Olivia Jean: Detroit Queen, Nashville Scene
Anna Blumenthal
What I find completely bewildering about Olivia Jean is that somehow, not everyone knows about her yet. I remember seeing her play in The Black Belles back in 2012 and being blown away. When I got ahold of her 2014 solo debut, Bathtub Love Killings, I had the same thought. Why isn’t everyone talking about Olivia Jean? And when I heard her newest album, Night Owl, and saw her open for The Raconteurs in Brooklyn recently, my convictions only strengthened.
A multi-instrumentalist who joined Third Man Records as a session player before launching her solo career, she seems to have it all. Upon further inspection…uh, yeah, she’s definitely the full enchilada. Not only does she play guitar, bass, drums and keys, she sings, writes each part of every song, and also self-produces. Her songs are short, poppy, and full of electrifying riffs that will gently implant themselves in your brain.
Olivia Jean recognizes that the visual elements of a performance shouldn’t have to take a backseat to the music, and videos for songs like “Reminisce” and “Night Owl” are basically two-and-a-half minute works of art.
A few Nashville friends had gushingly sung her praises, and I could see why when we met for breakfast when I was in town over the summer. She’s one of the sweetest, most genuine, and humble people I’ve met in a long time. And hard working - in case that wasn’t evident. She’d been under self-imposed house arrest working on the Night Owl artwork, and finally acquiesced to a coffee date.
In advance of Night Owl’s release, we caught up recently over the phone to talk more in-depth about how she approaches writing, recording, gear, her musical process, and the joys and challenges of being a solo artist.
Anna Blumenthal: Can you talk a little bit about your early days playing in bands in Detroit and how you first crossed paths with Jack White and became a member of the Third Man family?
Olivia Jean: I taught myself to play in junior high school. I would do these surf instrumental songs on my own and record on my laptop and then would put together bands to play those songs with me in Detroit. I had been doing a solo surf music thing in Detroit before I went to Third Man Records. Then Jack White got my demo and I got invited to Third Man. I had never been a part of any band dynamic until The Black Belles, which was the first project I did with Third Man.
AB: It's so interesting that you started as a solo artist. You hear about people starting in a band and then going out on their own but it sounds like you always were really driven and had a real vision of exactly what you wanted to do.
OJ: Well, I'm a hermit so I would just sit and record and write everything on my own and then I started becoming kind of a control freak when it came to music. It was actually really hard for me to break out of that. I really enjoy writing every part of the song. I love layering melodies on top of each other. So the solo thing has always been what I wanted to do just because it's more natural for me, but I loved playing in The Black Belles as well. Those were all songs that I had written also and wrote all the parts for so I've always had the solo thing going. Even when I was in a band I was the main songwriter.
AB: Was guitar your first instrument?
OJ: Yeah. I got my first guitar when I was seven and it just collected dust until I was around 13. I started picking it up when I got introduced to the garage rock scene in Detroit. I also started playing the drums when I was really young. Trying to do all of these surf songs by myself I started picking up other instruments just so I could get the sounds on my songs. So I play a little bit of everything but guitar is my main instrument.
AB: When you first started working with Third Man, were you in The Black Belles or did you start as a session player for other Third Man artists?
OJ: They brought me in for a lot of session work initially. I also brought in my solo music and we recorded some of my songs. I met Shelby and Ruby who are in The Black Belles through Third Man. We came together naturally as a group and we decided, well Olivia wants to put out an album and this is just too perfect of an opportunity not to put a band together. So I was doing sessions and recording solo and then it transformed into The Black Belles. That all happened at the same time. It was a pretty nuts first couple years. They kept me really busy. They were super generous with inviting me to do different projects. I’ve been on a ton of their Blue Series records and I toured with a bunch of their artists too, so I've done a lot with them and I’m grateful for it. I would say that the 45 that I'm most proud of, session-wise, would be the Kate Pierson 45. I can't even go back and name all of the 45s I've actually been on because there's a ton. More than 10.
AB: Do you enjoy playing on other people’s projects and playing other people’s music as much as doing your own music?
OJ: I love playing music for other people and playing parts that they've written. It's a very freeing thing. I love either doing solo stuff or playing something that someone else has written, it's a nice contrast, nice balance. It's less stressful when someone else has written something already.
AB: Do you still do any session recording or you're just too busy now?
OJ: No, I haven't done any sessions for other people in a long time. I've been focusing on getting my album out. Any free time that I have and that the engineers have we spend in the studio for my own record.
AB: I was going to ask you what it was like to play all the instruments on your first album, Bathtub Love Killings but now I realize that you always did that so I guess that wasn't a big adjustment for you. That was the way that you always worked.
