It’s not every day that you are approached by someone and asked if you’d be prepared to premiere their new track on your website, I’ll be honest, it’s only happened a few times in the 13 years that musomuso has been in existence but when it happens, it makes you think that you’re doing something right!

The artist in question here is Ollie Dixon and the track is ‘Islands’ which is released today, 14th January 2022.

To save me having to bang on about how good the track is, you’ll find a detailed Q&A below that I did with Ollie a couple of weeks back which you can read through at your leisure, I’d get a beer or a nice cup of tea and get comfy as we cover a lot of ground!

So, without further ado, here is Ollie Dixon’s brand new track ‘Islands’.

Q&A with Ollie Dixon discussing ‘Islands’

Your new track Islands took you a year to write, why so long? How did you know that you were finally happy with it?

Musically it only took a few months, 4 or 5 to get it exactly how we wanted it to sound with all the added extras and dialling in effects. Covid lockdowns, member issues and a lot of let downs that Lee and I had to deal with meant that it took a fair bit longer, but lyrically, it took about a year or so.

Even up to the day of recording vocals, I re-wrote the first lines of each verse and added things in. I just fought with the whole song every day, it was as if it didn't want to be written because everything I wrote just didn't seem to fit, make sense or just sounded dreadful. It wasn't until I had finished the chorus that things started to take place, then slowly, after sitting down with it for a few hours each day, each line started to come to life a bit more and then it was done.

Although I still change the lyrics when we perform it live because I've thought of a better line but It is what it is.

We both love the track and how it’s sounding now, so that's all that matters.

Did you suffer from writer's block and if so, how did you manage to work through it?

I had really bad writers block this time around, probably because of the pandemic and lockdowns which really took their toll on us. I think writer's block is like a musical depression. It can really affect the way you think about yourself and your work but as long as you write something, even if it’s bad (or slightly less bad), you're still writing so technically there is no “block” but with this track and the whole EP, I had the worst writers block i've ever encountered. I put it down to the last two years and my surroundings but once I finished these songs it was like a weight had been lifted because I can never move on to something new if my current project isn't finished. 

I had a system of writing in a book of blank pages. I Hate lined pages, just writing whatever I could think of. Then when I couldn't write anymore, I would load up Google Docs and type up everything I'd written in sections, dissect each line, highlight parts I liked and then try and piece it all together. Once, I had some kind of foundation I then worked around them until I could see how the song wanted to flow and what direction it needed to take.

I'm a huge perfectionist and lyrics are the most important thing to me, I hate songs with bland, simple, straight to the point lyrics, to me, it feels like no effort has been made to make it interesting for the listener, to question what they have just heard and search for a deeper meaning in the song. By no means do I think I'm a great songwriter but I like to think I put enough effort into the lyrics to make people really think about things a bit more.

You obviously approached the song-writing process differently this time around, why did you alter your approach?

As this was the first time I'd written with someone else, I did find it strange to start with, but Lee is just a legend with what he creates and brings to our sessions. We came up with a ‘back and forth’ system. We’d have a practice / writing session, I'd create a demo and send it over, Lee would record his parts with extra ideas and then send it back to me to critique it and repeat the process over again with my part. Then, when it came to our practice we’d go through each part we liked to see what really felt good and from there the song just grew into what it is today. We repeated this approach for every song on the EP and it worked really well. 

This was the first track that you wrote with your new partner in crime Lee Croad, how did it go?

It was great to have worked with Lee, he comes from a different background and is into different genres of music which means he has tons of ideas and formations that I would have never thought of on my own. When we wrote, there was very chilled vibe in the air, we’d try so many things for the song with a variety of different pedals and effects and for once I never stressed or worried about the music because it just formed organically. Lee has no ego about him, he genuinely loves what he does and he's dedicated to it. We push each other constantly to do better, create incredible music and generally do the very best that we can and I think it really shows this time around. 

When did you meet Lee and how did you get him involved?

Lee works at Project Music in Exeter. I’d been a customer of theirs for many years and they have looked after me and helped me out constantly, they're honestly the best music shop in Devon. 

