Experiencing A Cascade with Olivia Rafferty
Mustard had the pleasure of speaking with songwriter, note-taker, and observer Olivia Rafferty whose upcoming project Typical Forever is a concept album based on geology.
Mustard has observed that Planet Earth has been around for many human lifetimes. Earth is home to humans, animals, and other types of lifeforms. It is remarkable to see how humans interact and learn about their planet. One cool thing that can be found on Earth is rocks. Rocks come in all shapes and sizes. They, Mustard has observed, play an important role in helping Earth function. Rocks are something more for humans to throw into a body water. Like the humans that throw those rocks - the rocks are living and full of character.
During the 2020 lockdown independent songwriter and notetaker
gained an interest in Geology. Geology is the study of rocks. Olivia found herself fascinated with the subject and began attending virtual lectures. From there their love of the subject has blossomed into their own newsletter (A Constellation) about the subject along with their upcoming debut album Typical Forever.Together we had the pleasure of speaking about their love of Geology, haunting museums, and so much more!
1. Mustard is grateful and appreciative to have you join them at Music Shelf. How are you doing today?
Mustard I am good! Although quite tired. I am sitting writing these answers to you at 11am on a Monday morning and I didn't get to sleep last night until 4am. For reasons I can't understand. I was watching the movie Arrival so maybe I was half-expecting aliens to land in my room and start talking to me. But I am grateful to be here and to answer all your questions! Let's goooooooo
2. You grew up with a diet of power-pop and Americana. Could you share more about your relationship with music growing up?
My parents were my main source of music. My Mum loves Prince -- she says I was literally born to a soundtrack of Prince in Aberdeen Infirmary. My Dad loves artists like Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen. And they both love David Bowie and Elvis Costello. They both went to the Live Aid concert back in 1985. So they've always been the biggest influences and sharers of music for me, and a lot of what they loved became what I loved, too. But then there was also the music which made me happy happy happy: Steps, Spice Girls, S Club 7, that Eiffel 65 song which you can't get out of your head (I'M BLUE DA BA DEE DA BA DI). Growing up and going on the internet, that's when I got introduced to Fall Out Boy and MCR and all that alt-rock, pop-punk stuff (although pop-punk nowadays feels like a dirty word, thanks to Tiktok). I'd probably say that my biggest music influences when I was younger was my parents and the internet.
3. Mustard has observed that you are a user of the sparkle emoji. When is the best time to use this emoji?
As a top connoisseur of the sparkle emoji, I use it in many ways. Honestly in the UK people often sign their texts off with kisses, ('x'), but I can rarely bear to. If I've sent someone a message and I want to add an extra friendly flair, I'll stick a sparkle emoji on it. Sparkles are also good for just communicating that something is magical and whimsical, ooh shiny!
4. They have also observed that you are a museum haunter. How many museums have you haunted? Is there a certain criteria that needs to be met before you haunt a museum?
I love to haunt the Natural History Museum in London, another good museums is the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, which I used to haunt when I was a student in Edinburgh. The best museum is The key to good museum-haunting is to bring a notebook or a sketchbook and not be afraid to linger. You can stay as long as you want! Within reason... if you go past opening hours then you are haunting that museum for REAL.
5. Your music has been described as "Wes Anderson for the ears." If you could have your music featured in any Wes Anderson film which would it be and why?
I think The Life Aquatic, mainly because I got really into Jacques Cousteau one summer and loved his storytelling and respect for the natural world. And if you know Jacques Cousteau, with his little red beanie, then you'll know that The Life Aquatic is heavily based off of him and his work. There's a sense of exploration there and a conversation with nature which I like and I think fit the songs.
6. Wes Anderson plans to direct and write a film about Geology with your music being an inspiration for the film. Who does Olivia Rafferty cast in the film?
Okay it'll be like Life Aquatic but for geology. And I know we have a whole roster of existing Wes Anderson actors but I am going to add some new people into the canon. Playing a harried geologist, we've got Jodie Foster. The gritty park ranger can be played by Elliot Page. The grumpy volcanologist can be a Wes Anderson classic: Adrien Brody. And the bumbling field assistant can be Austin Butler. I think it would be funny to put him in a role where he just plays someone really useless. He's always dropping the maps. The film will be called The Majestic Cascades and will be set in the Pacific North West.
