Olivia's World: "I've Tried to No Avail To Disentangle Myself From Pop and Twee but I Think It's Just in My DNA. I Don't Think I Care So Much Anymore That It's Not in Fashion"

Power pop's softest hearts can be delightful, elevating, and altogether refreshing. All the way from Sydney, Australia, Olivia's World exudes this principled charm. Comprised of guitarist-vocalist Alice Rezende, bassist Joe Saxby, lead guitarist-vocalist Jordan Rodger, and drummer Daan Steffans, the group's debut LP Greedy and gorgeous uncovers a greater feel to authenticity with its breathless electricity and intricately woven surfaces that are mildly psychedelic and modest simplicity that is extraordinarily beautiful. While the record might be classified as "dole wave" by lazy music journalists, it's largely a personal document of self-discovery that harkens back to the raw essence of what rock 'n' roll was about in the first place. Speaking about the track "Empresário" which is packed with peppy AM radio melodies and jangly guitars for maximum pop pleasure, Rezende says, "It's a fable fantasy I concocted while thinking about the modern fixation with the idea of manifestation. I decided I would manifest a band manager (an empresário, or businessman) by writing a song about him. In the song I am obsessed with him even though he’s not great for the business, and hardly comes to my shows. Let’s just say… manifestation works."

Hot Sounds: First tell me what you've been up to as of late? Anything good you've been digging into you'd like to share? 

Alice Rezende: I've been fostering some street kittens and reading The Artist's Way. I’ve also been listening to the band TY from Detroit, who give off Jay Reatard glory in their new record, aside from being their own thing.

HS: Where did you grow up and what was the local scene like? What sort of records or books/magazines would we find if we would travel back in time in your teenage room?

Joe Saxby: I grew up in Bundaberg. There was no scene as such — but I fell in with some creative types right as I was finishing high school, and that little group mutated and formed a little microcosm of a scene. I had a band with a couple of friends called Tabletop Lamps and we played a bunch of shows at this laundromat that a local artist had converted into a gallery space.

Jordan Rodger: Been in Canberra forever and love it. The local scene was mostly punk, ska and metal bands riding the last of the 2000s wave. You'd find Queens Of The Stone Age CDs and guitar magazines trying to teach me those QOTSA riffs.

AR: I grew up in São Paulo, Brazil. The scene was pretty diverse obviously. A lot of hardcore bands and white boys with afros playing jazz. I had a prized travel magazine issue of Vermont in the fall that I was obsessed with. My room probably had a lot of required Brazilian high school readings by boring authors Machado de Assis. And all I had to listen were my sister’s ‘90s rock CDs including Oasis and The Cranberries, but also some cool São Paulo bands like Pato Fu.

HS: For readers unfamiliar, tell us about the origins of Olivia's World. How has it evolved over the years? Also who's in the current incarnation of the band? 

JS: We have undergone much, some would say, too much, evolution! But I’ve been there with Alice from the beginning.

Daan Steffans: I first learnt about OW when I was approached by Alice to join the band when her and Joe moved to Canberra. We met through Chipz Emporium when Chipz had their first shop set up in O'Connor. I didn't know about the band prior to that but Alice filled me in on the OW lore. 

AR: Here’s the lore. I was madly in love with Joe and followed him to Canada when he moved to Vancouver in 2017. At first Joe was just making drum loops for my demos. I used to go out to DIY gigs alone while he worked the night shift at Value Village. In one of those reconnaissance eves I drunkenly told a muso I’d just met, Adrian Teacher, I really needed a drummer. He said his friend Rose Melberg was keen to drum in a band (I am the biggest Tiger Trap/Rose Melberg fan there is). He texted her in his little Nokia phone in front of me and literally a few days later she came to practice. The mind reels. Joe and I came back to Australia at the end of 2018 and in 2019 released the Olivia's World EP we recorded with Rose. Then we got Tina and Ben in the band in Meanjin/Brisbane and recorded our second EP Tuff 2B Tender. I think with Tina in the band there was a lot of opportunity to keep doing girl harmonies which is like, primo for me. Then, being the nomads that we are, Joe and I moved to Kamberri/Canberra in 2023. We cajoled Daan into the band because he was a such a cool scene agitator. Jordan joined after a little bit because he likes sad girl music. They are both such heavyweight hard rockers that I think we went somewhat hardcore around the edges with some of the songs in Greedy & gorgeous. Which is cute. Since moving to Sydney late last year, the band is made up of me, Joe, Jordan and a rotating cast of drummers.

HS: Where and when has been the most memorable Olivia's World show you've played so far?

JR: Probably the last show we played with our outgoing and much-loved drummer Daan. There were some lovely moments where we all locked in and I really felt the love.

DS: My most memorable show with OW was the Hootenanny at the Polish Club last year in December. It was a big end of year celebration show put on by local booker and scene king Aaron Crowe aka Sonic Business LTD. We played a set with no rehearsal before because Alice and Joe had just moved to Sydney. The whole set felt so energetic and focused, the best I've felt playing those songs. 

AR: I agree with Jordan and Daan. Love ya, Daan! I also think OW’s very first show at Thor’s Castle, a punk house in Vancouver, was sick.

HS: How do you usually approach songwriting? Does improvisation have any role? 

JR: Songs ideas are brought in and I fluff around improving over the top until Alice looks at me and gives me this stern look and nod combo which means the part has been approved. Then I have to try and remember what I just played.

