O2 is the debut EP from Melbourne-based pop rock artist Kevin Silvester – a collection of eight songs founded in messy emotions and raw honesty.
The EP title is a reference to the chemical formula for oxygen. “Songwriting became a survival instinct like breathing oxygen,” Silvester explains. But it’s also a nod to 2002, the year of Silvester’s birth and his favourite era for pop and rock music.
“That era of pop taught me you can be a high-sheen pop star and still make music that’s raw, emotional and unapologetic,” he says.
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Silvester considers Avril Lavigne, Britney Spears and Slipknot as core influences, taking note of Lavigne’s attitude, Spears’ performance style and star power, and Slipknot’s intensity and rawness.
“I feel like I’m the three-way love child of Avril Lavigne, Britney Spears and Slipknot,” he says. “Avril showed me it’s OK to be messy and angsty; Britney brought the polish, performance and visuals; and Slipknot, even though they’re not pop, showed me the power of intensity and emotional release.”
Across the eight songs on O2, Silvester strives to blend these elements into a style of glossy pop music that’s delivered with “a rebellious edge and real emotional weight,” he says.
The record includes the singles I THINK I NEED THERAPY!, DELULU, STRANGER, ORBIT and BAD OMEN, all of which have received triple j airplay. The pop-punk DELULU is Silvester’s favourite track to play live, while I THINK I NEED THERAPY! stems from a time when Silvester desperately wanted to see a psychologist but couldn’t afford the session fees.
He told himself he’d just have to wait until he’d achieved fame and wealth. But in the interim, he says, “I was casually self-sabotaging and had no idea what I was doing with my life.”
So, how did he deal with it? By writing I THINK I NEED THERAPY!: a “pop-punk banger making fun of my own emotional spiral.”
The highly charged circumstances that birthed I THINK I NEED THERAPY! are an example of Silvester’s tendency to write songs when he’s consumed by strong emotions, be they positive or negative.
“Most of the time, I write when I’m feeling something really strongly, whether it’s heartbreak, frustration, or something more joyful,” he says. “My ideas usually come from a place of catharsis, like something I need to release.”
Making music has become second nature for Silvester, who learned his first chords before he could even spell his own name. “I started playing piano at four, and later picked up cello, drums, and guitar during high school,” he says.
Silvester always knew he’d go on to make music of his own, he says. “Every song I heard, music video I watched and concert I went to only deepened my belief that one day I’d be on stage too, creating art that inspires others. Any other career I considered growing up always felt like a back-up plan to music.”
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Only recently, however, did Silvester gain the confidence to front his own project. In the meantime, he’d been writing songs for artists like Kitty Rae, Kaiyah Mercedes and Julie Zorrilla.
“I didn’t feel confident enough to sing and be my own artist, so I focused on producing and writing songs for others,” he explains. “Over the years, the songs I was writing became increasingly personal, and it just didn’t feel right for anyone else to sing them.”
The songs on O2 certainly are personal: BAD OMEN relates to some ill-fated friendships, while ORBIT – Silvester’s “favourite song [he’s] ever written” – is about being messed around by someone “tangled in their own internalised homophobia.”
“I’ve received so many messages about ORBIT,” Silvester says. “It tells a heartbreaking queer story. People have said they deeply relate to it and are grateful that I’m sharing my experience.”
Indeed – despite the intimately personal nature of Silvester’s songwriting, his music has struck a chord with listeners.
“The response has been overwhelmingly positive, and honestly, surreal,” he says. “Knowing that people are connecting with and screaming along to songs I held onto for so long is incredibly moving, especially after spending years in the industry since starting out as a producer and songwriter at 15.”
O2 comes out on July 4, and Silvester is feeling nothing but confidence. “I’m finally ready to unapologetically own my artistry,” he says.
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