ORSA MINOR is the new collaborative project from long-time friends and seasoned music professionals Cenzo Scoglio and James Hockley, a duo driven by a shared passion for emotionally rich, atmospheric electronic music.
Cenzo, widely known under his aliases MrCenzo and Finest Wear, is a respected figure in the underground house scene with decades of experience as a DJ and producer. His deep, immersive sound has led to releases on influential labels including Plastic City, Large, King Street, Nordic Trax, and Loudest, and collaborations with notable names across the genre.
James is an award-nominated composer, producer, and sound designer with an impressive résumé that includes work for William Orbit, Bryan Adams, Nothing But Thieves, Fedde Le Grand, Ministry of Sound, Armada, and Black Hole. He has also composed and produced music for film, TV, and video games, with credits for Netflix, BMG, Audio Network, Activision, and more.
Together as ORSA MINOR, they blend their expertise into a unique sound that bridges the cinematic and the club-ready. Their debut releases will appear on their own imprint, MINOR SOUNDS, marking the beginning of a bold new chapter.
Off the back of their second release we sat down with the pair to discuss their new project, collaborating, creative process and more!
WWD: Hey Guys, great to meet you! Who is Orsa Minor?
Hey nice to meet you all too, Well we are 2 long time friends who have been working in the scene doing our own projects for many years and have been meaning to join forces for ever and now the time was right for us to do just that.
WWD: You’ve just released the ‘A Moment In Time EP.’ Can you talk us through the release?
This is our 2nd EP on our label ‘Minor Sounds’ which we are really pleased with as it has gained some huge support as a follow up to our ‘Body Of Works EP’ We stuck to the same theme on the production side of the tracks, real deep and meaningful house music with soul.
WWD: You’ve recently announced who is behind the ‘Orsa Minor’ alias after teasing your audience with your real identity for the first release…was it always the plan to reveal your identity eventually?
Yes we were always going to but we wanted to run a test with the 1st EP as the sound we are creating is not what is out there in the mainstream so we did not want our followers to grab the music from our own identities we basically wanted the music to do all the talking and we are very happy with the results so far.
WWD: How did the collaboration as a production team come about?
Because we have been great friends now for many years, as James has been doing the studio thing pretty much all his career I myself (Cenzo) used to drive up from my Dj gigs nearly every Sunday mornings to go sit in the studio and watch James working his magic and learning the craft of production plus working some edits for me to play in my sets, then many years past and we always said we should work together but the timing just was not right but now its all working out perfectly.
WWD: What’s the easiest & hardest part of collaborating?
It’s all pretty easy for me cause I just get James to do all the work, (kidding). We bounce really well off each other as we both have the same love and passion for electronic music, Although over the years we have been on different paths musically we still come back and have the same ideas
As for the hardest part I suppose it would be time, as we both have our separate lives in what we do.
WWD: Where and when was the EP made?
It was mainly done in my little studio, however we also work remotely through Dropbox at our own studios before we meet up every Wednesday. It was completed roughly around April / May.
WWD: Can you share some insight into your creative process? Any rituals or methods that keep you inspired?
The creative process just comes naturally, I like to create the grooves & find the warm sounds then start to build a little structure then James will get keys / chords correct then the fun begins to build the full track which we both put our input into.
WWD: As someone deeply involved in the house music scene, how do you see it right now?
From what we see and hear, it’s buzzing in the underground world which we love. There is a lot of creative juices flowing with some great tracks out there.
WWD: What’s one thing you’ve learned about the music industry that surprised you?
Be prepared for a long journey up. Also be careful who you put your trust in.
WWD: Finally, what does the rest of 2025 hold for you both?
We have 2 more EPs coming on our Minor Sounds label before the end of 2025 plus we’re in talks of a couple of DJ gigs with our sound so if you see us out there come say Hi.. 🙂
WWD: Looking forward to listening! Thanks for the chat, guys 🙂
Hope you enjoy the sounds and thanks so much for having us here X.
The ‘A Moment In Time’ EP is available here