Rising star Olithru O’Brien has all the gear for a music star: he has the bravado, the freshness, the songs that highlight the spirit, the personality and honesty, the appearance, the style, the hunger. There’s never a certain thing. , however, Vegas’ odds on the 21-year-old Los Angeles through Napa would have been at worst 2:1.
But O’Brien’s rise to fame is a far more engaging story than you’d expect. There is something hard about today’s society in his rise to one of the undeniable great sons of pop music.
As she explains, this almost didn’t happen due to lack of trust and intimidation. “When I was little, I had all those concepts about how I was becoming the biggest pop sensation the world had ever seen. I was about seven years old,” he recalls. Then, developing myself, I started moving on to high school and school and learned that this probably wasn’t happening for me and that other people were bad about it. [So] too, you’re discouraged. Then I had all those concepts of what I was looking to do, as a teacher, a lawyer or a psychologist, and I was moving on to college. In high school, I was in all the honors and ap catepassries directly A, so convinced that I was passing to go to college, that was the only way I happened to be. “
But fate, as O’Brien calls it, had other ideas. After doing a cover of a Gnash song on SoundCloud, he listened to her and invited her to a concert in San Francisco. After beginning an ongoing dialogue, he asked about the original curtains and the smash, “I Hate U, I Love U,” a song O’Brien had written, but not shared, was born.
“He said, ‘I love it, let’s record in Los Angeles,'” he recalls when Gnash heard the song. “My father and I drove, I lived in Napa, which is where I grew up. I recorded ‘I Hate U, I Love U’ in Gnash’s garage, he had a small studio in his garage at his parents’ house. On SoundCloud, a few days later, you heard a lot, a few months later it was millions, then a year later I was on the radio, at the sensible high 10 over the sensible high 40. It was the craziest thing of all time, it was the random maximum experience. I had no expectations for this song. He was 15 years old. I didn’t perceive what was going on. And then I thought, ‘Okay, now I have a hit song, so I guess I’m going to go to a singer. That’s the next logical step for me. ‘”
Six years later, he just released the first of his album of moments, Episodes. Episodes: Season 1 is a clever, engaging and varied six-song introduction from his album of moments and leaves little doubt, O’Brien, who will play Lollapalooza and BottleRock later this year, is a rising star.
I talked to O’Brien about new music, going home to Napa to play at BottleRock in September, doing moshing at Stevie Nicks, starting treatment and adjusting COVID conscious myself and much more.
Steve Baltin: You say your good luck randomly, but obviously it’s everything you wanted. Was music anything you weren’t sure you could do?
Olivia O’Brien: yes, I was actually so unsure of her all my life. My sister has been the singer of the family, I think I was so bad and I never thought my writing was smart enough. When I was in high school. I didn’t even think I could in all likelihood do that as a career, but it was only based on the young people who bullied me and my own non-public insecurities, so it was random in the sense that I didn’t expect it in Because Other People Will See and See to release a bunch of songs before something happens like what happened to me. , in fact I think it was fate. If my first song I thregged wasn’t a hit, I was so unsure that I wouldn’t have tried again, so I needed that to push me to do what I was looking to do.
Baltin: But Episodes: Season 1 doesn’t feel unsafe at all. It has a bit of bluster. Does this bravado come from good luck and aging?
O’Brien: yes, everything related to my artistic ability (writing, images), the explanation for why I stepped forward is because of my self-confidence. I’ve become much more confident in myself because I don’t care so much about what I care about. others think of me. Even when I first moved to Los Angeles and was making music, I had the moments when I felt like it. It took me a long time, even after I started, to really avoid hating myself and thinking that I’m capable of doing anything cool and smart that other people will love. That’s the kind of situation I’m in now. I’m just going to do what I need and it’s going to be great (laughs).
Baltin: Were you there when you felt that trust was growing?
O’Brien: When other people liked my song “Josslyn,” it helped me a lot, but in quarantine I spent so much time with myself and so much time thinking about myself and who I wanted to be. I’ve accomplished so much about myself that I started loving myself more, then I started therapy, which actually helped me, and I stopped relying too much on going to parties and whether or not I was invited to places. parties because there were no parties (laughs). I feel like I’ve matured for five years in the last year.
Baltin: How do you see this expansion manifest itself in the episodes?
O’Brien: You can tell precisely where I was on each and every song I wrote. But one song that I think is the first of its kind I’ve done is my song ‘Keep It Movin’. It’s a song about me that says I’m wonderful and I’m wonderful and I’m a bad guy (laughs). I had never sung anything like this before. I think this song is anything else for me and I like it. I put it on when I need to feel smart because I personally really like protest and confirmation and I have playlists on my Spotify of confirmations. One of my memories is “Successful” by Ariana Grande. Je the plate and checked to feel the power of my output to succeed. And this song, I think it’s my first song that can be on my own protest playlist, which is super cool because I regularly sing how angry and unhappy I am, so it’s a big expansion for me (laughs).
Baltin: Are there songs for you through artists who, as a fan, have replaced you over the years?
O’Brien: When I was younger, there are a lot of songs that I liked, but I didn’t necessarily perceive them in the same way that I perceive them as an adult now. There are songs that I pay attention to when I was an adult. boy, it would just be, “Great Song”. And I pay attention when I’m older and think, “Wow, this song is literally deep. “Like “Landslide,” Fleetwood Mac, when I was a kid, I was like, “Oh, that’s a great song. “Now I pay attention to it and literally broke down in tears. There are so many songs like that, especially from my childhood.
Baltin: You have BottleRock on the way. Since you’re from Napa, is it special to you?
O’Brien: yes, I’m excited. All my friends from Napa’s hometown are coming, I can also bring some of my friends from LAI I hope I can do a wine tasting the day after my show, because I have never tasted the wine even though I grew up in Napa. And I just turned 21 in November, so I’m able to do a wine tasting, but I’m also very excited to play BottleRock. I’ve been there, I think, a couple of times and it’s such a nice festival. . It’s not too big, but it’s not too small either and the food is great, it’s great. I’ve never played it, it’s the first time I’ve played it.
Baltin: And you play the same day as Guns ‘N’ Roses and Miley Cyrus, what do you do when you see that on the poster?
O’Brien: It’s crazy. I feel like every time I see a show come out of a festival I’m betting on, I panic. It’s crazy to see my call among other people I’ve idolized as a child or of whom I’m a big fan. it’s surreal. And I hope that in a few years I will possibly be one of the headliners, that’s my goal.
Baltin: After all this time, communicate the feeling of getting back to the level and being with the fans.
O’Brien: It gives me chills just to imagine that now. I looked not only to faint and do concerts, but also music festivals, music festivals are the best. It’s such a smart energy.
Baltin: What can you look forward to seeing as a fan?
O’Brien: Stevie Nicks, I’m obsessed with her. I would die for her, I love her so much, I saw her call and I thought, “yes, I’m going to be in the front row. “I can’t stand the scenes, I’m going to jump into the mosh pit. I’m going to create one (laughs).
I’ve written for Billboard, Rolling Stone, L. A. Times, Yahoo, Vice and all other major publications as host of Hulu Riffing With and
I’ve written for Billboard, Rolling Stone, LATimes, Yahoo, Vice and all other major publications, host the Hulu Riffing With interview series, and teach music journalism for Grammy Camp. I’ve had countless amazing musical experiences, from tea with Neil Young to suspension in a limousine with Stevie Wonder, to dining beer with the Foo Fighters in Las Vegas and being on par with Skrillex. When I write about music, I go out with my dog, play basketball and lent sushi under the Southern California sun.