Latest / ninetyfive / In Conversation with Olivia Nelson | Music with feeling, personal growth and performing at Heathrow

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In Conversation with Olivia Nelson | Music with feeling, personal growth and performing at Heathrow · ninetyfive

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_03: Are you looking for your new favourite pop RB artist?
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_03: Meet Olivia Nelson.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_03: You started releasing music near enough 10 years ago now.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_03: How has Olivia Nelson evolved over that period of time?
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, what's what's the new Olivia Nelson art then?
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Oh damn, that's a good question.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_03: We are here with the wonderful Olivia Nelson.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_03: Hi.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_03: We are at Grind Studios in partnership with Etch for Residency Takeover all week.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_03: So just let's get us started.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_03: But anyone who doesn't know Olivia Nelson, introduce who you are, what you do, and what you're about.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so my name is Olivia.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: I'm a singer-songwriter from London.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_01: And I make primarily RB kind of poppy kind of this and that.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, I just love writing and singing.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_02: So what are we working on today?
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_01: Today I'm gonna be in here with my friend Latire and we're just gonna see what happens.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: I think we didn't really have too much of a plan.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_01: He is like better at producing than me, so we're just gonna like find some cool like sounds, some samples of vibe, hopefully write something unique, um, and yeah, just kind of see what happens.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_02: I already told you I'm a fan of Latir's as well.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_02: So two two good artists and producers in the studio, it's gonna be it's gonna be gold.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_02: It's gonna be good.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_03: It's gonna be good.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_03: So I guess maybe maybe a little insight into you.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_03: So you're three full EPs.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_03: The one that's possibly touching that, the longer side of an EP.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_03: Do you feel like the stuff you're working on at the minute, are we hinting towards a full LP, a full album, or where where are you at in your creative process?
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I took a break, a bit of a break from um after my last project um for health reasons, and now I'm back and I'm like gonna trickle out a few like um singles, and I'm just excited because in that time I've like lived a lot of life, and I feel like artists need to have time to live in between putting things out, and I've definitely done that, and I just feel like I've got like a fresh head, and I'm just excited for what's to come.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, I'd say there's lots of singles, and then possibly another project.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: Don't know quite if it's gonna be album or EP, but um, definitely more new music.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_02: It's just a quick question: what um do you classify as an EP, an album, and what does the difference mean to you?
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_01: I guess yeah, from the outside it probably doesn't seem that different for people, but for me, it's like how much thought and conceptualization there's been behind it.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_01: So for an EP, I feel like it's maybe a shorter period of time and it's just like like yeah, I think maybe less thought and more of a more just putting songs together and it feeling like the right fit.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: And then an album for me would be more of a conceptual thing, like birthing something from the start, and it's just more grand, definitely more like money and time that has gone into it as well.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, that's what I'd say.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_03: I think something that's super important.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_03: I think so often we can see artists like it's like album, album run, album, and it's like quite relentless, and I can't imagine like I've done a few like sort of not even tours, but like stuff where you're busy day to day to day and it's crazy.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_03: So like I can't imagine how that would be.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_03: So you started releasing music near enough 10 years ago now.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_03: How has Olivia Nelson evolved over that period of time?
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, what's what's the new Olivia Nelson arc then?
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_01: Oh damn, that's a good question.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um I feel like I have just not to sound like cheesy, but I've just transitioned from like a girl to a woman.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_01: Like I like I said, so much life has happened and so many experiences and also like not even just outside experiences, like you know, how I feel towards myself and my own like identity and my own voice, like everything.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: I just feel more sure of myself, and I think that that just comes with age, but um yeah, definitely I feel like older, more mature, more sure.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_02: Does that does that get realized in your lyrics, or would you say the production, or is it the whole package is just new and and and more mature?
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: I would say it's like the types of decisions I'm making, yeah, within my writing and within like in the room with the producer, um, and I feel like I have more of a hand in the production now as well myself.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: Like I'm trying to produce more and just have more control over all of the aspects because I know how I want things to sound in my head now, and I have a sound and I have a standard, so I wanna just maintain that and push that.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_03: The standard thing is interesting because even from like your first release, it's like I thought the standard was very high.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_03: So it's interesting, it's interesting to hear how like the thought process, you as the creator is like putting that out.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_03: Um in 2018 you did a little interview, um, and in that you said the the advice that you would give to like aspiring artists would be to like make your own opportunities, and that was obviously eight years ago now, and I feel like the barriers to entry in music are a lot lower now.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_03: Would your advice to like young creators be the same now, or how has like the last sort of eight years shaped what you might like give advice to people?
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_01: That's I feel like social media was so different then versus now.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_01: Like back then, obviously it was still really prevalent, but I feel like now it really is the gateway to building a whole career.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_01: It's like what like all the tastemakers and everything, they're all looking at AR's labels, they're all looking at socials, and not that they weren't before, but it's just different now.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_01: It's like it's just more heavy on that.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but that's something that I like struggle with as well because I feel like when you grow up with a certain era of music and you know, and that's like the world as it is, transitioning into the new like ways of doing things, ways of doing things is hard, but I feel like it is just the way it is now.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: So I'd say, yeah, social media is the biggest, uh, biggest change that's happening in that time, and I think um aspiring artists, that is their thing that they should focus on.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_01: Obviously, the music and all of that is the most important, but socials is like a huge part of it, as we all know.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_02: When you when you talk about um social media kind of being at the forefront of everything and everything's now so data-driven, right?
