Interview: Canadian Pop Songstress Olivia

Olivia is a Pop songstress from Vernon, British Columbia who just dropped a DOPE single and visual entitled "I Choose This Love". We connected with this talented singer to find out which other Canadian artists have influenced her music, we ask about what we can expect from her upcoming EP, and much more.

After reading our exclusive Q&A with Olivia, be sure to follow her on social media and stay tuned because her yet-to-be-titled EP will be dropping later this year.

What part of Canada are you from? 

Vernon, British Columbia. It’s a very beautiful region with lots of lakes, wineries, orchards and ski hills. So lots of beautiful geography to use for my videos.

And who are some Canadian pop artists who have influenced you and your music?

Well for sure I would have to say my amazing manager Andrew Allen. He is an excellent song writer and performer and has mentored me and taught me a lot about music. I also love Alessia Cara. She has done extremely well internationally. There is so much talent in Canada and many have had a lot of their success elsewhere in the world. 

Tell us about your experience attending ArtistMax?

ArtistMax was a pretty neat experience. It was great to collab with other young female artists from around the world, some of whom I have kept in touch with. Our mentors were David Foster, Ken Caillat, and Colbie Caillat. They had lots of good advice for us on how to grow and advance in the music industry.

What was the most important thing you learned during your tenure there?

I guess, just to be yourself, do your own thing, but work hard. 

Congrats on your new single and visual "I Choose This Love"; how did the treatment for the video come together and who directed it?

Thank you so much! I am really proud of this video. It really tells the love story that this song is all about. I have to give major credits to my videographer Lee Watkins of LMW Photos. We were initially brainstorming for a video showing all kinds of different love, but realized how difficult that could be in less than three minutes, and so we decided to focus on one love story and the ups and downs of that. The two main characters are actually friends of ours and did such a great job of sharing their love story and their dreams. Lee directed and filmed this over three days, and the results are so emotional and inspiring. Everyone in the video is from Vernon, and everyone just stepped up and either acted in it, or gave us locations to film at. We had an amazing team in front of and behind the camera. 

Describe your performance for Canada Day in Vernon for us.

I was actually performing in New Westminster, which is just outside of Vancouver BC. It was an early performance (11:30) and so I was not sure how many people would show. Turns out there were hundreds of people of all ages, and had a great set. Bonus is that I got to play with one of my favorite musicians, Cole. So all in all an excellent day!

What songs did you perform? And what do you enjoy most about performing live?

I performed a 30 minute set of some of mostly originals, like Skyline, Outshine the Stars, and I Choose This Love, and some of my favorite covers like One Call Away. I think what I like most about performing is the incredible feedback and support I get from the audience. It makes you feel great when people come up to you and compliment you on your original songs. 

Is it top secret or can you tell us what the name of your upcoming EP will be? 

I have to say it is top secret….. shhhh!

Also, is "I Choose This Love" a reflection of what we can expect to hear on it?

In a way, yes. All my songs start out as acoustic songs when I write them, and then sometimes we change things up and produce them a little more upbeat, like we did for Skyline and I Choose This Love. But my new stuff will be more grounded in the original way it is written. I am pretty excited about it all.  

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