7. Speaking of Geology you discovered the topic during lockdown. Can you recall the first Geology lecture you saw? What type of notetaker are you?
The first lecture I watched was Nick Zentner's Introductory lecture to his Geology 101 class. He's a teacher in Ellensburg Washington who used to allow townspeople into his lessons so they could also learn about geology, but as it was lockdown and he had to live stream his classes to students, he decided to make it public on Youtube and let people all over the world join in. Think we covered the basics in that one, y'know, rocks vs minerals, what kind of rocks there are, etc. As for note-taking, I'm quite a visual note-taker. I like to do bullet points and big headings but also doodle out examples of things. The good thing about geology is that it's quite a doodly subject to take notes on. Lots of diagrams needed!
8. Greg from Over The Garden Wall used to say "And That's a Rock Fact!" Do you have any favorite rock facts? What are some things about rocks that humans may not know?
I love Over The Garden Wall. Greg has my whole heart. Here's a fun rock fact, or it's more of a geology fact... the largest known landslide (above the ocean) in the world was in Wyoming, 50 million years ago. There's a mountain called Heart Mountain where it happened. It was such a huge amount of rock -- over 400 square miles, which, according to the internet, is the same amount of area as the city of San Antonio, and is about two thirds of London, for those of us in the UK. That's crazy, isn’t it!?!? I just think that's so crazy. Of course, because the area of this landslide was so large, it travelled really far. Geology is amazing.
9. Mustard has observed you are the type of songwriter who likes to have in hand in every facet of the creative process. Are you able to share more about your process?
Sure. I love being an independent musician because you get to be a songwriter, a musician, an entertainer, a video producer, a creative director, a strategist, a visual artist... At the moment I am working on a new project which might give you a bit of insight into how I work. The most important part of starting a new project for me is building up a world in which the project can exist. This means mood-boarding, building a list of references which will include songs, albums, films, artworks and aesthetics. I like to write longhand out my ideas, and kind of just journal and keep an eye out for any interesting phrases which leap out. When I made Typical Forever I wrote the songs all by myself and then brought them to the studio and fleshed them out with a band. This time round I'm working with another producer, and we're being a bit looser with the process. I have some songs to bring to the table but I'm also up for creating a sonic world and then seeing what sort of lyrics want to come out of it. After an album has been made it really pivots to the visuals and the story. I've always made the artwork for all my releases, mainly just a budget-saver thing but also as a way to infuse more of myself into the project. The cover for Typical Forever is a printed out photo my dad took of Stac Pollaidh, a mountain in Scotland. I tore it up a bit, stuck it down on paper and added the rainbow and glitter stars. It's meant to be twinkly and fun, combining the ancientness of these mountains with a playful wonder.
10. You love to create visual things. Do you have a favorite visual artist? How does visual arts help elevate the stories you tell in your songs?
I can't think of a favourite visual artist in terms of someone you might see at an art gallery, or whatever. Three artists on Instagram I really love are Ben Styer, who makes these medieval-like paintings with a childish playfulness;Â lolalette, who shares a lot of their process on Instagram and I love their experiments in collage and animation; and then there's a user called cabbagebutterflies who does these really understated but beautiful collages and experiments in textiles.
Visuals elevate songs so much because I feel like it helps you guide the listener further into a certain direction. You give them more cues about who you are as an artist and what sort of world your songs inhabit. And that makes you more memorable and enjoyable as an artist, I think. I'd love for someone to be walking down the street and see a book or a painting or even a house and think "that's so Olivia Rafferty," (lol, what a sentence) and it'll be because I've done such a good job of creating such a strong visual world for my music to live in.
11. Who (or what) influences Olivia Rafferty?
Lots of things! For this upcoming album, here's a list: geology (duh), medieval manuscripts, Regina Spektor, tapestry samplers, chess, Jens Lekman, miniature villages, Counting Crows, folk art from the UK and Europe, The Corrs, dioramas, Gothic lettering, Moomin valley, Maps, Mary Blair's art, Emperor X, Ingrid Michaelson.
