INTERVIEW: Rising new star Olivia Marsh releases her debut single '42'
Interview: Jett Tattersall
Published: 16 October 2024
Australian-Korean artist Olivia Marsh today launches her career with the release of her gorgeous debut single ‘42’.
Born in Newcastle, Australia, Marsh moved to South Korea with her family when she was 10. She later studied Interactive Composition at the University of Melbourne and has spent the last year writing with other producers and songwriters for K-pop artists. Inspired by artists including ABBA, John Denver, Tame Impala, and Vera Blue her music is a blend of pop and R&B with Marsh also influenced by EDM and the sounds of Ariana Grande and Sabrina Claudio
She has recently signed with the new Warner Music Korea label MPLIFY, becoming the label’s first signing, and today she releases her debut single ‘42’. It is an atmospheric, dreamily soulful pop song with beguiling, emotive vocals from Marsh as she sings of a journey of self-discovery: ‘No matter what you say / I’m on my way’.
With a fresh sound, magnetic voice and an already established creative genius, Marsh is already possessed of everything she needs to become a future superstar. We recently caught up with her to chat all about her career and the creation of her debut single.
Hi Olivia! Thank you so much for your time today. This is a very exciting time with the release of your debut single ‘42’. It's a really, really beautiful track.
Thank you!
I feel every artist has a defining moment when they go ‘It's time to put my everything into a song and release it now.’ What was that moment for you?
I've been songwriting for other people so I never really thought that I would write or release my own music. I've always had these songs where I'm like, ‘I connect to this so much’ [but] I've written it with the intention of me not singing it personally. Then I was given the opportunity to meet my CEO, and he was like, ‘Don't you want to release your own music and try this out?’ I was thinking, yeah I have these songs that I'm holding on to that I really want to be heard, with my voice, with my story. So I guess that was that moment, I had all these songs kind of banked in my folders for a while.
Were you holding those songs back subconsciously? Pretending that you didn't want it yourself: “maybe this one's not ready for anyone yet.”
I've probably been writing for other artists for about two years, and it kind of just happened naturally. It was kind of like, ‘this one I want!’ Obviously, I'm so grateful if somebody chooses a song and wants to sing it and do their take on it, and it would be amazing with somebody else's vocals too. But I connected to them so much that I just didn't want to give them to anyone. I wanted them for myself. I was a bit selfish with them!
On that I'm very curious about your musical journey. Talk to me a little bit about how you came to be here today releasing ‘42’..
I did music in uni, but it was sound design and music for film and dance. I thought that was the path that I really wanted to go down at the time, because I was so inspired by like Hans Zimmer and Steve Jablonsky. But then covid hit, and I was separated from my family. I was living by myself in an apartment during lockdown, and I missed them so so much, because they were in Korea at the time. I decided after uni, I don't care what I do, I just want to be with family, because they're my whole world. I moved to Korea and I ended up naturally meeting people in the industry, other songwriters, top liners and producers, and I was fortunate enough to work with them in the studio, and gradually meet more people and gain more experience. And through that, I got my first cut with a song and realised this is something that I actually can do. Through the songwriting, I met my CEO, he came to a session, and was like, ‘do you want to try this?’ So it just happened naturally, I'm very fortunate.
I love that! You have been playing piano since you were very young and you didn't actually bring vocal training into it until you were 13. Was singing always part of the piano, or were you always quite removed from it?
Singing probably came first. I remember my first song I ever wrote. I wrote lyrics on a piece of paper, and I had the melody in my head, but I couldn't record it because I didn't have anything to do that. But I stuck it up on my window sill, and I jumped up and down singing the lyrics. Even on the piano, I hated reading sheet music. I liked listening and playing, even during my practice time I would just play around and make my own stuff. That was what I loved doing, rather than playing what the teacher provided me with. Toplining and actually thinking of it as something that I can actually do with my life came once I was in Korea. So that's how I started.
What was that moment when you went ‘this is something I can actually do’? I always feel like everyone's got a bit of imposter syndrome, but women in particular we are particularly terrible for it. When did you realise you could be a songwriter?
It was when I got my first cut. But even then, I thought getting my first cut, it would be this euphoric, ‘oh my god I have a song that I wrote out in the world’ feeling, but I was surprised that it wasn't like that. It was more like, ‘where do I go from here? Do I just keep on writing? Do I have a chance at doing this?’ I think it was when I got to do sessions every day with different producers, meet them and collaborate on so many different genres that I was like, ‘ I would be happy doing this for the rest of my life’. Once I got a little bit busy with song camps and writing music I think that was the moment.
You have said you are really into and take inspiration from EDM. which on the surface is so far away from this beautiful, chilled pop sound of ‘42’.
have such a passion for EDM and the way it makes you feel, Skrillex I love so much. But I also grew up listening to a lot of John Denver and classical music. So I feel like my roots lie in those singers that I grew up listening to, and one day I'd love to cover a John Denver song.
Talk to me a little bit about your cultural influences. You were born and raised in Australia, then moved to Korea and I'm imagining that has really affected your songwriting?
I was first introduced to Korean music through my mum, because she used to sing to me when I was a baby, and she'd sing all of the Korean lullabies. I actually learnt the language through her singing, that was the only way that I knew Korean at the time. My mum decided to move to Korea for us to learn the culture when I was probably mid primary school and I'm so grateful for that decision, because without that, I wouldn't have the connection to Korea that I have today. Also during that time was when I got introduced to K-pop, and I fell in love with T-ara, Sistar, BIGBANG, 2NE1, all the big artists at the time. I come back to them all the time, I love their music. My dad introduced me to western music from a young age, and I always loved that as well. I'm so grateful I have the best of both worlds. I get to listen to all kinds of things because of what my mum brings to the table and what my dad has introduced to me.
That’s really beautiful. You’ve got ‘42’ out now, what else is coming up for you?
I’m working on some music for an exciting project, and then my EP is coming out early next year. So I'm so excited to get started on that.
‘42’ is out now via MPLIFY/Warner Music. You can buy and stream here
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