成長於澳洲的 Olivia Marsh，除了本身是一位實力唱作女歌手，另一個身份亦是 NJZ 成員 Danielle Marsh 的親姊。雖然二人的成長背景一樣，歌曲風格卻迥然不同，相比起妹妹參與的團體舞曲，Olivia 的歌曲更趨向歐美風，多了一點成熟及性感，其個人作品〈Strategy〉及〈Backseat〉就是最好例子。

去年 Olivia 先後推出三首單曲，包括與童年回憶有關的作品〈42〉、心動愛情作品〈Heaven〉，以及聖誕歌〈First December with You〉。來到今年，Olivia 發佈首張個人專輯《Meanwhile》，記錄過去三年由澳洲轉戰南韓音樂圈發展的生活點滴，當中記載的都是個人所經歷的情感關係以及個人感受，她坦言這張專輯對她而言，就如一本個人日記般私密。

今年上半年，Olivia 前來香港舉辦了首次的粉絲見面會，當中她分享多首作品的創作心得。原來當初 Olivia 寫〈Waterworks〉這首歌的時候，正經歷情緒低谷，她發現讓自己痛哭一場，是療癒情緒的極佳方法，於是才有了這首歌曲的誕生。另外，〈Pina Colada〉這首歌形容的是她對周遊列國的未知及期待，當她嚐過了 Pina Colada 這款雞尾酒後，她也愛上了這款飲品帶來的滿滿度假感呢！

最近，Olivia 與香港女歌手歸綽嶢 (Nancy Kwai) 合唱了一首英文歌〈Blue roses〉，不誇張地說，兩位超仙氣歌手當晚同台合唱的畫面，為現場粉絲帶來了意想不到的高潮，二人的顏值猶如只出現於小說般不真實，令人非常期待 Olivia 在往後日子將會繼續帶來甚麼樣的合作和火花！

Editor: Meiling Heung｜Video: Mickey To｜Photo & Art: Emma Chan
Venue: TOWNPLACE 本舍

A = A Circle Magazine, O = Olivia Marsh

A: You just released your first album “Meanwhile”, why did you choose “Strategy” as your first plug song?
為甚麼選擇〈Strategy〉作為專輯《Meanwhile》裏第一首的主打歌？

O: It’s actually a bit of a funny story. We had a few contendents for the title track. I was tossing up between a lot because I am a bit an indecisive person, so a team got together and we listened to all the songs that were gonna be in the EP, and we all kind of voted for “Strategy”, so that’s how we decided on that title track.

這其實是一個有趣的故事。我們選第一首主打歌時，有好幾個選擇，我當時很掙扎，因為我是一個有選擇困難症的人，然後整個團隊湊在一起討論，由頭聽一次 EP 內的所有歌，差不多所有人都投票選了〈Strategy〉這首歌，這就是我們決定第一首主打歌的過程。

Olivia Marsh -〈Strategy〉 (Official Music Video):

A: I know that you named the album “Meanwhile” because it’s like a personal diary to you. Could you please tell us more about that?
聽說妳為這張專輯命名《Meanwhile》，是因為對妳而言，這就像一本日記，可以告訴我們更多背後的故事嗎？

O: Ya! I actually moved to Korea after finishing University, and sort of unexpectedly started songwriting and finding my way to the music industry for the first time. I was so grateful for that period of my life because even in sections, I was like “Can I be doing this for work?” because it was so much fun! These songs were all written during that period of time, and the title “Meanwhile” refers to sort of things that were happening in the background, such as relationship I was in or emotions during that time, so this EP is very personal to me.

是的，我完成了大學後，就去了韓國發展。出乎意料地，我開始了歌曲創作，也加入了音樂行業，我對於那段時期遇到的事很感恩，即使在等待期間，我也在想：「我可以將音樂當作我的事業嗎？」因為實在太有趣了！所以這些歌曲都是在那段時期寫的，而專輯名稱《Meanwhile》指的是那段時期所發生的事，例如我當時投入的關係、當時經歷的情緒⋯⋯ 所以這張 EP 對我來說是很私密的。

A: While in the creation and production processes of making a song or album, how much are you involved? Does your label MPLIFY gives you quite a lot of creative freedom?
妳在專輯製作上，參與程度有幾多？唱片公司給予的創作自由度多嗎？

O: In regard to this EP and the creation of all these songs, I was actually in the section and writing with the producers. For the first time, I got the experience of being able to song-write, and got into the music industry in Korea, which is incredible. We all got together, and I had like a massive file of all the songs and demos I’ve ever written. We ended up just picking out of those ones for this EP. I am very grateful to my amazing team for giving me the freedom to be able to choose which songs I wanted to release. I love getting so much advice from people, but I also love to kind of think about what kind of concept and stuff like that I want on my own too.