12. Back in 2020 you started a 100 day project called 100 Tiny Songs. The entire collection of these songs can be found on your Bandcamp. What first sparked the idea? Did you alter your creative process for this project?
When I was 21 I wrote a bunch of songs about waitressing in a restaurant in Aberdeen. They were about silly things like really slow-eating customers or people mixing ketchup and mayo together. I didn't do anything with these songs apart from put them up on a Bandcamp account but in 2020 I had a mentorship call with someone who said that those songs and the other ones I did like it were my most interesting work.... which kind of hurt me because I'd just put out my first EP that I'd been slaving away on for 2 years!!!! But she was right in a way, there was a playfulness to my songwriting which I had strayed from. So I decided, with being furloughed in the pandemic and having not much else to do, I would do a 100 day project. It was partly inspired by an episode of Andy J Pizza's podcast (Creative Pep Talk, go listen to it!) where a ceramicist (Lolly Lolly Ceramics) made a mug every day for 100 days. I decided to make a silly tiny song for 100 days. I had to change my process for this challenge, because I didn't want to spend loads of time making a song every day. I'd use a DAW on my computer but I'd record everything through voicenotes on my phone and airdrop it to my computer. I also mainly used my Casio keyboard as the main instrument because it had so many different sounds and drum machines, so it was something which sounded very different to most things I'd been doing before. I really liked that process because it kept things fast and loose.
13. You saw a new bird on track 63. What type of bird did you see?
Oh it was a migratory bird -- there was a whole bunch of them in this park I used to walk around every day in the pandemic. There was a couple standing and staring at them, and I joined them to stare at the birds. I think they were redwings.
14. Mustard wonders: have you knit a Harry Styles cardigan?
I haven't, but my sister did! That's why I wrote a tiny song about it. It was quite an undertaking for her, if I remember right. It might have come out wonky.
15. Have you received an answer as to why Hollywood hardly cast Scottish actors in Scottish roles?
NO! But it is my deepest desire to consistently see Scottish characters in Hollywood played by Scottish people. PURELY from an accent standpoint. So many bad accents abound.
16. In March 2022 you began your Substack A Constellation. Did a specific constellation inspire the name? What has it been like to watch your Substack grow over the years?
I did start it back in 2022! Honestly feels crazy now because Substack has changed so much in that space of time. My newsletter hasn't grown in the ways that some others might have but it has grown in a way which has been meaningful to me. There was no specific constellation that inspired the name, I just like the idea of different things floating around which you could make connections between. As a multi-hyphenate creative, someone who likes to write songs and make pictures and write essays and talk about all the different things I'm interested in and love, I like the idea of being able to just throw a bunch of stuff up into the air and make connections between it all.
17. Earlier this year you successfully crowdfunded support from your upcoming debut album Typical Forever. Could you share more about this experience?
I didn't think I'd be ready for it, but I just went for it and put everything I had into the process. I think I'm very lucky that I've built up such a nice community of family and friends and then also a wonderful following on Substack and Instagram. I lowballed it a bit with the total, only asking for the bare minimum that I needed, but we went over it by £1000, which was amazing. Oh, and the project got 100% funded in like 5 days! I think the key to my success was a solid email campaign and building a really robust Kickstarter page with loads of information and custom graphics. The Kickstarter has finished but the process continues as I have to create the rewards and ship everything out, which will be the next challenge.
18. Your upcoming debut album Typical Forever has been funded by The Geologists Association. How does it feel to have your album funded by such a prestigious association?
It's honestly such a lovely honour to have The Geologists Association fund this project through their Curry Fund. I wasn't entirely sure when I started writing this album how I would make it happen, and their support has been really crucial to just getting into the studio to get the songs recorded. I love working with this association and it's taken me to some cool places, like playing gigs in museums and libraries.
19. In August of this year you released the first single off your upcoming album called Earthquake Room. What are some signs that a human may be in an Earthquake room?
Do you know the word 'shoogling'? It's a Scottish word. It means shaking but in a kind of loose way. If the floor is shoogling, you are in an earthquake room. Also if my song 'Earthquake Room' is playing, it automatically turns the room you are in into an earthquake room.
