o rittenburg

It took 3.600 miles away from home for Olivia to be plunged into her most creative state yet. Valencia, home of the Spanish campus of the Berklee College of Music, allowed the 20-year-old Boston native to start from scratch, away from the clutter of her hometown and childhood bedroom.

‘’I learned in Spain how important it is to be in a clean, healthy workspace. In Valencia, I lived in a small shared room, I didn’t have a lot of space but we had dope natural light. I’ve never been so creative in such a small period of time’’.

Europe therefore delivered a gorgeous four song EP, Drift. A raw, honest, ‘’vulnerable’’ manifesto that allowed O (she’s not too fond of Olivia) to sing her truth into the world.

‘’It took me a while to come out because there weren’t many gay girls where I grew up and I wasn’t sure enough of what I wanted before going to college. I like guys too, so it was easy for me to think I was straight and just date that way. Once I started accepting queerness as a part of my identity, it made its way into the music.’’ Queer artists such as Kehlani, King Princess or Perfume Genius gave her the inspiration to write about her experiences without the ‘’pressure of gender roles’’ and society’s old favourite; heteronormativity.

‘’Being open like that makes me feel so free. The first time I fell for a girl and she felt the same… I was like woah. It’s that easy? It felt so natural, and the music felt the same. I’ve been a lot of different things to a lot of different people and I want my music to reflect that.’’

Sadness, pain, guilt or insecurity all end up pouring into love songs and O blames her empathic side for it.

‘’Other people’s energies affect me a lot, so it’s a really natural coping skill for me to just write about it until I feel like the truth is out.’’ This truth will start as a few words written down and melodies sang into her phone, leaving instruments to the side for a start.

‘’There’s a time and place to mess around on guitar and keys, I’m more into whatever is coming out of my mind organically at first. Once that’s done, I’ll sit down in the lab and start laying tracks’’.

Twisting feelings around, blurring lines and messing around with influences are also part of her creative process, especially with Drift, O’s favourite song she’s written. Yet.

‘’It was a long process of turning a dark internal experience into a tight, upbeat song. I got random suggestions from my friends, including throwing some car noises in the song. Like Tokyo Drift. That idea gave the track so much character, it turned the word ‘drift’ from slow to fast, which changed the color of the whole project in my eyes.’’

Years of taking piano and guitar lessons before giving them to local children led to investing in a recording equipment in 10th Grade and eventually attending Berklee, where her Soundcloud tracks found praise among other students.

‘’That’s when I realized I had potential as an artist too.’’

So, what’s next for O? While being a charting pop artist is her ultimate dream, she already has a backup plan.

‘’I want to work in commercial music. I really like to make moves, so if I end up in writing rooms, making beats, helping other artists market themselves, I’ll be happy with that’’.

And in the meantime, a new ‘’much larger’’ project that is slowly coming together. Though she has no release date in range yet, we cannot wait to listen to her future truths.

image is the artist's spotify profile picture, i don't own any rights to it