Meet Olivia Knox

Today we’d like to introduce you to Olivia Knox.

Hi Olivia, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My life completely changed these past 2 years. Feels like I was just graduating High School in Bend Oregon with nothing but a big dream to make it in music, and now I’m a full time professional songwriter/artist living in LA. I was in love with music growing up, it’s all I did. I was constantly singing and writing songs, I’ve known for a long time that music was my path in life. I was inspired to make music through my Dad, who is a music college professor and opera singer. He taught me how special music is, and how lucky musicians are to have music as their career. My artist career truly started at the start of the pandemic in 2020. Like everyone else, I downloaded TikTok because I was bored and started posting singing videos and crazy enough overnight I gained 50K followers from a viral duet video I did with Charlie Puth. This video changed my life. I then started getting recognized from my duet videos and was also on the Today Show with Andy Grammer in a duet feature. It was the most amazing feeling to finally have a platform and followers that wanted to hear my songwriting. After my big TikTok moment, I went to Azusa Pacific University to study music. While at Azusa, I would travel to Hollywood to work with new writers and producers every week while studying. I used all my time taking the train to LA, going to classes and making video content, it was a very busy couple of months. Then January 1, 2021 my song GORGEOUS blew up on TikTok overnight. This song took my artist career to the next level. People used my song to say positive affirmations to themselves as a way to start the new year. This song, almost a year later is almost at 6 Million streams and has been added to over 80,000 playlists. After this song took off I signed a publishing deal under Jaime Zeluck Hindlin with Livelihood Publishing/Nonstop management. After signing I bought out a development deal and released my debut project Smoke Signal.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
It has definitely been a crazy road. One of the biggest struggles I’ve had has probably been taking the train in LA. I didn’t have a car when I moved to college and still don’t after buying out a development deal I signed at 18. I’ve been using the metro/ bus system in LA for a little over a year now and it has been a true challenge. Having to travel to and from writes can be very exhausting. I know it’s all going to be worth it, but for now the bus is the best way for me to get around. Another struggle I had was probably dropping out of college. I ended up couch surfing for a couple of months before finding a place to live. Although it was a very uncertain time for me I have amazing friends in LA who have taken great care of me, especially my people at Nonstop management. It’s because of Jaime and the wonderful people at Nonstop that I’m able to be where I am today. I’ve also struggled with getting vocal nodules right before moving to LA. I honestly didn’t know if I was gonna be able to sound like myself again. I didn’t sing for about 4 months during my last year in high school. At the time, it felt very overwhelming and earth-shattering, but now I sing every day for hours and am fully healed.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My music has a very bubbly, bright, magical sound. I make pop music but also write lots of different genres for other artists. One thing I love about what I do is that I get to create lots of different types of songs. One day I’ll be writing for a TV sync project, and the next, I’ll be singing an alternative R&B song for another artist. I love what I do and feel very lucky to be able to create at this type of level. What I’m truly excited for is my debut EP which released December 2, 2022. All these songs talk about all the ups and downs this past year. I’m excited to see how it does and also just happy to finally have more music out there.

Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
If I had any advice for anyone starting out it would be to know yourself before you put yourself out there (especially on the internet). Social media, marketing, and the music industry can be very toxic if you try to be like everyone else. Knowing who you are and your beliefs as a musician and as a person can help bring in the right type of people for your team. And also, I know this is cheesy but mistakes are not defining. The whole point of going after your dreams is to try. And sometimes, trying something might mean you’ll fail the first time. Or even the next three times! But if you know yourself and know your worth, you’ll know those times that didn’t go so well do not define you. What defines you is your drive to keep going forward and the way that you treat people around you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/oliviaknoxofficial
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/oliviaknoxmusic?utm_medium=copy_link
• Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UC44UqyYPoZBa0g0RuvDe5-A
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@oliviaknoxofficial?lang=

Image Credits
Anna Azarov Joshua Mannila
GORGEOUS