Introducing #153 - Olivia Duke
Let us introduce you to Liverpool artist Olivia Duke - who is only sixteen, but don't let sway you away, because she writes stunning bedroom pop that drives deep with chilled commercial vibes. She took a moment to talk to us about her music.
Hey Olivia - so how are you?
Hey! I'm doing great at the moment, even better now lockdown restrictions are lifting, it means we can get some studio days in, which have been very much missed! Aside from that, overly stressing about upcoming exam results and overthinking about what colour to dye my hair next!
Your track ‘3 AM’ is out now, can you tell us what the track is about?
Sure! The song was initially inspired by a separate song idea I sent to Joey (the guy who helps and manages all my music) at 3AM, a few days later we were laughing at how my sleeping pattern is kind of a joke and that's when the song idea came to life. I love it when it gets to that time of the night when everyone else in the house is asleep and it's totally quiet. All the things mentioned in the song have legit happened over lockdown, even the part about me cutting my hair :/
So you are originally from Northern Ireland - but now live in Liverpool, what led to that move?
Yeah I grew up in Northern Ireland my whole life until the age of 10, and then down to my Mum wanting a fresh start and change of scenery we jumped on a boat and headed over to Liverpool. I don't think at the age of 10 I had much say in the matter but I'm glad she made that call. Liverpool and music just go hand in hand, so I guess it was kinda meant to be :)
The track comes with your first music video - how did you find the filming for this during the middle of a Global pandemic with Covid-19?
It was so exciting to be a part of and was literally my first time leaving the house in months! Luckily we have some very talented friends (Shoutout Oli, Courtney, Lucy and Isaac) who were willing to help out and pull it together. Oli designed the video and we shot it over 2 days! A lot of fun, and thankfully deliveroo was up and running, so a lot of food too... Of course we tried to maintain social distancing as much as possible, and used a hell of a lot of disinfectant!
What are your key musical influences?
I fell in love with Taylor Swift at a young age, and was obsessed with playing guitar like her (I think every female artist wants to be like Taylor deep down) I wrote my first ever song after listening to a 'Picture This' tune when I was 13, that's a pretty iconic moment. Over lockdown I have been vibin to JP Saxe, Maisie Peters and Lennon Stella too (to name a few). A wide variety but I love pulling different elements from different artists and hopefully that reflects well in my music :)
Now this track is out there, what next?
Well over lockdown we really wanted to make the most of it so everyday, pretty much, I have been back and forth with ideas with Joey, getting a lot of writing done and also working on creating a more specific sound for me as an artist... There is an exciting single coming up towards the back end August and then it will be time for a mini break before we unleash the full effects of being locked in your house for 3 - 4 months! So it's all very exciting and we hope people stick along for the ride!