned that he was also planning on releasing more music within the next month or two, a chain of teasers and promotion content should be uploaded to his platforms to inform his followers and keep anticipation around the song before it’s release. The uploaded content could consist of: short preview clips of the most memorable section of the track (e.g. chorus, vocal lifts etc.), posts showing the cover art/colour palette and brief snippets of behind the scenes action, showing the story and meaning behind the project. After the release, continuation of these upload patterns should allow the song to circulate among Orisin’s followers and to catch attention of new potential listeners, rather than being forgotten about after the initial launch of the song (MIDiA Research, 2025).

Orisin’s branding should be improved in order for his work to appear consistent across all platforms. Orisin has already decided on his aesthetic direction, however he currently doesn’t have a logo, making his branding more challenging to maintain across cover art and promotional material. Designing a logo with correlations to his artistic identity, along with a few reusable templates for new content will make his social media pages look more polished without significant investment, especially given that he already works with a friend who is a photographer that can provide him with professional-looking photographs and videos. Applying similar visuals on each post also helps viewers recognise Orisin faster, which assists in achieving his goal with attention at this stage.

Live performance should be introduced in a later stage, once Orisin has enough original material and confidence to present his music properly. As he currently has only one released track, learning song covers of a similar genre would enable Orisin to perform a relatively reasonable 15-20 minute set. After forming a performable run-through of songs, he can begin targeting gig opportunities in Leeds through supporting acts or opening positions, rather than aiming to headline immediately. As new tracks release over time, the ratio between covers and original songs should balance out and eventually become more prominent in Orisin’s sets, to allow the audience to become more familiarised with his work. In terms of feasible venues, Hyde Park Book Club, The Lending Room, Key Club and The Wardrobe are all conventions within Leeds that Orisin himself has played at, when he was in his former bands. As stated earlier, local venues are known for giving smaller artists a chance to perform and gain a following, therefore being the reason why Orisin should approach these settings first. Once he has built a fair reputation as a performing artist based in Leeds, he can advance to other cities or areas to attract further attention and listeners, linking back to how Shoegaze artists usually grow, through frequent performing at venues and word of mouth, before wider opportunities follow.

To keep the plan realistic, progress should be measured in simple ways that match his current stage. For the short term, the focus should be kept on increasing recognisability and reach to audiences, shown through consistent development in engagement, follower count and views on all platforms. As new music continues to release and his identity is more established, the priority can shift towards encouragement for deeper fan connection, for instance: merch sales, repeat listening/saves and more intense interaction on various social media sites. However, since he is still within the beginning stage as a musician, the emphasis should be on building a larger audience that acknowledges him as an artist, whilst also displaying support and involvement with his work (MIDiA Research, 2025).

Potential Weaknesses & Solutions

Although Orisin is certain about his musical identity and artistic direction, there are some notable issues or flaws that could disrupt or limit progress if not adressed alongside the development strategy. In Orisin’s case, primary weaknesses include areas that require additional practical investment rather than major flaws, especially around vocals and English speaking confidence, time management and forming a live performance team.

Vocals and English Speaking

Orisin admitted to feeling unconfident in his English speaking ability and vocal delivery. The primary issue isn’t directly how the vocals may sound on record, but how low confidence affects consistency. If avoiding recording or performing becomes habitual due to feeling incapable to portray vocals, releases become less frequent, thus slowing progress immensely. The most effective method to refine this skill is through repetition, with regular practice, repeated recording takes and gradual exposure through rehearsals or media can build comfort over time. Since Shoegaze doesn’t involve an eccentric-pop vocal style, concentration on emotional clarity and passion through constant improvement should be central instead of delivering an unnatural and unready performance.

Time Management

Time management is another struggle that Orisin acknowledges, which is crucial since he is currently managing the majority of his work independently. The amount of writing, production and content can become overwhelming, inducing stress and leading to reduced productivity and inconsistency, therefore being one of the most substantial issues when attempting to grow a career (MIDiA Research, 2025). As receiving traction is the biggest priority as of now, decreased output in content could slow momentum on gaining attention. One method to resolve this includes a simple schedule structure, where different categories of work are split into sections and handled on separate sessions (For example, writing & arranging, recording & production). Another solution to this matter would be to permit a trusted associate partial access to the social media platforms to manage statistics, messages and content output, giving Orisin less worries and more time to progress on his creative intuition.

Forming a Live Performance Teams

Although Orisin has experience from performing in bands, he has yet to have performed under his solo identity, which creates a complication to the development plan due its significant emphasis on live activity. Additionally, he expressed that he would rather perform live with a band rather than alone due to confidence, further suggesting that seeking new bandmates will be crucial to Orisin’s overall goal as an artist. Without a current band lineup, organising rehearsals and gig opportunities will become increasingly challening and improbable, even if his online presence continues to progress. Having multiple bandmates is also impactful for Shoegaze specifically, as the genre often depends on layers of atmospherical sound and intensity that would be tough to recreate effectively as a solo act (AllMusic n.d.) To resolve this drawback, Orisin should prioritise recruiting new band members promptly, preferably who share a similar understanding in music and aesthetic. University would be an ideal setting to search for members, where many individuals are actively looking for projects and are easier to rehearse with consistently. He has also already asked me to become his drummer, which could provide an immediate foundation for rehearsals while he looks for additional members such as a bassist and another guitarist to complete the group.

Conclusion

In conclusion, from an A&R perspective, this portfolio has brought together an artist analysis and development plan for Oleksii Panasenko, performing under the name Orisin. His background, influences, current output, and positioning within the modern Shoegaze space have been explored to assess his potential for long-term growth as an emerging artist. By linking his sound and lyrical themes with his visual identity, including his first public release “goodbye”, the portfolio indicates that Orisin already has a focused identity that can be understood by the audience he is aiming to reach. The development plan has been built to strengthen what is already operating, with achievable steps such as continuing with single releases, improving the presentation of his branding, and using structured content to attract attention while his catalogue is still very limited. Longer-term goals are also laid out through progression in live performance, beginning with building a stronger presence in Leeds before extending into other cities once his local reputation develops. Any weaknesses that could slow progress, including vocal confidence, time management, and the need for a stable live lineup, have been addressed with practical solutions so the strategy remains sustainable. Overall, Orisin presents a strong case for continued development, and with steady output and well managed growth, he has potential to become a recognised emerging name within the shoegaze community.

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