JS: We mostly like to get the structure of a song pretty down-pat, and new little elements might get added in here and there when we go into the studio. But I think Alice’s songwriting style has the lyrics dictating the structure of the song, which I actually really like cos it’s different to the way I write and think about music. There’s a logic to it — it’s like, this particular phrase needs to be said before we can get to the chorus, etcetera. It’s diaristic but with a surrealism to it, but importantly, it’s not cringe.

AR: I always write lyrics first, yeah. 

HS: How do you feel looking back on your catalog? Do you still like or relate to your past releases? 

JS: I like it. The first EP is pretty raw cos we mixed most of it ourselves. But I have such fond memories of recording it on Gabriola Island, that biases my ears towards it! The second EP I also like. We did it only two years after the first one, but it was in the middle of Covid so it was a really different vibe all of a sudden. But we’ve always managed to have a lot of fun in the studio, wherever and whatever the vibe around it is. Alice and I kind of agree that it’s the best part of music, is being in the studio.

AR: Yes and no. I’ve tried to no avail to disentangle myself from pop and twee but I think it’s just in my DNA. I don’t think I care so much anymore that it’s not in fashion. 

HS: What can you tell me about your upcoming debut LP and what insight can you share about how and where it was recorded? What were some of the highlights putting it together? 

DS: We worked on the tracks pretty intensely in the lead up to the recording, meeting once a week to iron out little kinks here and here but for the most part some of the songs and structures were still pretty loose. It made for a really exciting recording week as I felt that I was flying by the seat of my pants. We stayed in this beautiful Airbnb and walked each morning to the studio. We recorded with Owen Penglis, a true gentleman, a master at his craft, a pleasure to be around. Each night we would drink Rooibos and watch Bob Ross. Recording this album was one of the highlights of my year last year.

JS: The true highlight was that Jordan and Daan got Alice into Metallica as part of the recording process. I’ve got it on video, the moment where the penny drops for Alice and she starts playing air guitar to Enter Sandman. Really special stuff.

JR: We really worked together as a tight little family unit and had a great time hanging around and goofing in the studio. I sort of became a weird riff request line and ended up developing my own language of Metallica and Sepultura riffs to signal that I was ready for a take. I also got a lot of knitting done. Very productive. 

AR: Recording with Owen was definitely a lot of fun. His intern Ben was also a darling.

HS: What's the story behind the cover art? 

AR: It's the story of a crust punk who sold out to the capitalist comforts of a blow dry and manicure at the salon.

HS: Diving into the toons here, what can you tell me about the opening cut "Porcupine Girl"? 

AR: I came back to Sydney to put some finishing touches on the songs and had to bang out an extra song. I wrote "Porcupine Girl" on a nylon string at the heart of Covid and Joe said I had to record it. For the recording, I channeled my muse Rose and played all the instruments. 

HS: What's the story behind "Healthy and Wealthy"? 

AR: It's a very long one. I've tried going sober a few times over the last couple of years, including (but not limited to) when we were recording Greedy & gorgeous. "H&W" is a bit of a critical spit at sobriety as a one-size fits-all Rocco's Modern Life answer to life’s problems.

DS: It's one of my favorites off the album, I can't remember when Alice first showed it to me. I couldn't figure out what to do with drums for this one for a long time and it took me even longer to wrap my head around the weird structure and lengths of parts, even when recording I had a notebook next to me to remind myself of when and what to play. If there's one thing OW does well it's outros and this song is no exception. I love how much of a shift there is when we go into the outro. It feels so good to really dig in and let go after having been so restrained in the first half of the song. 

HS: How did "Sourgum" come about? What do you recall writing that one? 

AR: There is usually one song every writing season that feels like a psychic release that writes itself. "Sourgum" was one of those dumps from above.

DS: This was the first song I was a part of when I joined the band. From memory we wrote it in one of our first jams together. It was written when we were still a three piece rehearsing in our friend’s factory in the industrial area of Canberra. It came together quickly and felt very intuitive to put together. As always Alice had the bones of the song and I simply had to add my drum parts on top. I love the big chaotic outro that has developed over time through our live sets. 

HS: What do you hope listeners take away from hearing the new album?

JS: I hope people can rock out to some of the songs and also be kind of soothed by other songs — that is the duality of Greedy & gorgeous.

AR:  Just 'cos we're not singing our lines staccato, doesn't mean we're not punk. Open up your mind, punk normies.

HS: What are some future plans for you and Olivia's World? 

DS: I hope we captured just how fun and organic the music feels to me. No frills, just four people playing music. I like the chaos, the warts and all approach we went for, recording drums and bass live to tape with Alice playing along with us in the room. It felt good to record and it feels good to listen back to.

JS: I think we just gotta keep making music. I wanna make sure there’s not as much of a gap between releases this time, so I’ve got to get on Alice’s case about writing some more new material. Maybe next year we’ll also think about how we can take OW on the road internationally. We’ve got to go back to Vancouver at some stage… that would be our origin story coming full circle.

AR: I need to find forever homes for my foster kittens.

HS: Any advice or last words you'd like to share with our readers?

AR: Don't let old men with street cred give your band backhanded compliments.

Greedy & gorgeous is out now on Little Lunch Records (AU) and Lost Sound Tapes (CA).