So I knew Lee from there, we’d become good friends over the years and we’d talk about music and pedals/guitars etc. When I'd go in, he’d help me with all my gear and at the end of the first lockdown, I suggested that we get together to jam some ideas out because I was stuck in a bit of a rut with writing new songs. It soon evolved from jamming to Lee becoming a permanent member, with us writing a whole EP, playing festivals and shows (what was left of them) through 2021 and now we’re thinking of expanding the band even further.. So even though it’s still my name, we’re actually a band and Lee is a vital part of it and I'm stoked to have him on board.

You mentioned before that you found it hard to ‘let people in’, how did you overcome this?

I have ‘serious trust issues’ with people being around me with my music. I've been let down so many times and screwed over by musicians that I found it hard to work with people and trust them at all.. 

I also found it hard to explain what I wanted my sound to be like, I could ‘hear’ what I wanted, but couldn't get it across without feeling like I was going to offend someone so I just got used to doing it myself.

Working with Lee and some other musicians I'm lucky to call friends showed me that not everyne is cut from the same cloth. Some people want to ‘take, take, take’ whilst others love what they do and really want to help other musicians out. These people are very few and far between these days but they're the best people to be around and I'm only now being able to share things with others knowing that they care so much about it and vice versa. I think it comes down to surrounding yourself with like-minded people that help you to be the best you can be.

What does Lee bring to the writing process? Similar tastes?

Mainly banter and insults with a dash of reverb and a hint of delay! joking aside, Lee see’s songs in a different perspective than I do.. He’s obsessed with ambient, atmospheric, post-rock and is always thinking of layers, (sonically speaking).

He wrote a few parts in the bridge of ‘Islands’ and would be like, “I'm just going to try this”, and completely go off on something creating the wall of sound which i was all for and in turn, removed my writer's block and inspired me to do something else.

We bounce off each other really well, if something didn't sound right, then no one was afraid to say it, if we had a new idea even though we finalised something we’d just do it because it was normally a better idea. At the end of the day we wanted to make ‘Islands’ the best track we could, so there wasn’t any time for bullshit egos in the room!

We have a shared affection for some bands but have different tastes at the same time, so putting all these ideas and genres together was literally the best thing that happened to me musically for years and I couldn't go ahead without writing with Lee. We have a great system going, he's a great friend and bandmate and we have some exciting things planned for the future.

Is Islands a standalone track or is it part of an EP? If so, when will it be released?

We’re hoping to release a few more singles after ‘Islands’ just before the EP comes out, but on top of that we have started the writing process of the next batch of songs for late 2022. I won’t say too much because nothing is set in stone as of yet but we have a lot of things in the works!

You shot a music video for ‘Islands’, tell me where it was filmed and who stars in it

We spent a day in North Devon, filming in a few different locations throughout the day. I love North Devon so it was the perfect fit for the video. Ive never done something like this for my music before, this time we really tried to step everything up content wise. So we planned everything out, I knew certain shots I wanted and everything turned out perfectly. Although filming a video in a busy part of the country post pandemic was a challenge, Abbie (Barton) nailed every shot and we’re so proud of it. 

I didn't like the idea of me being in a music video so I asked a good friend and musician, Taylor Latham to be the main character. He did such an amazing job considering he hasn't done that type of thing before and I'm really grateful he stepped up to the plate to take on the job! We had him doing the same shots over and over. The poor guy ended up walking miles by the end of it, through water, waves, trees, mud, fields, All over the place.

What I loved was the concept of a short film, a bit like my views on lyrics, I think people should really invest in quality music videos that grab and engage with the viewer and that's what we wanted from ‘Islands’.

Some of my favourite music videos have me watching them from start to finish because of the scenery, the edits, background things. I love quality and it’s clear that Abbie does too.

Tell me a bit about the video and the message that you’re trying to get across to people with it

We had this idea of a chair in the ocean (as a metaphor) , getting deeper into the water then far out of it, to represent the length of time. ‘Islands’ is the realisation that everyone is searching for something, whether it be a meaning, love, life, something more, whatever. We all do it and sometimes with no direction, not knowing what it is, sometimes it's right in front of us but not within our grasp, "in the search for something and it's too far out"   

It follows the main character through this journey to "find" whatever it is he's searching for (the metaphorical chair) and once found, you're in the moment being caught up in what's going on, embracing the presence, then moving on to the next thing.

