Ollie Trevers Talks Cordelia and Songwriting
An alumni of Leeds College of Music and ICMP, Ollie Trevers is a singer/songwriter based in London who also holds a Masters in songwriting. Ollie’s lyrical precision can be heard on his latest EP ‘Cordelia’ which is a kaleidoscopic meeting of styles, channeling punk, alt-rock, prog, blues, folk, and psychedelia.
He started writing and performing music at fourteen years old, harbouring artistic aspirations from the very beginning. A veteran of the band circuit, Ollie released his first solo EP Saucy Naughty Rubbish in 2018. Stylistically, the record saw Ollie exploring a powerful and energetic blend of post-punk and classic rock. His musical direction has since evolved into the five songs you hear on his new EP. Ollie talks to us about ‘getting inordinately pissed’, artists being true to themselves and going solo.
You were in a few bands before you went solo, how did you come to the decision to go out there on your own?
It was a pretty easy decision, to be honest. I was in quite a few bands before and I got a lot out of them, but I knew they weren’t going anywhere, I just wanted a fresh start and to make my voice the focal point of the music I was writing, instead of starting another rock band that just wanted to go crazy on stage over songs that didn’t have much of a connection with the audience.
I also came to a realisation that I was never really comfortable with conceding creatively when it came to writing music. Most other writers I had worked with in the past were very much into just writing songs, whereas I was, and remain to be, very conceptual in my approach and prefer to look at the bigger picture by writing EP’s and Albums that have consistent themes and ideas running through them.
What lessons did you take away from being in a band?
I think the most important lessons, as there were many, were: never to get drunk before or during a performance, always have a consistent sound, especially when releasing more than one song, and practise is the most important thing ever. As I said, there were a lot more lessons, but those three stick out for me the most, particularly as those are the things that my friends and I got catastrophically wrong. We were just acting as if we were rock stars before we had even achieved anything significant.
Was ‘Stage of Fools’ written from personal experience and does it reflect the rest of the EP?
‘Stage of Fools’ was written from personal experience, everything I write is personal, everything I write is real. Every so often I may embellish a few ideas here and there, but I try to keep it completely honest and base it off of what I have experienced physically and emotionally.
In terms of reflecting the rest of the EP, I think it reflects certain aspects of it, and as it is the most philosophical of the five tracks, it is contextually the most general of them all, but I don’t think that reflection is the right word to use, as that suggests a separation between the single and the four remaining tracks.
All of the songs feed into each other and the EP as a complete work reflects me. However, the themes of worthlessness, nihilism, and heartbreak are fairly prevalent in this track which features throughout all of the music, so I would say it is not a reflection of the rest of the EP, as you encounter further ideas in the other songs, but it does nevertheless come from the same emotional state.
Your EP ‘Cordelia’ is a narrative of heartbreak, showing the duality of relationships and their untimely endings. How do you ensure that you are writing something that is relatable as, just because you feel a certain way it does not mean other people are feeling it?
I find no utility in the art that is created to relate to the audience, the audience is the most important thing after its conception, but until that happens, the artist must be as true to themselves as possible. Having said that, I think you’ll find that relatability is actually far more pervasive in songs that are very specific and true to the artist. As individuals we will never truly know how anyone else feels; my being happy may be completely different to the way you experience happiness, all we know is that happiness is a positive feeling, and so when you hear a song that goes into detail about how the singer feels, using metaphorical and descriptive lyrics, you’ll find that the audience will interpret what is being said in a completely different way to you. That’s the nature of language. That’s the nature of art. I also think that people in general search for connections between themselves and the artist, as they want to feel something, that’s just part of the human condition.
What will you be doing come Friday 15th to celebrate the release of the EP?
I may have a gig, it’s all very last minute. It’s funny, as all my gigs for the past two months have been planned way in advance, but this one hasn’t been penciled in yet, we’re just trying to get the right venue. If we don’t though, I guess I’ll either be at home listening to the EP on repeat whilst crying or going out with my band and getting inordinately pissed. I’d prefer the latter, but it’s usually the former.
We are coming towards the end of the year already, so what are some of your musical goals for next year?
Well, I’ve got a lot planned, I’ll be releasing another four singles throughout next year, with music videos, so there’ll be more for everyone to listen to. We are also planning to tour quite a lot. IF it all goes according to plan, we will be doing a north to south tour of the UK, a European tour and a tour in Tennessee, that is the best-case scenario though! Hopefully, we can pull it off. We’re also applying to a lot of festivals for next summer. So yeah, just going to be releasing more music and performing as much as we can.
Ollie Trevers EP Cordelia‘ is out Friday 15th November
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