The idea of the “self-help” movement and industry is one which relies upon a vital step to advance for any involved person; this stage is “inspiration”. The motivator has to “inspire” the afflicted, and the distressed character has to be inspired to advance in growth from their impairment. There is no denying that this billion dollar industry is a topic of fascination even for those who are not directly connected; observing the character transformation and “help” process from an outsider viewpoint is truly compelling. So much so that for Melbourne based songstress Olympia (Olivia Bartley by her true identity), she decided to craft her debut album ‘Self Talk’ committed to the revelation she had from the very topic, as she enlightens:
“I’m really fascinated by people that are into the industry or religion of ‘self help’. People that say: ‘You need to control, you should self talk’; the whole album is about the stories we tell ourselves about who we are. Whether it is that we are an excellent or a terrible runner, or anything along those lines. Some of these stories are going to help us excel or lead us to self sabotage and hold us back.”
She continues – “I started to observe and thinking about this idea with other people then began writing songs, but it lead to me stumbling over myself in these tracks. Because you want to make the songs relevant to others and I wanted to give the audience more of myself than I ever have before in this work. Understandably, I came up a lot in it which I am very proud of.”
The expressiveness is far from that narrow window alone though; creativity is simply in Olympia’s blood. For those fortunate enough to have witnessed this powerful mature performer in some shape or form, would have quickly identified her soothing prowess as an artist and a knowledge which enforces an impossibility that this is just her first full-length. However, what her admirers may not now is that her music stems from another avenue which also led to the savant to undertake living in Cambodia for an extended period of time.
“I went and lived there for over a year; I have a design degree and I have done different projects overseas, that was of course one of them. I was training women to design and create things for themselves over there and ended up living there to continue to work with them; I completely loved it. It’s actually my design work that informed most of my music, I sort of write songs like an artist would put on an exhibition. I am interested in all ideas in general and critical thinking.”
“All ideas” is a quote which Ms. Bartley embraces whole-heartedly. As a song-writer it is not just a guitar and lyrics she captivates her listeners with, it is practically any instrument she can get her hands on. But with such an array of ability to enable the creative process, one would think at times this overly-active mind could face distraction when transfixed in work mode?
“Absolutely, you are on the money. Basically I try to set limitations when I am writing. I’ll just try to sit on the piano and wrestle with it for up to eight hours straight, probably more, but then I will move onto a different instrument. I do try to contain it to one instrument. I’m pretty disciplined, but sometimes my mind will trail off when I have moved onto another instrument and I may get another song idea. I’m so busy and time poor that I try to set limits for my time, if people in the house can hear that I am ‘Doodling’ as they call it, they will stage an intervention (laughs). Sometimes though, I have to let myself loose and experiment, because I might discover a really cool riff and then try it on bass and it sounds even better.”
But who could control, nurture and expose these unbridled talents best into eleven tracks as a producer? Former Gerling member and man responsible for Courtney Barnett and The Drones stellar records Burke Reid was brought into the role. A decision which paid off in multiple dimensions.
“You know what the hardest is to let go of? Saying when the songs are finished. That’s the hardest thing for me is the creative process, it’s never-ending. I always want to add ‘just one more thing, more icing, more flour’, sorry I must be hungry I can only come up with food analogies (laughs). Working with Burke (Reid, producer), we got along so well straight away and it is SO important to have a good relationship with your producer. Anyways it wasn’t hard letting go, we both tried anything and everything; any suggestion either of us had we would give it a go. I think that shows a lot of trust and faith between us and it didn’t always work, somethings we would try we would quickly discard. But if I had to pin-point a part which is the most difficult, it is letting go and saying a song is ‘finished’ and I am ready for it to go out there.”
As a multi-instrumentalist it is a point of interest on how Olympia’s live show is executed and fortunately for Adelaide in a matter of days, fans will get the chance to see what this prodigy can devise on stage. But can Olivia disclose anything about how she prepares for her upcoming tour?
“The most important thing is the song, especially with Different Cities, that was all written on keys but the arrangements happened in the studio. I really wanted every song to be able to be played by me, sitting down with a guitar. For example I can play the entire Smoke Signals track on my own with a guitar instead of all the vocal loops and different instruments. I really wanted the songs to be strong on their own, essentially I don’t need a whole band to play them and it’s great when I do solo shows. The day after Adelaide I am doing Dark Mofo festival, I will split all of those songs to a degree: Tourists I will play on piano for example but the more piano-based ones I will play on guitar. It’s the incredible thing about it how I can just build a completely different show and bring people into it in a different way.”
Olympia will perform at The Producers Bar on Saturday, 11 June. Grab your tickets here.
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