As an emerging artist well-respected in her scene, Olympia Vitalis speaks with UD about gospel origins, mixed heritage, and the reasons why she doesn’t write love songs…
Olympia Vitalis has a vitality to her sound, a clarity to her voice, and a real commitment to a sincere soul sound that endures beyond her latest releases, projects, and live performances. Speaking to her influences and inspirations, she cites a number of women in jazz, Gospel, and soul who have fueled her musical self-education and sound evolution. From emulating the distinctive sound of Heather Small heard in her mum’s car growing up, to a pivotal performance by T3 of Slum Village at The Jazz Cafe, Olympia takes from an eclectic roster of artists, from hip hop to gospel, by way of Amy, Aretha, and Top Dawg Entertainment.
Hailing from West London, Olympia has a number of accolades to her name, not only making an appearance at the London Jazz Festival in 2023, but also being recognised as a recipient of the Women in Jazz fund, a testament to her unique understanding of the genre. With support from BBC Introducing, Spotify playlisting, and even a spot on Mahalia Presents, Olympia has firmly established her hold on the scene, and is embarking on a new journey with the UD Incubator Programme.
For someone who doesn’t know your music, how would you describe your sound?
I’m mainly a soul singer with influences from Motown, Gospel, and jazz. I guess I tend not to write about love, I’m more interested in issues that are more wide reaching, you know… How we live in society, being a woman, being mixed race – things like that.
Tell me about your journey with music. Which artists did you rinse as a teenager?
I joined a gospel choir when I was 11, so I was singing a lot of Gospel and jazz standards growing up. I think my introduction into mainstream music was probably quite late – neither of my parents were big music heads, so it was really when I went to uni that I started listening to hip-hop and the records that my roommates and friends were listening to. I think songwriting and lyricism is really the main crux of what I want to be known for, so I was into a lot of Top Dawg Entertainment artists, like Kendrick, and then also 90s hip-hop like Nas and Mos Def. I tend to listen to a lot of Black artists with important things to say.
Was music a big part of your childhood? Were there songs you’d hear in the car or particular radio channels you’d tune into?
The only CD my mum had in the car was Heather Small, a soul singer with a really distinctive voice, so I used to emulate that quite a lot.
Have you had any musical training or formative experiences?
So I started playing the keys when I was about five, and then picked up the guitar last year so I’m confident on both of those but no formal music or anything like that. I went to UCL to read history at uni and ended up doing Sino-Japanese history, so quite a far reach from my music life now (laughs).
On spotify you describe yourself as a soul singer from London – how important is the city to your sound?
Massively – I grew up in West London which has a very big Caribbean community, so I have been going to Notting Hill Carnival since I was a toddler. Being from London definitely shapes my sound and definitely changes what you listen to – it’s funny because I think we’re all really precious about the area that we come from (laughs). It’s just such a mixing pot here that you kind of absorb all the cultures around you.
You recently played The Jazz Cafe for Mahalia Presents and mentioned you have a connection to the venue – do you have any standout performances you saw there?
I’m a massive fan of Slum Village, and only T3 is still alive, but I saw him play, which was really cool. Maybe like two years ago now. But I’ve also seen Fatback Band who were amazing. So yeah, those are probably two standouts.
Your live performance of “Curls” is stunning both visually and in terms of sound. What do the lyrics mean to you?
‘Curls’ was a very easy song to write, because it’s what I’ve experienced for 24 years. I have a white mum and a Black dad, and usually, if your mum is Black, you’ve got beautiful braids and cornrows, but my hair was like a bush – no one knew what to do, you know. Being mixed race comes with a lot of contradictions – I used to get comments about how big my lips were, but then, and I mention this in the lyrics in the song, you get people spending thousands on their lips to look like mine, you know? ‘Curls‘ is just my response to all of that, getting to grips with it – I’m half this, I’m half that, I’m called Black here, I’m called white here. It’s confusing.
You’ve spoken about writing music and lyrics from lived experience – how does the political climate we live in influence your work and sound?
My mum works in the news so I’m very clued up, and my dad’s extremely political and stood as a Labour candidate in St. Lucia where he’s from, so it’s kind of always been about. I just don’t really have time to talk about love – I don’t really know how we can regurgitate the same stories when Israel is bombing Palestine, do you know what I mean? I find it quite ignorant. But that’s just my opinion. And don’t get me wrong, I love love songs, and my favourite artist is Amy Winehouse, but there’s just an element of like, how are you not wanting to respond to this?
How are you finding the Incubator Programme with UD?
It’s interesting to meet new artists and to delve into details of insights and music. I think a lot of shit gets thrown at you when you’re in meetings with A&Rs and label reps and PRS – all these acronyms are just being thrown at you, and you’re just like, “what?!” As a songwriter, and a musician, you’ve got to know everything, so it’s good to brush up on your knowledge of that, for sure.
What does the future hold for Olympa Vitalis?
I’m just hoping to make a name for myself in the soul scene, to be acknowledged in that scene with other jazz musicians, and hopefully release a project in the near future. Live performances are my bread and butter, it’s what I feel most comfortable doing, so getting into new spaces and supporting artists in the next few months will be super exciting. But yeah, I just hope this time next year my name is getting out there and people are respecting it (laughs).
OLYMPIA VITALIS WILL BE PERFORMING AT UD LIVE x THE GREAT ESCAPE 2024, MAY 16TH AT DUST.
Follow Olympia HERE & listen to her latest release, ‘Fools Paradise’.
Words: Elsa Monteith. A Brighton based writer and broadcaster working in and around the arts and on the radio waves. Subscribe to Elsa’s Discontented newsletter here.
