An Interview with LIVVIA
Shortly after releasing her new single “Beautiful Escape,” LIVVIA joined in on a call with our very own DJ Boboy Alf. In this exclusive interview, LIVVIA goes in-depth, discussing her time at UC Berkeley while balancing a full-time music career, as well as her rebrand over the past couple of years. LIVVIA also shares organizations that we can support in consideration of #BLM. “Beautiful Escape” is available on all streaming platforms (and has a sick visual up on YouTube)
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DJ Boboy Alf: I saw on Wikipedia that you graduated from Berkeley with a degree in economics. We have a lot of musicians in the station - could you describe your experiences in college doubling as a student/artist?
LIVVIA: First of all, that’s so cool! At Berkeley, that was a little bit less common, or at least I didn’t come across anybody who was doing what I was doing. But I guess that would be more common at USC. That must be really nice to have that support system of people doing similar things. So for me, I felt like a lot of people would approach that in disbelief, like “How are you doing that?” or “Are you sure you can do both?”, and of course, it required a fair amount of travelling back and forth between Berkeley, and LA, and other places I needed to be for music. I always just say it’s much like having an internship that’s very demanding, or like being on a sports team that’s travelling around.
I really just don’t think it has to be something that is so cumbersome. Like really, if you are very passionate about music or your art - whatever form that may take - and academics, I don’t think that really feels as big of a deal as people want to make it seem. I think at USC you also have the benefit of studying, or maybe you’re in the Pop Music program, or maybe you're studying something that’s a little more relevant. Whereas for me, I was in Economics. But I honestly do believe the econ does help any kind of artistic career, and I think for any business you go into, it’s relevant.
A: What advice would you have for people that look up to you? I feel like being in school can discourage artists from going all-in on a career in music.
L: As far as advice, try not to worry about the fact that you’re trying to do both at one time, because I do think it’s definitely possible if you love both. You don’t mind sacrificing the free time you’re giving up. If you truly do love it, then you will make it happen.
A: You changed your name in 2018 - what inspired you to do that?
L: I think, you know, I had been making music under a different name for a few years before that, and even toured with that artist's name. And I had actually a fair amount of success with that artist name, and so I think that after I had a couple years off from releasing new content and working with new people, we all just thought it was best to sort of mark this new era/transition with a new name and a new project altogether. I think it’s been really nice - I mean the LIVVIA artist name. I really like it because obviously my name’s Olivia, and Liv and Via are my two nicknames, and LIV-VIA with two V’s. In a way I kinda like the connotation it has with Liv-Via-Music… Live through music. And in the way it’s stylized in all caps makes it look like roman numerals, and it just kinda has this stronger presence - stronger for a logo. But that was definitely a tough choice to figure out, if we should change it, what it should be.
A: Would you say that, stylistically, your music has changed along with your name?
L: Yeah, it definitely has. I mean, the core of who I am as an artist is always gonna stay the same. I think that my favorite artists/groups are those that maintain who they are, but transition with what’s popular at the moment in a way that still feels very authentic to them - it doesn’t feel like they’re trying to just jump on a trend. So artists like Coldplay: obviously they’ve been around for so long, but everything they do feels very genuine to who they are, but [they] also are still relevant. I think with my transition from Olivia Somerlyn to LIVVIA, music has changed a lot, even in the year and a half that I wasn’t releasing music. So it was definitely [a question of] who I am, but in that new landscape.
Also[!], my goal is always to be an empowering force in the world with who I am and in the music I release. I think that, with the music I have released so far as LIVVIA, I’ve sorta achieved that goal and got that message across more effectively than I did previously. So that’s been cool for me.
A: You released your first EP in 2010, how would you say the music industry has changed since then?
L: Obviously so much has changed, we were just talking about the style of music that’s popular. Even now, things have changed so much in the last few months, with all of our virtual concerts, versus in January/February when I was on tour with the Jonas Brothers in the UK. 20,000 people in a venue, that’s not gonna happen for a bit. So things are always changing, you always gotta keep on your toes - you never know! I think in general with [the question], I was releasing music as an independent artist in 2010 and until, actually, fairly recently.
A: In that same time, how has it changed from being an independent artist when you were initially releasing, to where you are now?
L: I was always somewhat wary of signing with a label just because you give up so much control and you never know how it’s gonna go. I’ve heard so many horror stories of artists and what might happen if you sign up to a label and it might not be the right partnership. I was always careful with that, but eventually signing with 12Tone, the label I’m on, it really came about in the best way. It came about because of the people; 12Tone is a new venture, and I was their third artist that they signed, but I had known the executives before for a while. So there was never any fear in it being the right choice, because it was people that I knew and loved and trusted, so I think that’s what’s so important. Having that support system was a lot to get used to - like “really? I’m not doing this myself?”. That collaboration is just so amazing, and a completely different world from being an independent artist. But it’s so important that you have the right team, because that’s obviously not a good call.
A: You've released a number of singles in the past couple years - is there any chance we get to see a project soon?
L: Haha, sorry to disappoint so far. I definitely will have a more cohesive project. Right now, speaking of how music has changed, in the past ten years, even five, it’s a lot less about albums and more just single after single. So I think just kinda following how music is consumed these days, releasing singles has been sort of the most effective and seamless way to go about things, especially for an artist like me. But eventually it will make sense to have a full project.
A: With all consideration to current events, are there any organizations/non-profits you’d like to shout out?
L: Absolutely - I actually have a highlight on my Instagram (@livvia) and so I have a BLM story with links to some of the organizations I’ve supported at this time and am keeping my eye on. So Color of Change and Know Your Rights Camp are a few off the top of my head. But if you go to my highlights you’ll see more that I’m constantly updating!
-- Alf Bordallo, Director of Promotions
“Beautiful Escape” by LIVVIA can be found on Youtube here.