As Immersed, Brazilian producers Öwnboss and Scorsi are channeling years of solo success, underground credibility, and cinematic ambition into one of dance music’s most intriguing new collaborative projects.
Immersed began as a recent remix collab of Nari & Milani’s “Atom,” a big-room smash from 2012; but then it slowly developed into something larger – a shared vision that extends far beyond the dancefloor.
For Öwnboss (Eduardo Fornasa Zaniolo), Immersed arrives after one of the biggest breakouts in recent dance music. “Move Your Body,” his global smash with Sevek, became a defining record of 2022, surpassing 200 million global streams and earning support from some of the biggest DJs in the world. Rather than chasing another viral moment, Immersed reflects a more intentional creative direction – and that’s one that’s focused less on formulas and more on longevity and artistic depth.
Scorsi (Daniel Acorsi), brings a completely different layer to the project. With more than two decades immersed in electronic-music culture, his background stretches from drum-n-bass roots to collabs with artists like ALOK, NGHTMRE, Tropkillaz, and Autograf. That experience gives Immersed an edge that not only feels technically refined, but emotionally grounded. Together, the pair manages to find a balance between aggressive low-ends and cinematic tension coupled with melodic restraint and emotional undertones.
From visuals and stage concepts to the recurring use of red as a symbol of intensity and controlled energy, Immersed is being developed as an experience rather than simply a side project. While recent singles such as “Tantra,” “Now You See Me,” and “The Last Time” introduced listeners to different sides of the duo’s sound, the bigger picture is becoming increasingly clear ahead of its forthcoming six-track EP due later this summer through Sony Music. We recently caught up with Immersed.
DJ LIFE: When did you first realize this needed to be its own project rather than just collaborations between the two of you?
Öwnboss: I think the turning point was when the music stopped feeling like isolated collaborations and started sounding connected, almost like chapters from the same world. We noticed there was a consistent emotional language across the records. Melodies, tension, groove, heavy low-end, and it felt bigger than just “another collab.”
At the same time, the energy between us outside the studio was also becoming part of it. The way we approached visuals, live ideas, even how we talked about the music, started developing its own identity naturally. That’s when we realized it deserved its own name and universe instead of living under our individual projects.
DJ LIFE: You’ve compared the concept to something like Jack Ü, where the project becomes its own identity. What rules did you set early on to make sure Immersed stayed distinct from your solo work?
Scorsi: If it sounds like it could simply be an Öwnboss record or a Scorsi record, it probably isn’t Immersed yet. We wanted Immersed to exist in the middle of both worlds, not as an extension of either one. That meant pushing contrast as a creative tool. Emotional but aggressive, melodic but dark, club-driven but cinematic. We also wanted the project to feel very intentional visually and emotionally… less “content culture,” more atmosphere and immersion. Even the name reflects that idea. We’re not trying to showcase two DJs together. We want people to enter a specific experience when they listen to the project. But still, you gotta play the content game.
DJ LIFE: Take us back to those first studio sessions after the “Atom” remix – what was the moment where you both felt the chemistry was different?
Öwnboss: There was a moment where we stopped overexplaining ideas to each other. That’s when we knew something different was happening. Normally in collaborations, you spend a lot of time translating references or defending creative decisions, but after “Atom,” the process became very instinctive. One of us would change something in the track and the other immediately understood where it was going. That level of trust made the sessions move really fast. We weren’t forcing songs into existence; they were almost building themselves naturally. That chemistry is probably the reason Immersed exists at all. But the first trigger wasn’t even in the studio. We shared the stage to play “Atom,” and in that moment it, clicked. There was a different energy there.
DJ LIFE: How would you describe the creative dynamic between you two in the studio?
Öwnboss: It changes constantly, which is probably why it works. Scorsi usually brings a more aggressive approach to sound design, bass-centered ideas and tension, while I naturally gravitate toward melody, emotion and arrangement. But there’s a lot of overlap, too, and that overlap is where the project really comes alive. The important thing is that there’s very little ego involved. If the track needs something, whoever has the better idea in that moment leads the direction. It’s more about serving the identity of the record than protecting individual roles.
DJ LIFE: In what ways do you find working together to be beneficial for you?
