Olivia Reid Interview

Olivia Reid’s music captures the most intimate parts of the human experience, blending soothing vocals with reflective, poetic lyricism. Her latest single, “All in Time”, is a meditative indie-folk track that embraces the beauty of slowing down and moving with the natural rhythm of life. We caught up with her around the release of her new single to talk about the inspiration behind the song, where her passion for music comes from, and the importance of patience and resilience.

- You started writing songs at just six years old and learned to play guitar at eight. What sparked your initial love for music, and how has it evolved over the years?

Listening to music has always just transported me to a different world. I remember I used to just lay on the floor with my little CD player and headphones for hours, and it feels almost like you’re travelling through all these different places, living as different characters, in all these different environments. Music is a safe space to me for that reason - I still feel like that when I listen to a song that I love, and even more so when I start to make a world of my own come to life via songwriting.

- You’ve cited artists like Stevie Nicks, Norah Jones, and Florence Welch as inspirations. How have their artistry influenced your own creative voice?

I admire artists that are whole-heartedly and unabashedly themselves, there’s only one Stevie, one Norah, one Florence. I could let the list go on really. There's only one Erykah Badu, one Amy Winehouse, one Ella Fitzgerald, one Feist. These are insanely talented women, but also women who have battled their own demons and ignored their critics to fearlessly be themselves, and that is so inspiring to me.

- With millions of streams and international recognition, your music has reached listeners worldwide. What has been one of the most surprising or rewarding moments of your journey so far?

The question is so beautiful because I so often forget to celebrate those moments and soak in the moments the music has felt seen. I think the most surprising and rewarding moments came from a song called “Above the Clouds” that I wrote in my dorm room at NYU over an instrumental track from a band in Australia called SYDE. I remember doubting my lyrics at the time, thinking maybe they were too cheesy, but that went on to be my first gold record in Australia. The experience has helped me not to doubt myself.

- With tracks featured on shows like Love Island Australia and The Cleaning Lady, how do you feel about your music finding a home in these visual storytelling mediums?

I absolutely love it, it’s the coolest thing. I love leaning towards production styles that feel “cinematic” and can transport people to a world. So, hearing the music create emotion in a different world when paired with a film or TV show is so exciting to me.

- Your new single, "All in Time," captures the essence of winter and encourages rest and patience. Can you share how your personal experiences with the season shaped the song's creation?

I grew up spending several weeks of the year in Montana at my grandparents’ house, always in the snow, realizing that winter is a time for things to be blanketed in cold and come back alive again in the spring. Many of the songs on this project I actually wrote in Poland, but this one I wrote later that season, when I was back in New York for winter, working with my friend Tim Atlas in his Brooklyn studio. It was a cold and rainy time, and I was struggling to sit still and rest, after travelling and moving so much. I found myself picturing those days in Montana, covering myself in snow and seeing the ground sparkle, as a reminder that winter was a beautiful thing showing how life ebbs and flows. That sparked this ethos of this song.

- You’ve described adding sounds like footsteps in the snow and ambient voice memos from Poland to the production. How did these elements help bring your vision of a “natural world” to life?

Yeah the production process working with Tim Atlas was so fun. We built from the initial guitar riff that I played on an acoustic but really wanted the track to settle into a great “walking” style rhythm, a steady movement forward like those snowy hikes in Montana. That’s when we added the sample of footsteps in the snow, and then ambient voice memos from my trip to Poland that I had labeled “poland forest” just helped to create the sensation of being outside. We focused on using really organic samples but programming them a bit more like you would an electronic song. It was all to really create this winter wonderland of calm, creating a world where sun coming through the trees and hitting the snow, reflecting that angelic atmosphere of calm. 

- What’s one thing you’d like listeners to do or feel after hearing “All in Time”?

I’d love for them to just take a big deep breath and feel like it’s all gonna be okay.

- What's coming next for you?

I’m in the process of sharing these songs as I finish them one by one! So, there are several more tunes on the way this year, joining the world alongside last year’s “Love Don’t Leave,” “Quite Simple,” and now this year’s – “All in Time”.