hi. my name is olivia. nice to meet ya. :)
before i begin, i just want to express how thankful i am that you are even here reading anything on this website. due to my i've never felt like i was worth , but the fact that you are here means i somehow matter to you. i can't even begin to express how much that means to me, and i want you to know that i will do my best to make you proud. :) so whether we just met or we've known each other for years or anywhere in between, thank you. thank you for everything.
now that you've read the bio that is much shorter and much more formal than what you are about to read on this page, i wanted to personally write to you. i want to know that i am making a genuine connection with the person behind this screen. since we may not have met in person, i wanted to somehow create an atmosphere somewhere on this website that feels like we really are meeting in person. after reading this, if you are inspired to tell me a personal story, please contact me on facebook, instagram, twitter, wherever! i would absolutely love to read all about your stories and all that you are willing to share with me. who knows - i may even write a song based on you. ;)
like many of the events that have happened in my life, my career as a youtube artist happened by accident. i posted my first cover on my youtube channel as a joke, and somehow, seven years later, my covers have been viewed over 21 million times, i toured internationally, sang at the staples center, and sang a lot of songs... a lot of other people's songs. many people automatically assumed that i couldn't write original music simply because i sang so many covers. because i considered this to be constructive criticism, i enrolled in a few courses at The Songwriting School of Los Angeles where i took a few workshops with Grammy-nominees, award-winning songwriters, and simply brilliant songwriters - Rob Seals, Ryan Toby, Allan Roy Scott, John Keller, Phil Cody, Marsha Malamet, and many credible guest instructors.
for four months at that school, i never sang or performed any of my original material because i didn't believe they were good enough. in my exact words, "they were all 'garbage'", so i simply told the instructors i didn't have any material to avoid having to explain my lack of self confidence.
fast forward to late september 2014, it's my last day of class with Ryan Toby, member of the former group City High & has written songs for Mary J Blige, Brian McKnight, Chris Brown, Usher, Will Smith, and other amazing artists. every student in the class played at least one of their original songs during the eight-week course, and of course, i mostly just sat in a corner and remained as invisible as possible. i'm good at being invisible. i'm a music ninja.
everyone except for me had happily volunteered to play their songs during the last day of class to receive feedback from Ryan. he looks over to me despite the fact that i had my invisibility cloak on, and says something along the lines of, "olivia - you haven't played a single original song during this class." in which i quickly respond with, "i don't have any songs..." that's when daniel (my former duo partner) countered my statement with, "oh, come on! i know for a fact that you have at least one song." i freaked out because it was true. by then, i had written over 20 songs... all of which i thought were "garbage" including the one i was about to play...
alas, my music ninja cover was blown by my former duo partner, and i had to own up to the fact that i had at least one song written. i nervously pick up my shiny black guitar, and play the song (probably out of rhythm) with trembling fingers. i played "i can do better" since i had just finished writing that song only a week prior to the class. surprisingly, i made it through the song without having a nervous breakdown, but i seriously didn't know what to expect since this was the first time anyone other than myself had heard this song.
the room was silent.
the silence felt like it lasted forever, but i'm sure it was really only silent for a few seconds. Ryan, Rob, and my classmates all provided me with their honest opinions of the song, and i was shocked to hear such positive feedback on a song i truly believed was "garbage". i mean, Rob had a minor suggestion to change the bridge slightly, but overall, the feedback from everyone in the room was unexpectedly heart-warming.
however... since i was a child, i've taken all positive and negative feedback with a grain of salt. hence, i still didn't fully believe that i could actually write a decent song even with all of the incredible feedback i just received. so i set out to seek unbiased opinions from people who had no idea who i was or that i had built an entire music career from singing covers and almost zero original material.
one week after that epiphanic day at the songwriting school, for the first time in my music career, i attended what people call an, "open mic". i drove to the Pig 'n Whistle on a lovely wednesday evening, paid $5 to perform two songs, and there it was again - incredible feedback. however, this time, not only did i receive positive feedback, i got booked to headline a show with my original music. wait. what?! how?!
i debuted five of my original songs at this show for my friends, family, and new fans at the venue. from what i remember, i believe i played Temporary High, Let Go, Hard to Love, Bad Ass Bad Bitches (hehehehhehe), and I Can Do Better. it happened again - good feedback! what on earth? am i really a songwriter?! i continued on with my journey to attend as many open mics as possible, which led me to more booked gigs all over Los Angeles, Paris, Madrid, and Barcelona within two months. that was crazy. good crazy.
in those same two months, i had written over 100 songs and performed 47 times in a handful of different cities.
we are now in 2015, and i am finally ready to share some of this work i've been doing on the big scary internet. i want to introduce my newfound artistry as genuinely as possible. that's why i have chosen to return to how it all began on my youtube channel - simple one-take videos with zero editing recorded on a webcam.
the songs i have written have helped me heal through a lot of pain, and that's what i truly want to do for you. i want you to know that you are not alone in your struggles. we are all human beings who go through so much every single day. i want to help people heal through music because this is what has kept me sane for as long as i can remember.
there is a lot of truth in my songs, and i truly believe the truth will set us all free.
again, thank you. i don't know what i did to deserve your time and support, but i appreciate you. :)
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- O