Scorsi: Probably perspective. When you work alone for too long, you can get trapped inside your own habits and instincts. Working together constantly challenges both of us to approach music differently. One person pushes emotion further, the other pushes impact further, and somewhere in the middle the records comes out. It also creates a level of confidence creatively. If both of us feel something emotionally at the same time inside the studio, we know there’s probably something real there.
DJ LIFE: Are there any downfalls to working as a pair on music creation?
Öwnboss: Just waiting on each other’s feedback! Very different schedules and sometimes it takes time.
DJ LIFE: Can you walk us through a typical day in the studio?
Scorsi: Sometimes it’s a vocal, a chord progression, a bass sound, or even just a conversation about how we want something to feel visually. From there, we slowly build the world around it. We usually know a track is finished when Öwnboss says so. If it depends on me, I’d keep tweaking the record forever! But, in general, at some point you stop hearing the individual layers and only feel the emotion of the record as a whole. That’s normally the moment we stop touching it.
DJ LIFE: What’s your current DAW setup, and what plug-ins or tools are essential for you?
Öwnboss: Ableton Live, [Xfer Records] Serum 2, [Native Instruments] Kontakt and Scorsi has a huge sample library he built over the years.
DJ LIFE: When you’re producing, how do you strike the balance between emotion and impact without leaning too far in either direction?
Scorsi: That balance is basically the core identity of Immersed. We’re very obsessed with finding the point where both things coexist. Usually the trick is restraint. If the emotional sections become too soft, we add tension. If the heavy moments become too technical or aggressive, we simplify and bring melody back into focus. The contrast is what creates the payoff.
DJ LIFE: Outside of electronic music, what artists or genres have influenced you?
Öwnboss: A lot of cinematic music, alternative rock and film scores honestly influence us more than people would expect. From The Prodigy to Bring Me the Horizon, rap, metal, Motown and even composers like Hans Zimmer have influenced the emotional scale and tension we like to create. We’re very inspired by music that feels simple and overwhelming, not just functional for clubs.
DJ LIFE: Öwnboss already has massive global recognition from “Move Your Body.” Did that success create pressure coming into Immersed, or did it give you freedom to experiment?
Öwnboss: Honestly, more freedom than pressure. Once you experience something at that scale, you stop chasing moments and start caring more about identity and longevity. Immersed was never created trying to recreate a hit formula; if anything, it exists because we wanted the freedom to build something with more depth and personality outside of our individual projects. That mentality actually removed pressure from the creative process and allowed us to experiment more fearlessly.
DJ LIFE: You’ve signed to Sony and have a six-track EP coming this summer. What can you tell us about the overall concept of the EP?
Scorsi: The EP is really about contrast and representation of our music taste. Every track explores a different emotional angle, but they still belong to the same universe sonically and visually. There are records that feel euphoric and melodic, others that feel darker and more aggressive, but the thread connecting everything is tension, atmosphere and movement. We wanted it to feel less like a playlist of singles and more like entering a world for 30 minutes.
DJ LIFE: When you’re DJing as Immersed, what’s your set-up?
Scorsi: We do the basic – CDJs and mixer only as we focus more on the diversity of music selection. Our big dream is a real immersive experience between the sound and visuals. It’s in the works for the future.
DJ LIFE: Do you have any pre-show rituals or routines?
Öwnboss: We make sure neither of us trips on the stairs or hits their head somewhere. We’re both pretty tall with big feet!
DJ LIFE: How do you approach building an Immersed set differently from a solo set?
Scorsi: An Immersed set is much more narrative-driven. In our solo projects, the focus can sometimes be more functional, depending on the club or festival environment. With Immersed, we think more about emotional pacing, tension and transitions between moments. We don’t plan the set ahead. We load the flash drives with all the songs we like and think relate to Immersed, and we go as the crowd moves. We want the audience to feel pulled into something instead of just reacting drop by drop.
DJ LIFE: Immersed is positioned as a project with plans for a live experience. What does “Immersed live” look like?
Öwnboss: Something between a club set and a cinematic experience. The music is the main subject, but we want the visuals to feel like a movie and make the crowd search for meaning inside it. We don’t want it to feel like two DJs standing behind CDJs playing tracks. The goal is to create a sensory world — visuals, lighting, emotion — where everything feels connected. The dream is for people to leave feeling like they experienced something memorable, not just physically. That’s the direction we’re slowly building toward.
Check out the latest EP from Immersed, here: