Olive Klug On Finding Joy, Their Debut Album, and the Release of Their “Song About America”
Photo by Nicole Ditt
“Song About America,” the recent addition to singer-songwriter Olive Klug’s discography, addresses the ever-present reality of America. After touring across various states this past year and witnessing the rise of anti-trans legislation and increased aggression towards marginalized communities, Olive was inspired to compile their thoughts into a song addressing the faults at hand. Released on June 23rd, Olive acknowledges that “Song About America” was a shift from their usual themes in music by approaching the state of the world. Thus, the song combines Olive’s detailed and observant lyricism with their ability to truly capture emotions, ranging from a political to personal essence. Along with this release, Olive is also anticipating their debut album Don’t You Dare Make Me Jaded to come out on August 11th. In a conversation with Unpublished Magazine, Olive discussed their recent single, along with their excitement for their upcoming shows and the release of their debut album.
[UNPUBLISHED]: You just released your new song “Song About America,” how do you feel? How have people responded to it?
[OLIVE]: I think the response has been really good from my fans and my friends. I've really appreciated the response that I've gotten from people online and my friends and people close to me. It's kind of the most political song I've ever written. I don't typically write songs about what's going on in the world. I typically write songs about my own shit and my own relationships and my own feelings. So, it's kind of like a divergence for me a little bit. And Spotify was not a huge fan. But, I wonder what it was about. Maybe they just didn't like the song or that it was too explicitly talking about things they didn't want to align themselves with. But, anyway, I think the response from people who listen to my music has been really great though.
[UNPUBLISHED]: I really love how there are so many components of imagery and truth within the song. When were you first inspired to write it?
[OLIVE]: I was on tour, actually. I kind of just did a DIY tour of a bunch of different places. I drove to Kansas City with my friend who was moving across the country and that was around late February. It was also the time that a lot of really aggressive anti-trans legislation was coming up and I was just really disheartened by that and really struggling emotionally with all of that. I also just thought about like last year, I was in a Pride commercial and I did all these Pride campaigns and I felt kind of weird about it. But, I was also like, oh, this is a generally good thing that so many queer people are so celebrated by really public companies. But, at the same time, I felt good about it then. But, then I was reflecting on that and thinking about the state of the world and the state of safety for trans people right now and just how those were really at odds. And I was just feeling really upset by that and really upset that all these companies will capitalize off of us. But, at the same time, in the United States, it's not safe to be a trans person. So, dealing with that dichotomy was really hard emotionally for me, it made me really angry. I was also driving through all these different states, like all these new states I hadn't been to before. I have always lived on the west coast.
So, there's a line in there where I say, "They grew me in a bubble." And I did feel like I was grown in a bubble. I grew up in Portland, which is like this very homogenous, liberal white space. Then I moved to LA, which is also very liberal. And I was driving through Arizona, Kansas, New Mexico. And then I drove through a lot of places on the East Coast as well. But, just seeing how vast the country really is and how many really intense dichotomies exist and belief systems that are completely at odds with each other, it was just an intense thing for me. And I was like damn, there's so much here. And I just started writing the song while I was staying at my friend's house in Boston. The song, there's so much that I cover and I didn't think I was gonna write a full song. Literally. I say in the Tik Tok snippet, I'm like, 'I'll settle for a chorus and a verse" because there's too much. There are too many thoughts in my head and too many observations, I have to actually create a complete song and a complete thought out of this. But, then the response online was so strong that I was really inspired to finish it and even if it's not this conclusive, neat and tidy conclusion or full thought, I still was like, well, if this means something to people, I should keep going with it.
[UNPUBLISHED]: When approaching a song, are you usually struck by the lyrics or instrumentals first?
[OLIVE]: Definitely I'm struck with the lyrical part first. I do feel like my songs are just very lyrically driven. I feel like that's always what comes first for me and the instrumental part is mostly just to support that. Like the lyrics and the melody and the instrumentals just to support that. Although, I do have some songs where I have a fun riff. But, definitely, the lyrics come first and then I use the instrumentals to support it.
[UNPUBLISHED]: “Song About America” addresses how it is to be processing and acknowledging the faults of America. Consuming the constant influx of news can be really difficult, what advice do you have for the communities taking in this type of news?
[OLIVE]: It's a lot. I think that obviously, something that I would say, but have a hard time practicing is to just build really strong communities with each other and participate in mutual aid. I think that that's a really important way and a really beautiful way that marginalized communities are supporting each other right now. And also participate in mutual aid for people outside of your direct community. Like not just for people who are a friend of a friend. Like do it for everyone if you have the resources. And yeah, I think just building strong communities rather than kind of gatekeeping and building walls around your specific identity. I think it's just really important to maintain community in any way that you can and work through conflict, rather than let conflict build walls around tiny communities. But yeah, it's something that I struggle with. I think it's really hard. It's just really hard to build a community. I think that the world is not necessarily set up for it right now. So, I'm still figuring out how to do that.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Your debut album is coming out pretty soon, congratulations! How are you feeling?
[OLIVE]: It feels really good. I just submitted all of the information, all the masters to my label. And it feels very good to just have it kind of out there and have it completed. I feel very accomplished because it's something I've been working on. Technically, some of the songs I've been working on since 2021. So, the full project itself has been in the works for just so long that it's crazy that it's finished. It's just such a crazy feeling. And I like to kind of refer to the album as the coming-of-age story of my early 20s. And I just turned 26. So, it feels like the timing is really good. It feels like this story has been worked through and processed and completed. And now I have it out in the world. And it feels like I'm going to be changing into a different part of my life now. Which is kind of cool to just think about that. But yeah, I'm super excited for people to hear it. Like I said, I think the only weird feeling I have is it is a representation of a different part of my life. I don't necessarily feel like my current feelings align super intensely with the feelings I talked about in the album. But, I know that there are people who are having those feelings right now. So, you know, it'll be cool for them.
[UNPUBLISHED]: On the topic of growth and coming of age, how would a younger version of yourself feel about you releasing your debut album?
[OLIVE]: I think a little tiny me, like a six-year-old me would be like, wow, that's so cool. But, that's what I wanted to do and they would be really happy for me. I think younger me in like college would be really surprised because I was on a completely different path in college. Life is very funny. Me and my friend are doing the cover of an Indigo Girls song right now called "Watershed" and there's a line in it that says "every five years or so I look back on my life and I just laugh." And I'm like, that's how I feel. Just everything that's happened in the past five years, there's so many weird cyclical paths that just could not have been predicted or expected. So, I think that a younger self would be very happy for me, but also surprised for sure. Like, who I was in college.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What is the meaning behind the title of the album Don’t You Dare Make Me Jaded?
[OLIVE]: It's kind of like the coming-of-age story of my early 20s. I think people think of "coming of age" as high school or earlier. But, I think there's a really significant coming of age that happens when you're in your 20s. But, I think that during that time, obviously the world was in a really difficult place and I spent 22 to 24 with just my entire worldview shifting and having to spend so much time looking inward and being with myself as we all did. It just really changed my perspective on so many things and it really completely diverted my path. Like I said, who I was in college would be really surprised about where I'm at now. The meaning of the title, Don't You Dare Make Me Jaded is saying that to the world. Even with everything that kind of tries to keep us down and tries to make us really jaded as a generation, I feel like you have to just prioritize joy and prioritize seeking joy and prioritize finding a way to maintain hope for the world. Because if you don't, well, what's the point? I think that's what it means. Like no matter how bleak things seem, there's always a way to find joy.
[UNPUBLISHED]: You have some international tour dates coming up and you’re headlining a festival in August. What are some songs that you love performing live? Are there any songs off the album that you’re excited to perform live?
[OLIVE]: There are a couple of songs I haven't performed live. There's a song called "Taking Up Space" and that's like the last song on the album and I'm really excited to perform that live. I kind of have a fun idea for audience participation that hasn't fully worked yet. But, I'm excited to keep working through that song and performing it live because I think it can be really powerful when we're all singing it together. I also love performing the song "Coming of Age" because that's kind of the one that people really get the most hyped to sing along to. I feel like some of my other popular songs like "Raining in June," it's kind of a sad song so people are just kind of humming along. Or like "Self Help," there's so many lyrics so people can't keep up. But like "Coming of Age," I feel like everyone's yelling along and they're just getting so excited. And that's such a good feeling to know that the song means something to people and that they're having that collective experience with you.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What are you most excited about for the future?
[OLIVE]: I'm excited to go to London and Dublin and I'm also going to spend some time in Amsterdam. I just haven't traveled internationally since 2018, I think. And I've never really taken a trip alone. Like I did a study abroad, which was kind of different. So yeah, I'm just really excited to travel and I love to travel and I've been really enjoying just seeing the US, but, I feel like I've seen it. I think I've been to like 20 states or something this year. So, I'm like, okay, I'm ready to see the rest of the world. So, I'm really excited about that.