OJ: Well actually on Bathtub Love Killings and my new album, Night Owl, I didn't play everything on the recording. I did write everything but when it comes to being in the studio time is very important, so we had to speed up the process. I brought in musicians to play parts that I had written because we couldn't spend three days recording one song. If I were to do everything on my own for the whole record that would have been kind of nuts, trying to get the tone right for each instrument and perfect each instrument. There are quite a few songs that I did play everything on. I tried to get as many as I could on the record.
AB: You also self-produced Night Owl. How did that compare to working with a producer?
OJ: The thought of producing my own record and being in charge of everything was really exciting in the beginning (laughs). Then as time went on it was a little difficult to be a solo musician writing everything on your own and then trying to judge the music after it's all recorded. You become so emotionally attached to your music that it's really hard to see it and hear it the way that other people do. So producing the record was a little hard, but I learned a lot with the engineers on how they work. It was a great learning experience. Creatively it was difficult but for technical experience it was great.
AB: Do you think you would self-produce another album?
OJ: Probably not (laughs), because you become just too emotionally attached to your songs and it's good to have an outside opinion. When you're a solo artist you don't have a band around you feeding in ideas. It's all coming from one person, so it can be a lot of pressure and you start to question yourself and that tends to drag out things, and then you keep trying new stuff, but it's really hard to look outside of yourself when you're so attached to a song and you're the boss so nobody’s going to chime in (laughs). I like to have outside opinions, even if I don't agree with them.
AB: Songwriting-wise, how do you think Night Owl differs from Bathtub Love Killings?
OJ: The songs are a lot more layered with different melodies. I would say that Bathtub Love Killings is more simplistic. This one still has that pop punk kind of sound but there's a lot of different melodies going on because I was on my own on this record so I would just keep adding and adding and adding things to it (laughs). It's also more along the lines of who I'm inspired by, like surf music and punk music. I've grown a lot, I've found my own sound and I feel more personally attached to this one, especially since I produced it. It's a little bit more complex than the last album because it's dangerous to allow me to sit in a room and ask for me to not keep adding things onto the song, because I will (laughs).
AB: Who are some of the artists who you really like?
OJ: I love pop punk surf music. For me, no one combines those two genres better than The B-52's. I also listened to a lot of Siouxsie and the Banshees while I was recording. As far as garage music I was inspired by the modern garage rock scene that was in Detroit. The Gories and The Dirtbombs and that whole gang. I'm actually really lucky because since becoming a part of the Third Man world I've met a lot of these bands and have become friends with quite a few of the people who inspired me.
AB: I always loved Detroit music. From the 60s to the 70s to now there's more amazing artists who have come out of Detroit than probably any other city, for my taste at least.
OJ: Yeah, likewise, for my taste. I really miss Detroit's music scene. I love Nashville but it just doesn't compare to the Detroit garage rock scene. No dis on Nashville. They have a little bit of everything here, but no city I've been in compares to the Detroit garage rock scene.
AB: It sounds like Detroit really shaped you musically. Do you feel like Nashville has shaped you in the same way? If you weren't in Nashville would you be writing different music, or do you feel autonomous from the Nashville scene?
OJ: I’ve learned a lot from living in Nashville. I think everyone has a place to fit in here, but for me it's more of a learning experience because you really see the musicians here who are doing this as a career and it's such a professional town. You see the business end of things and how you need to market yourself and make connections, so Nashville is more of a learning experience on how to make this into a career. I haven't really taken any musical influences from Nashville but I have gotten a lot of great advice and it's opened my eyes to how to make music a career and not just a hobby. Nashville is music city. People take it very seriously and it's great to be around, to see how different parts of the music world work and how important it is to really have everything together and organized. It's inspiring to be here and to see how people take it super seriously. You have to be a business person as well as a musician. I don't think I would have learned as much in such a short period of time in a different environment unless it was a bigger city like New York or LA.
AB: Yeah, in New York I feel like there are so many people who want to make it but financially it's almost impossible to make a career off your art here, so it's nice that Nashville really fosters that. You see so many people who have made a career out of music so you realize it's possible.
OJ: Yeah totally, that's what it is about this town. You have your resources all around you, because it's one thing to write the music and then perform it but you also need a good team of people behind you, and this town is just filled with it. There are so many different pockets of music here that everyone can find their own little area. Even for my music, Nashville's growing and I'm slowly starting to see a garage rock scene happening here, which is great. When I first starting working here here ten years ago there wasn't a lot of it, but nowadays I'm starting to see more bands that remind me of Detroit.
AB: That's awesome. Maybe you started that movement. Maybe you're inspiring other people to play Detroit-style garage in Nashville.
OJ: That would be nice, yeah, I hope so. Nashville's changing and it's cool, there's so many people moving here that it's becoming really eclectic and I like it. It's not so much of a culture shock now. It’s becoming nuts here but in a good way. It takes some time to get used to so many people moving here but it is making Nashville more diverse, which is great.
AB: How much do you think about gear when you record, and how into gear are you?