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_02: Um, like we'll we'll check in your streaming numbers and stuff and seeing what we're saying, and you've hit like like 50 plus million streams and stuff.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_02: How do you balance worrying about the numbers and how how to stream well to like making something personal and still being true to yourself?
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_01: You just can't even think about the streaming numbers at all because I never did like even initially before that happened, um the whole thought process was always making something personal, authentic, that has a feeling.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_01: I want people to listen to my music and feel something, and that's always the key.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_01: And then I think you just have to you can't think about the other stuff because then you'll just dig yourself into a hole and and it's it's just not good.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_01: So I think leaving that side out of it and just going into it, you can think about it afterwards maybe, but like when you're doing it, you can't think about it.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I guess that yeah, that's the the effect of you doing something so unique and personal.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_02: If if it does well, it's means it's really speaking to people, right?
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, yeah.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_03: The fan doesn't see the studio sessions, the writing sessions, the mixing, the mastering, the tweaking, the oh my gosh, I don't know if the distributors received it, or it's gone live on the wrong profile.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_03: So getting it out.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_03: And then as Louis says, like, if it resonates with people, the better, but you've at least done that for yourself, which is sick.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_01: 100%.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm trying to like I'm trying to remember that like that, like just getting it out, like you said, is the most important thing.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, no one needs to worry about the before.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_01: It's just once it's out, it's out of my hands, let the world have it.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_01: What happens happens, yeah.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_01: 100%.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_03: So obviously we're here with Etched Times Grind for this the weekly residency, and the whole premise of Etched is protecting protecting your value, but also allowing creativity to flow from the fact that it's anchored in like protection.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_03: And so we wanted to ask you um what is something, and it doesn't have to be a song, but what is something that you have created that is the most valuable thing to you, or something that is of of significant value.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_03: It could even be like a relationship or a do you know what I mean?
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_03: Something something of value along that topic.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_03: It's a think of that one, isn't it?
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it is.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: I've never been asked that question before, so yeah, that's really cool.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um I would say the relationship I have with my mum, I love that, and I feel like that's something that yeah, is just very special to me and um is very unique to me.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I'd say that.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_03: That's amazing.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_03: Have you always had a good relationship with her or has it grown?
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, no, it's we've always had a good relationship.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: I think as I've got older, it's just got better.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: It's just me and her, so like we're very close.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: It's sad when like parents get older and like I don't know, I feel like I just don't want anyone to like get older, I just want everything to stay the same.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: I know.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um but yeah, I love my mum, and yeah.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_01: Do you guys have a good relationship with your parents?
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_02: Are you yeah, and it's always it's always nice to see like your relationship with your parents as you become an adult as well.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_02: I think it changed from a child and adult relationship to adult and adult.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um you kind of You're not on the same level still, your your parents are always gonna go.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_02: But you feel at least a bit elevated, which is always cool.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, um yeah, that's a good answer.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_02: Uh that's a sick answer.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_03: I respect that.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_03: It's funny, it was my dad's birthday the other day and we were there for dinner, and I was like, Is it mad to you having a 30-year-old son?
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_03: And he was like, It's in it's mad, it's insane.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_03: Because I was like, it feels mad to tell you that I'm a 30-year-old son, and he's like, Yeah, the fact that you are and I am like it's all mad.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's mental.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_03: Alright, we're gonna change change topic completely.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_03: But you have performed at Heathrow Airport, which not many people can say.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_03: What's that about?
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_03: How did that happen?
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_03: Please tell us.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so that was actually, yeah, it was actually really fun, but it was the weirdest gig of my life.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_03: I bet.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: So it was with um Sofar Sounds.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_01: It was like a partnership with them, and they basically asked a few artists if they wanted to do this collaboration with Heathrow, um, I guess to promote the airport and everything.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_01: And they had, yeah, three artists who were in the departure lounge, and uh there was like a little stage, and me and my guitarists were there.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_01: Like a couple of artists got up first, and then we were just singing, and there were so many people just looking, like in awe, some people so confused, like naturally, and then some people just didn't not care.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_01: They were literally like eating their prayer, like looking at their phone, like right, when's my fly?
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, um, but it was honestly like such a fun experience because it's such a weird thing to have been a part of, but it was like I love that it's such a unique thing.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and the fact I can say I've performed at Heathrow Airport, like who can say that?
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, exactly.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_03: So funny one of the 0.001% probably people you can say that.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_03: That's sick.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_03: Um, well, that's probably it.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_03: That's probably it.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_03: I think for Louis and I, it's been great speaking with you.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: We've both been too too.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it's been it's been mad.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_03: We've both been here since someone that you love through to like your EP.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_03: So very excited for what you're gonna be cooking up, and we're definitely watching the journey as you roll out uh this next batch of music.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_03: So all the very best.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for having me.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_03: That's been good.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you to Etch and Grind for having us.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_03: And yeah, we'll let you crack on with your session.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_03: Amazing, and yeah, hope you make some good stuff with Latoon.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_03: Let's go.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: Let's do this.