關於這張 EP 和所有歌曲的製作，我其實是和監製一起參與創作的，這是我人生第一次有參與寫歌的經驗，而且亦投入了韓國的音樂市場，太不可思議了！我擁有一個檔案，儲存了所有由我親自寫的歌曲，最後我們在裏面挑選了幾首歌放在今次的 EP 內。我很感謝我的團隊，給予了我自由度去選擇想發佈的歌曲，我很喜歡收集不同人的意見，同時也很喜歡構思整張專輯的方向和概念。

A: When it comes to music, who are your inspirations?
在音樂上，誰是妳的偶像？

O: There are so many… but if I had to choose out of artistes that I love listening to, I’d say Emotional Oranges, Tame Impala, John Denver. But I also love listening to other genres as well, like Kendrick Lamar and Skrillex. It’s very collected and all over the place. My playlist is so weird and mashup.

有很多呢！但如果我必須從眾多喜愛的歌手中挑選的話，我會選 Emotional Oranges、Tame Impala、John Denver，但我也很喜歡聽其他類型的歌曲，就好像 Kendrick Lamar 和 Skrillex。我的口味混集了很多不同類型的音樂，所以我的播放清單是很奇怪和混搭的。

A: So far all of your songs were written in English, would you consider releasing a Korean song in the future?
目前妳的歌曲都是英文歌，將來會考慮推出韓文歌嗎？

O: I would love to release a song in Korean! I feel like the reason that all these songs were in English in my EP is because they were just naturally the lyrics when I was writing the demos. At this point in time, I feel more comfortable singing in English. It comes a bit more naturally cos it was my first language that I ever learned, but I would love to release a song in Korean in the future. If the opportunity arises.

我很想推出一首韓文歌呢！我 EP 內所有歌都是用英文寫是因為⋯⋯ 我寫 demo 的時候很自然地就用了英文，目前我唱英文會比較舒服，唱起來也比較自然，因為英文是我第一種學習的語言，但我很希望將來可以推出一首韓文歌，如果有機會的話。

A: Besides singing, what are your hobbies?
妳除了唱歌，還有甚麼興趣？

O: I feel like all of my hobbies are related to visual arts. At the moment, I love ceramics, making bowls… things out of clay. I also one point love woodwork. And whenever I get the chance, I love to paint wood in colors as well.

我覺得我所有的興趣都與視覺藝術有關，目前我喜愛製作陶瓷，用黏土製作碗器，我也有陣子很喜歡木工，當我有時間，我也很愛為木材油上顏色。

A: Where do you see yourself when you are 42?
妳認為自己 42 歲的時候會過得如何？

O: I actually have no idea. I am not the type to kind of plan that far ahead. I kind of think about in a week schedule. Haha! What am I going to do in that week or on that day? But hopefully, I am still doing music cos I love it so much. The thing is, I know what I am going to do when I am 70 or 80, but 42… I am not sure. See where it takes me!

我其實從來沒有想過呢！我並不是那種會作長遠打算的人，我通常只安排一週內的進度表，例如在那個星期或那一天，做甚麼好呢？但我希望，到時候仍然在從事音樂吧！因為我太熱愛了！有趣的是，我知道自己 70、80 歲的時候要做甚麼，但是 42 歲⋯ ⋯ 我不確定，看看命運有哪些安排吧！

A: Would you like to talk about the song “Blue roses” which you got featured in?
可以聊一下妳有份參與的歌曲〈Blue roses〉嗎？

O: For “Blue roses”, I was so honored to collaborate with Nancy Kwai. I actually met her for the first time at the fan meet-up. It was lovely meeting her in person!

關於〈Blue roses〉這首歌，我很榮幸與 Nancy Kwai 一起合作，我在今次來港的粉絲見面會中，第一次與她會面，我很高興終於與她本人見面呢！

完整專訪影片：