OJ: I'm really specific about my guitar sounds and about the distortion and reverb. We tried really hard to find the right guitar tones for the music and the right pedals to use to make the songs not sound so mushed up, because I have so much going on, so I go through a lot of different pedals trying to find the right sound. I really like the Westwood pedal for distortion and for a dirty sound. I use that a lot because my melodies tend to be really busy and the notes can blend together a lot, so that distortion is great because I can hear every single note but it still has the dirt that I was looking for. For me it's mainly guitar pedals. The engineers I work with, Josh Smith and Logan Matheny, are experts on microphones, vintage equipment, all of that, so they were teaching me. I'm more interested in guitar pedals and guitar amps but when it comes to other stuff, I'm surrounded by people that really know their stuff. They really helped me with learning about vintage microphones and about how great it is using analog equipment as opposed to digital. Trying to stay away from plugins as much as possible to go for the real thing. I learned to really appreciate gear a lot more working with these guys. For, me I just need my Fender Twin and my guitar pedals. Guitar pedals are where it's at for me.
AB: What else is on your pedalboard?
OJ: I'm really basic with my pedalboard, mostly because I write way too many lyrics, so I can never really venture away from the microphone (laughs). I usually have a fuzz pedal, a distortion pedal, a tuner. I'll have my reverb…basically that's it. I have a Westwood on there for sure. That's a go to, that I’ll keep on for all of the songs. Then I'll boost myself for solos. The Ghost Echo I really like for reverb. The Erupter I really like using for fuzz solos. I wish I could get fancier and add more stuff to the board but I would most likely miss the pedals with my foot (laughs). Something needs to be invented like one of those roll out pianos on the floor. Have foot switches that big so it's easier for people who write too many lyrics (laughs). I would love to do more live. I would love to have the freedom to have more equipment on stage with me live, but right now I just stick to the basics.
AB: So you just opened up a bunch of shows for The Raconteurs and you played some incredible venues like The Ryman in Nashville and Kings Theater in Brooklyn. I was watching a video where you said that interacting with the audience and seeing people’s faces is really important to you. Do you still love to play smaller, more intimate venues? And what is it like to play huge, historic venues?
OJ: These days I actually prefer playing to the really big crowds. I'm really grateful to open up for The Raconteurs, because that feeling on stage when you're looking out into just lights, when you can't see the audience’s faces and it's just lights and you're staring off into the distance, you feel more free on stage. It's like you’re not even playing in front of anyone which is a great feeling. I like playing in small clubs too because I get to hang out with the audience and I like seeing the looks on their faces. I like seeing what they think about the music and what I'm doing. It's more personal. You can get a feel for what you're doing, what is and isn't working.
AB: Yeah, feed off the audience.
OJ: Yeah. I like either/or. If I just play small clubs I'm happy with that, but I'm really lucky to play at bigger stages. It's an amazing feeling being that free on stage. I'm way more nervous playing small shows than I am playing the arenas.
AB: Small places when they have the lights so that you can't see the audience is the best. If I make eye contact with people I get nervous or overthink things.
OJ: Yeah, I agree. I try to stay in my own world as much as possible. You do get a lot more nervous when there's someone right up on you.
AB: With the release of Night Owl, what's next? Do you have plans to tour more?
OJ: We’re trying to put together some headlining tours.
AB: As a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer who is killing it on all fronts, can we end with some words of inspiration for anyone who's doing what you're doing, or trying to do what you're doing?
OJ: Get your ideas down exactly how you want them. Do demos, have songs that you're inspired by to bring to the studio. If you're a solo musician it's really hard to express what you're trying to achieve so having demos done, having songs that use the sounds that you're trying to achieve, being really prepared and organized before going into the studio is so important. Have as many examples and references as possible, so that everyone can understand what you're going for. Especially if you're like me and you have a really specific way you want things to sound it can be hard for other people to understand that. Come in with as much as you can to really show people, in the beginning, this is what I'm going for and then after that you're able to let it transform into something special with the help of the people around you. Always be open to criticism. Don’t become overly attached, because outside ears are so important when you're a solo musician. You really need to take into account other listeners and what they're hearing and how the song makes them feel.
AB: Yeah, I think it's easy to get really attached to what you're doing, and it can be hard to be open to other opinions but I agree that you just have to let go of your ego.
OJ: Yes, it is extremely important. As hard as it may be for a solo musician to give away part of the control, it helps in the end. If you do it exactly how you want, and don’t listen to anyone else, when it comes out you're going to be shocked or surprised at how other people hear the song. Let other people listen, give you advice, give you criticism, before you become overly attached to something. It will make the record better.
More info on Olivia Jean at https://www.oliviajeanmusic.com.
DEVICES MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Anna Blumenthal handles Sales and Artist Relations for EarthQuaker Devices. She lives in Brooklyn, NY, plays bass in Sit N Spin, DJs 60s soul and R&B at various Brooklyn bars, and has seen Cheap Trick over 30 times.
