An epic journey begins!

Hey everyone, Brendan the blind guy here! today i’ve got the distinct pleasure of introducing the promising new indie-pop sensation from Melbourne, Odyssey S and their emotive debut single, ‘Even When We Let It Go’!

Brendan; How are you Odyssey S?

Odyssey S; I’m great thanks! Keeping busy which is good.

Brendan; First of all, I've gotta ask, where does the name Odyssey S come from? it’s rather cryptic and intriguing! 

Odyssey S; Haha, well Odyssey’s definition is “an epic journey”, which I love and which accurately describes my life so far. It’s also quite gender-neutral in how it sounds as a name so it was the natural choice. “S”, on the other hand is the first letter of my last name!

Brendan; Unlike the crypticness of your funky stage name, your new single. ‘Even When We Let It Go’ which dropped recently, is apparently a simple idea rid of cryptic metaphors and production, resulting in a smooth, emotive indie-pop dream-state that’s easily relatable. apparently it’s as much about personal growth as finding the right person to build a relationship with.

Odyssey S; It is definitely about personal growth! It’s about having the maturity to wait for the right timing and fighting for it when it’s right. It is also just as much about having the strength to let go of something you love when it’s not right, as it is about returning to that love when it IS right.
Brendan; So tell us about the story/inspiration behind this track, the seed in which the song blossomed from if you will?

Odyssey S; Basically, I woke up one morning, drunk in love with a partner who I had recently repaired ties and gotten back together with after a long time apart. It was sunny, I had two texts from him saying he loved me and hoped I was having a good morning, and I felt the overwhelming urge to write about our experience getting back together and how I felt about it. I picked my chords on my guitar, changed the key with a capo and the song and came up with the hook “you’re the one for me, I know”, which turned into a full song within about 15 minutes.

Brendan; Apparently this song started as a musically simple four-chord song on guitar, before the song quickly flourished into the end result with help from producer Stuart Le Brander. so tell us what the sound was that you envisioned, and how Stuart’s input helped grow it?

Odyssey S; It did! The acoustic arrangement was just one guitar and my voice, but I imagined a big beat, layered vocals and some electronic influences – a real alt-pop lovey dovey dream state.  Stuart really brought that to life by first asking me for some song influence references we could use for sound design. He then had the great idea of recording me doing random vocal runs until we found some we loved, then pitching them up and down octaves and adding effects. We found an amazing 808 bass preset to use for the chorus, added our beat layer by layer, added synth stabs and added some vinyl crackle.
The real key though was Stuart’s mix, his use of reverbs and delays, distortion and compression really glued the dreaminess together and brought the vision to life!

Brendan; Looking forward to new tracks to come (i’m guessing there will be?). Do these upcoming tracks follow a similar writing style as ‘Even When We Let It Go’ both musically and lyrically, or do they branch off a bit, traversing new musical terrains? 

Odyssey S; There are DEFINITELY more tracks to come, and soon. I won’t get too specific but they definitely explore other influences and take elements from other musical terrains!

Brendan; Just like discovering and building a relationship in which love prospers, the start of one’s musical journey is special too. what started your musical passion and set you on this journey?

Odyssey S; Wow, huge question alert!
As a kid and teenager I studied ballet and dance full time. We used to have live pianists in our classes, which really sparked my interest in music. I fell in love with music over my time at that school. At 16, my dance career came to an end due to illness and I found myself with a gaping hole in my life. That’s when I picked up guitar for the first time and started singing lessons. By 20 I had picked up piano as well, and decided to go to music school to get a degree, and really hone in my craft. That’s when I really discovered and fell in love with pop songwriting.

Brendan; Being the start of your musical career, the world is your oyster, and you can shape your musical persona and performance any way you wish. on the other hand though, one typically doesn’t start their musical with a small fortune, so resources in which to craft an extravagant performance is generally limited. how will your musical be delivered on a live stage in both musical authenticity to the recordings, and charismatically?

Odyssey S; I am currently producing a live set in Ableton Live, involving some backing track clips, playable synths and samples on MIDI controllers, adjustable effects, live guitarists and pianists. With this team and this set-up, I am hopfeul we will be able to deliver a live show that will sonically match the recording(s), and will also be interactive for the audience, with live performance of electronic sounds, guitars, vocals and synths

Brendan; Right, now i reckon it’s time we get exclusive Odyssey, just me and you… and all our readers. so, what is an exclusive fun fact about yourself?Odyssey S; When I was 11, I went through the audition process for, and was very nearly in Australia's production of Billy Elliot, The Musical. Also I'm not allowed to eat cheese or ice-cream but I do anyway!

Brendan; And finally, that’s right people, it’s WTF time! so Odyssey, i know your musical career is still young, but has there been any hilarious, priceless WTF moments on your musical journey so far

Odyssey S; A few years ago I was working on a demo production with another artist. They burped while recording their vocals and after the biggest laughing fit, I decided to sample the burp and turn it into a bass synth. It actually sounded really cool and we kept it!!

Brendan; Thank you so much Odyssey! we’ll be keeping a keen eye on your career as it progresses and hopefully we can catch up again soon

Odyssey S; Thank you so much! It was lovely talking to you!