20. Mustard loves the story you tell in this song. How soon after your date at the National History Museum in London did you write this song?
A looooong time later! It was never really a 'song-worthy' experience in my head, however when I started writing geology songs I came back to it. So I reckon this date was in 2015, and Earthquake Room was written in 2022, or early 2023. Just goes to show that life is full of untapped experiences in terms of writing.
21. Would you recommend all humans experience an earthquake simulator?
Well, some people have experienced the real thing! In the Natural History Museum in London we have this earthquake simulator and it's based off the Kobe earthquake in Japan, in 1995. There's something kind of weird about wanting to experience a fun and fast replication of an earthquake that killed hundreds of people, but that's human nature, isn't it? Wanting to get close to something dangerous but being able to only experience the fun aspects of it. When I was a kid and we visited London I went on this earthquake simulator and for some reason I always remembered it. It pretty much hasn't changed at all in 20 years. It's decorated like a Japanese grocery store and everything wiggles around when the ground shakes. It's weirdly quaint.
22. Mustard would like to wish you congratulations on your newest release Cascade. Could you share more about your latest release?
Yes! Cascade tells the story of change through the perspective of a rock, basically. As water and wind dislodge this rock from its mountaintop and tumbles it out to sea, it becomes changed. I wanted to tell a story about how people can choose to change at different points in their lives, and how life is really is an endless cycle of becoming and unbecoming. It's more organic sounding than 'Earthquake Room' and has this rolling, waltzy feeling to it. I really love it and it was one of the songs I nearly didn't include on the album, but I'm glad I did.
23. Listening to this song it sounds like it is the perspective of a rock going through changes. What type of rock did you have in mind while writing this song?
When I go home to Scotland I walk up hills and there's all this scree and stuff at the top, loose rocks and crumbling stone. I like to imagine something like this, very chunky and grey, similar to the rocks we have in the Cairngorms, some granite most likely. As it tumbles down the hillside and gets incorporated into streams it'll get smoother and smoother and smaller and smaller, until it reaches the beach as a grain of sand.
24. Mustard has observed that humans experience change. How does Olivia Rafferty feel about change? Are you fearful of change?
I fear change and yearn for it all the time. When I was younger I really just wished I could run away to Italy or Canada and restart my entire life and do all the things I'd never let myself do. I've started to learn that I can change my life, and sometimes these changes have to happen suddenly, but for the most part change is something that slowly happens to you day by day, and you often don't realise it until you look back years later.
25. A human gets the opportunity to see Olivia Rafferty perform. What five words best describe your live shows? Do you have a pre or post show routine?
Five words to describe my shows would be fun, storytelling, acoustic, comedy (????? I end up making a lot of jokes), and heart. Because there is always heart in the middle of my performance and songs. I want people to feel that. Pre-show I warm up with the same Youtube vocal warm up video I have used for years and make sure my makeup and outfit are right. After performing I allow myself to have a cider or glass of wine -- I tend to not drink beforehand because I don't want it interfering with my voice. And after I play I get to speak to everyone! Yay!
26. What is on the horizon for Olivia Rafferty?
So I should say first and foremost that after Cascade I have 2 more singles coming out before Typical Forever drops in March 2025! But on my secret horizon, I am currently writing album number 2 right now. And I'll share more on that later but for now I'm very excited about it.
27. Where can readers listen to your music?
Bandcamp is always best for indie artists, as streaming doesn't pay any of my bills. So if you want to follow me on Bandcamp or buy a record be my guest! Otherwise you can search for me on any music streaming site and find me there. Thank you and goodnight.
Music Shelf with Mustard is a publication that interviews independent musicians from all across the globe. It is read in 39 states and 38 countries. Check out previous interviews here.
Music Shelf with Mustard originally began in early 2021. Inspired by independent musicians on social media application TikTok Mustard knew they had to do something to help share their music. Shortly after Music Shelf with Mustard was born. Its goal is to highlight independent artists from all across the globe. Mustard appreciates you taking the time out to read this interview.
Perhaps the best and only interview I've ever had from a bottle of mustard. Thank you for your questions and observations ✨