Olivia – Outshine The Stars

By starrymag | March 10, 2016

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

Q) How would you describe your sound?

 

A) My sound has definitely evolved over the past few years from straight singer/songwriter to now being more of a mix of pop/rock and singer/songwriter. I really love my new sound, but at the end of the day the most important thing to me is that the lyrics to any of my songs be meaningful and tell a story that people can relate to.

 

Q) Who are some of your musical influences?

 

A) I love all kinds of music. We listened to a lot of music at home growing up and always played it in the car. So, I grew up with a lot of different musical influences, including country, jazz and even French music (my dad is from France). I really love Norah Jones, Sam Smith, Coldplay, James Bay and Ed Sheeran. I love their music for different reasons. I especially love the way Ed Sheeran is a story teller; each song is a story from beginning to end. Norah Jones just has that amazing jazz influence, but her music can appeal to a wider audience than just jazz fans. 

 

Q) What is the song writing process like for you? Do you need music before you create the lyrics?

 

A) I started song writing when I was twelve years old. I realized pretty quickly that as fun as it was to do covers, being able to write and perform your own stuff was way cooler. It was a difficult process in the beginning, but I had some great guidance from my vocal coach. By age thirteen, I had released my very own album of eight original songs called Rainfall. One of those songs, “Fight For You,” was even a Top 15 winner in the teen category of the International Song Writing Competition, with over 40,000 entrants. So, I realized then that song writing was definitely something I could be pretty decent at.

 

After that, I started co-writing out in LA with Sony/ATV writer Andrew Allen and a bunch of other amazingly talented writers like fellow Canadian Robin Ghosh, with whom I worked on my most recent single and EP. I definitely enjoy the collaboration process much more than writing on my own. It is way more fun and cool to have different people bring their own unique ideas to the table.

 

My favorite thing to do is set up the room (I love tea and candles) and then we usually start by creating a word bubble to help with ideas. Once one catches on, we fiddle around with melodies and choose one that we think fits the word theme we have come up with. Then, from there, it can be several hours or even days to get the song. Sometimes we stop part way through if there is a block and turn to a new song and start the process all over. We always keep the half done ones though as you never know what ideas may come to mind for those later on.

 

Q) What do you think it is about your song “Outshine the Stars” that fans are really connecting to?

 

A) I think people always want to hear about hope and optimism. Life is not always easy and in writing this song I wanted everyone to know that there is hope in life, that no one is alone and everyone is beautiful – even if it does not always feel that way. So no matter who puts you down, breaks your heart and makes you think you are forgotten, there is always someone out there who thinks you are perfect and beautiful just as you are. The best you can do is love yourself!

 

Q) How much of a hand do you have in the production of your music?

 

A) I definitely want the song to reflect me. I want to be comfortable with the music that I put out there. So after writing the song, I will always listen to the demo version and see if I like it enough. I usually know right away if I am feeling it or not. If I do love it, I completely trust my producer (in this case Robin Ghosh) to produce it in a way that keeps in line with what we wrote with the demo. And, of course, he always asks me what I think and allows for my input. Truthfully though, he is super talented and I am always very happy with what he puts together.

 

Q) What can fans expect from a live Olivia performance?

 

A) I love performing live. It is always amazing to see the fans’ reactions to my music. Many of my performances have been acoustic driven so far, as that is the kind of music that I was doing more of. I will do a lot of my original music, but will always include several of my favorite cover songs. The audience always reacts well when you play them something they know and love. So, if they have not heard my own stuff yet, I can still keep them engaged and interested and hopefully they will like a couple of my songs too. This new stuff I am putting out is more pop driven so I also look forward to more performances with a fuller band. Those gigs always have great energy! I also love talking to my fans afterwards. Everyone is always so kind and supportive.

 

Q) Who would you most like to collaborate with on a song in the future?

 

A) I would absolutely love to work with Ed Sheeran. I must say this in every interview (maybe he will read one of them one day [laughs]). He is such a fantastic song writer and I love the instrumental; there are always such cool beats. For now, I am always just super honored to work with anyone in this industry that has experience. I am super open minded and open to learn.

 

Q) What can fans do to help promote your music?

 

A) I guess check out my YouTube channel and SoundCloud. That is where I post all my own music and covers, too. Subscribe and share, share, share!!!

 

Q) You are a part of social media. Why is that such an important way for you to connect with your fans?

 

A) My whole generation lives on their phones. My mom jokes that mine is stuck to my hand, but that is how we communicate. So, I have fans from all over the world who have found me through a cover I did on YouTube, SoundCloud or a music interview. It is amazing to get comments from people in different countries. I love reading the nice comments I get on YouTube and especially when they tell me where they are from. Whenever I answer back, people seem so surprised. Makes me really appreciative.

 

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?

 

 

A) I would like to say that I love my fans. I am always so appreciative of all the subscribers, the comments and messages. It amazes me how kind people are and how willing to support me they are. If I can make music that makes them smile or get them through a bad day, then I know my music is helping people just feel good. And I would say thank you to them for subscribing, sharing and listening.

 

 

“Outshine The Stars” – https://soundcloud.com/oliviamusiclive/outshine-the-stars

More on Olivia: http://www.oliviamusiclive.com