“I’m flying tonight,” she says in her relaxed, unmistakably husky drawl. “I’ve been packing a little bit. But it’s real chill. I’m just taking a beer now, just down the road from where I live. I bumped into a few friends down here. That’s the great thing about a late flight, you can hang out all day and smoke ganja and get drunk. It’s no stress.”
That said, it isn’t always so easygoing in Olovsdotter’s world. Since the release of her opus, a kitsch, glittery, club and hip hop influenced record called Living Life Golden that dropped earlier this year, things have gotten pretty crazy. She’s a relentless tourer, a musician with an insatiable appetite for the road, and promoting the record has taken her around the world.
“It does get very tiring,” Olovsdotter says. “I never thought I’d get tired of it in the beginning, but it does start to get to that point.” She pauses; reflects. “Now I’m enjoying it – I had a break from touring for about two months, so now I’m excited about it again. Also, I don’t see the people I tour with – the people I know through work and through music – when I’m not touring. So I miss them – they’re like family. It’s lovely to hang out with them again.”
Indeed, Olovsdotter is well-known for her collaborations, and she surrounds herself with musicians that she trusts and admires. Her recent record touted a multitude of guest spots, with everyone from Skrillex to Diplo making appearances, and she has a history of sharing the stage with friends, embarking on multiple co-headline tours.
But Olovsdotter admits that it wasn’t always that way, and it took her a while to cultivate her musical family. “[Music] is about being super loyal,” she says. “I’m very happy and very confident with that now. When I started, I didn’t have very many music friends – I was signed very early by a booking agent that provided me with all these people. And [those] people would never cross my mouth without me having to do music with them.
“So that’s the success. Whatever will happen with this project and wherever it’s going, at least that has happened: I have met a couple of amazing guys. I have a company that keeps them [with me]. We have fun together, out in the world. That’s something that I’m always going to hold so dear to my heart.”
Ultimately, Olovsdotter seems unmistakably proud of the place that life has led her to. “For me, how I view my life is as a big success,” she says. “You’ve always got to keep a very good balance between things and make sure you open up and keep in mind that people can learn so much. And just remember, if you feel safe with people. You can’t buy that for money.”
Perhaps such an extensive support network is unsurprising. After all, the Elliphant brand is a commercially successful enterprise – Living Life Golden topped charts both here and in the US – and has proven to be a machine that always needs to be oiled by a host of assistants, friends and colleagues. “For me, it’s almost like I’m a little bit lost without them,” Olovsdotter says. “There’s a lot that they do that I don’t see. In particular my tour manager, I don’t even know if I could do anything without him. I’m like a baby. He’s made me a baby. You’re so exposed, you’re all over the world.”
When it comes to touring, Olovsdotter is constantly trying to balance the fun she has on the road and the requirements she has to meet. But it’s also very obvious that playing music is yet to become a ‘job’ in her mind. “It does come to that point where you’re like, ‘Oh fuck, I can’t go out and party six days a week, I need to learn how to balance stuff a little bit,’ ” she says. “That’s been really hard for me. I don’t feel like I do music professionally yet. It’s like all my years when I was travelling as a backpacker. I’m still so excited. Every show is like coming to a party with my friends who have come to see me. I can never get professional about that.”
By Joseph Earp
