Interview with Sunset Olive.
Interviewed by: Sarah Evangelista
Hailing from London, soul pop duo Sunset Olive recently released their debut single, “Love Me More” via TikTok’s SoundOn platform. Jihea Oh and Fiaa Hamilton formed this group in university, and have found incredible ways to merge their favourite musical styles in their music.
“Love Me More” was released recently, and it’s your debut release! How has the release been so far?
It’s been incredible, the fact we have music out means everything! The support from the BBC Introducing team has been surreal! We are proud of finally releasing one of our musical creations and it has completely felt like team work and with your best friend! What more could we ask for?
Sunset Olive was formed while you both were in university. How have you both grown as a duo since then?
We have grown in so many different ways and developed our band completely. When we met at university we became friends helping each other out of a dark place; we were both experiencing heartache and that’s why we started songwriting together, but something was really special and we really felt that being a band could help others to heal their hearts and find positive times even when it’s tough. We have written lots of songs since then and learnt a lot about ourselves individually and together. We are very kind to each other’s needs and although we are incredibly different, we listen to each other and embrace the fact that we see things from different eyes which can make things even more beautiful. We have definitely learnt to Love ourselves more ;) and we are just starting off with the announcement of Sunset Olive but we are loving every moment.
You both merge your favourite genres in your music perfectly. What’s your creative process like?
It’s patient, it’s kind and it’s deep! We love a lot of the same genres like Motown, Soul, Pop, but we bring completely different things to the table when we are writing. Jihea is amazing at chords and she loves focusing on the production elements; whereas I (Fiaa) love coming up with vocal melodies. We then match our own ideas to each other’s ideas. When it comes to lyrics and concepts, we are completely in our feels together, we never ever want to write about anything that is pointless, and so all of our songs have true, raw meanings we hope can help people.
What gravitated you to picking “Love Me More” as your debut release?
It was the first song that we wrote when we actually started to smile and not cry! we were both going through a break up and some days were really tough, but writing really helped to heal our heart and “Love Me More” was a moment of pure fun and happiness, we were singing this song from a place of empowerment and we wanted to come in with that as an entry. Jungleboi had jumped on production for this track and it really felt like the song that was the best to lead with.
Who are your favourite artists/bands right now?
Silk Sonic and Beyonce, we are totally in love with their vibes - so much so that we used our hard-earned pennies to travel across the world to Las Vegas to watch the icons that are Silk Sonic live! It was a night to remember, we love the vintage feel and we love the soul and inspiration that Beyonce leads.
Connect with Sunset Olive: Instagram