With the chair, you see it in different depths of the tide, indicating the length of time he's been on the road, walking. Constantly checking the map. Ending with that arrival of what you believe is “it”, the thing you've searched for and you're in this moment of stillness, living in the present moment, the here and now if you will.

With the waves engulfing him as he just sits.. Only to get up , leave the “chair”, turn around, moving on to the next. But i'd love people to just interpret it how they like, If it means something different to them, then that's all I can ask, even if they just like the footage, the scenery, the location, then that's even better.

Who did you use to create the video? (please include links to Abbie’s socials etc)

Abbie Barton created the whole thing, she took creative control and directed, filmed, edited and produced everything you see. I just put forward a few shots I like but she's the brains behind it all. She filmed everything in one day with just one camera. She wanted to prove that you can do things on a budget without expensive equipment and make it look professional. She does all of my media work, promotional, photography, videos.

Everything is done by her and she does an incredible job every time. I'm truly lucky that she’s been able to do all of this for us. 

She’s worked with venues (BBC studios / O2 Academys) all over the world with the likes of Nathaniel Rateliff, John Butler trio, Xavier Rudd, a lot of UK artists such as Frank Turner, Catfish & The Bottlemen, Bear’s Den and so many others and South West artists too like Harbottle and Jonas, Velvet & Stone, Kaizens, the local list is endless being where we are based and the creator of the Runaway sessions. So if you need photos, videos, or promotional material, Abbie Barton is THE person to go to.

Website / Instagram / Facebook

I hear that you have also filmed some live sessions for the tracks on the forthcoming EP, when will these be available to watch?

We decided to film a live session for each track which will be released from the Islands EP.

In theory, each session will be released a week or two after each single. We decided to re-film the final track of the EP because we wrote a better ending so this session will be released later on but the others will be out around the same time as the singles.

Where did you film the live session tracks? Why here?

We wanted to make it a bit special, so rather than going to a studio to film and record it all we wanted something a bit different. On the search for a rustic looking room we found the Old Hatherleigh School House literally across from Lee’s place where we recorded all the demos in his cupboard sandwiched between 2 mattresses. Sounds odd but it worked a treat though!

So we got in contact with them and they said we could use the space, it transpired that in the 280 years the place has ben standing, nothing like this has ever been done there so that’s nice to think that we were the first people to record music in the Old School House. We set up early , Lee had a cold (probably Covid - so we adequately distanced) and we added plants, lights, crates, and a huge rug. I drew it all out on a bit of paper beforehand so we created exactly what I imagined.

Again, Abbie Barton filmed and edited all of these sessions.

The audio was recorded by Brazen Studio and mixed by myself. We had some issues with the audio in post-production but we liked what we heard and didn’t want to delete it all so we made the best of the situation! Overall it came out really well considering we haven't done anything like it before.

Any plans for live shows/festivals in 2022?

We have so many things planned for 2022, I'm not sure what I can and can’t say but we’ve already been asked to return to Between The Trees festival in Wales which, hands down, is the best festival I have ever played and attended. I can't describe how amazing it was to play there and it’s organised by the most incredible team. So we’re very stoked for that because we’ll have a full band for that show. There’s a lot of new and newer music planned out, festivals, shows / tours and support slots for bigger bands which we can’t wait for but we’ll see what the year holds for us. I’m not getting my hopes up just yet, at least until we’re in the clear of that pesky Covid thingy!

Ollie mentioned that there is a live session video for Islands which will be available from January 28th, in the meantime, here is a sneaky peek of the video for Islands, you can see the whole video from January 21st. - Check his Instagram page for more on these.

You’ll have to wait until mid-February for the next track from the EP (St Agnes). Once all 4 tracks have been released, the ‘Islands’ EP will be available to purchase on Limited Edition CD and Vinyl as well as Digital Download, more details will be made available once the pre-order service is available.

We’d like to thank Ollie for chatting to us, we wish him and the band the very best for the future and hope to catch up with him again in the Summer at one of the many festivals that he’ll be attending either as a solo musician or accompanied by his band.

In the meantime, please check out the following social sites where you can hear all of his music, look at his photographs and keep an eye on whats happening in his life.

Socials

Linktr.ee

Instagram

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YouTube

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