Rising Australian-Korean pop-star: Olivia Marsh
Posted on April 4, 2025
Joey Chou
Olivia is the older sister of NewJean’s Danielle Marsh. We sat down with her to talk about her first EP “Meanwhile,” released in February 2025.
Please tell us about where you grew up.
Yeah, I was born in Sydney, and then I grew up in a place called Newcastle. It’s just up from Sydney, like, a two hour drive. So I grew up there, and then I ended up moving to Korea to kind of learn the language and experience my mom’s culture for the first time. Then I lived there for like three years, and then went back to Australia and finished university, and now I’m in Korea again.
What did you study at school in Australia?
I studied music at university, but I did a course called interactive composition. So it was a bit…even like to this day, I’m like, “do I understand what my course was?” But it was sort of sound design and music for film, TV, dance, art installations. So there’s a bunch of different kind of interactive music, basically, yeah.
So, where is home to you now?
One of the songs on my EP “42” is about sort of how I grew up. Well, it’s more specifically the house I grew up in that I still kind of think of as home in a way, like obviously right now, home is wherever my family is. That’s kind of one of the reasons I moved to Korea is because most of my family were there at the time. So, yeah, home is wherever my family is. But if I was thinking of a place, then that would be what I consider home yeah.
Who are some of the artists/bands you love?
I mean, there’s so many like, I was inspired by artists that I loved as a kid, like John Denver and ABBA, and I love them to this day. Their music inspires me a lot. But I would say, like, I’ve kind of branched out as well and found more music that I love, and I really love Tame Impala and Emotional Oranges, Fear of Blue, Kendrick Lamar, like there’s so many artists that I really inspire…that inspire me.
When or what time of the day do you like to write music?
I have this little note in my phone, and it’s just called lyric bank, and I just write down things when it comes to mind. And I notice that I write a lot, like, just before I’m gonna go to bed, and I can’t sleep, and then I have to, like, record it or write it down on my phone. So I’m like, I gotta get up again. It’s like a cycle.
What is one line of lyric, either from yourself or someone you like, that means a lot to you now?
I’ll tell you what the lyrics from Graceland Too by Phoebe Bridgers, I love so much, and I think it starts out, “No longer a stranger to herself or others.” That verse, like, I don’t know if…because I haven’t, kind of dived into what she was actually meaning for it. But what that kind of whole song means to me really hit home, like: getting out the door and kind of finding your own way. That’s what it means to me, at least. I might have to kind of delve into what she, the meaning it was for her writing.
Name one song from your latest EP “Meanwhile” that relates to you now.
I’d say “Waterworks” is one that really relates to me now, because I wrote that when I was going through a very like low moment. Like everyone goes through ups and downs and have is at a low point. But writing that song really helped me get through that. And…kind of, it’s about kind of like when you’re feeling in that state, bawling your eyes out and just having a good cry. And to me personally, when I have a good cry, I feel a lot better. So yeah, if anyone who wants to have a good cry, I mean, it’s not a very sad song, that’s what it means, yeah.
Finally, if you could be a Disney princess, which one would you be?
I’ve always said that I relate to Belle the most, out of all the Disney princesses. I don’t know why though. It’s just like watching Beauty and the Beast as a kid, I always used to think, “Oh I’m Belle.” I used to think, “Oh that would be me,” out of all of them.
