Ota Brown Interview | Love, heartache and ‘Windows’
June 24 | Written By Gemma West
Candid, creative and effortlessly funny, we interviewed Ota Brown on her new music, moving to the UK and how she put ‘Windows’ together.
It has to be said that ‘Windows’ is just absolutely spellbounding. It’s not often that you listen to new music, or discover a new artist, and find yourself in complete awe of how incredible what you’re hearing is… but it really does have that impact… the feeling that you’re listening to a future old school classic. With cadences of beautiful imagery emulated both sonically and lyrically, complimenting an amalgamation of incredibly talented artists and musicians, slotting together to share an emotive story as if they were perfectly fitting pieces of a puzzle. Very much *chefs kiss*. A marriage of influences from her Spanish culture, exposure to Jazz and Soul growing up, and introduction to Brit pop and R&B living in the UK are rife throughout the EP, weaving together to curate a truly unique sound. For the best read, I’d suggest popping on a pair of headphones for fifteen minutes and giving the whole EP a listen first, before coming back to this to discover how magic is made.
So let's start with the title. You've called it ‘Windows’. I’m imagining the mirroring of the four panes of glass, the four seasons of change which are addressed in the EP.. and of course the 4 songs themselves. So, what inspired the title, ‘Windows’?
It’s actually a bit random..I had the idea of the window being kind of like a metaphor for me, in terms of the fact that you can look out from a window from your own space into the world, and then you can also kind of look into someone else’s space, which is a weird metaphor for me. And then since I moved to Liverpool, I've been like seeing cats on windows, and cats have a big meaning for me. So since the whole kind of EP was very, like, personal and as you say, it's kind of four different stages of my life… they all kind of relate to this idea of people seeing me.
I have an idea of what the songs are relating to and represent… but what is that story of the four songs to you?
So for me, they're in two or three different blocks. With ‘Daydream’ and ‘Overwhelmed’, they were both written within maybe a month of each other, and they talk about an experience that I had with someone, where at the beginning.. I just felt “Oh my God, this is like soooo good and it seems so good, but I'm not sure.” So “please don't wake me up…don't let it be a Daydream.” And then ‘Overwhelmed’... whilst everyone thinks that that song is about being overwhelmed…in actual fact it's the opposite. When that situation kind of ended and I got surprised by the fact that I wasn't feeling all of the feelings that I normally do…because I, you know, I have kind of a very deep way of feeling in general. I was surprised. And then ‘Self’ on the other hand...it's kind of like, maybe not a diss track, but it's more of the angry parts of romantic life. Then ‘Ideal’ is a bit like ‘Daydreaming’... however it has a much deeper meaning for me, especially because the ending is in Spanish and I wrote it from the point of view of my dog..which is a bit random. The ending is sort of like, ‘ohh, I don't know when you're leaving or when you’ll come back’… and it’s a little bit of a letter to the people at home, but written from their perspective. And I was thinking of my dog when I did it, so I added it to that song.
Even though I can't speak a word of Spanish, you still really tap into that beautiful aspect of music... that it can be in whatever language and the emotive aspect surpasses the need to understand exactly what you're saying. So why did you decide to have the last part of your song in Spanish, and as a second part, why did you decide to perform it live?
Well, they're all in the order that I wrote them in… but we just kind of placed into the storyline a little bit of the different experiences… but it's still remained as, kind of my development during about a year. So, with ‘Ideal’, I only wrote the English part first, and I wasn't sure of the order of songs as it was written… mainly because I didn't know I was gonna do the EP. And then I ended up writing the Spanish part, which I composed with the band, because I didn't know how to adapt the lyrics I had written with the music that we were playing. So, it felt like a very… kind of band song for me, that reminds me a lot of them… because we all composed it together in a way. I do feel like the fact that it closes the whole EP and it's in Spanish, and it's the song that reminds me of the band… it just made sense for me.
And then the live thing…I've really wanted to have a live version of one of my songs…like there's an Amy Winehouse live version that I love and that's called ‘We’re Still Friends’’ and I absolutely love it… it’s about people being there and…’Ideal’ is the same...it reminds me of Liverpool. It reminds me of the band. So it felt right to have people in the audience who are the people that I’ve shared all of these experiences with. Yeah. I think it's my favourite, I have to say.
What drove you to first start creating music? For a lot of musicians, you either have to have come from a creative family or have been nurtured into the industry, because you often have to have a reason or a want to pick up that pen, pick up a guitar, learn to create in an expressive and authentic way. What was that reason for you?
I don't really know how I transitioned into creating music, because for me, when I was younger, music was just kind of this thing that I really enjoyed doing, but I never thought I would actually write music. So I started by studying piano and just thought I would just stay with that, you know? And then I started singing as well as learning guitar… and then I guess it felt like… let's try this moment. I did have a lot of creative interests when I was younger… things like drama or theatre and dance. So there were a lot of creative outlets for me. And for some reason, I think I just found that the one I was most comfortable with, where I was better at expressing…was music.
I remember, it's funny because I've always written in English, even when I was living in Barcelona. I don't know why. Well, one of the first songs I wrote was in Catalan, but that was because it was a song for quarantine during COVID… but apart from that, literally everything has been written in English. I think at the beginning, it was kind of like… maybe an alter ego thing a little bit? And now I think it's become more of a way to express my feelings through that language… but I'm also just better at expressing it sometimes when I write it down rather than when I talk about it.
For the EP, you made all of your songs with your band ‘The Beans’... I feel like when you're creating music, it's a very vulnerable process; you're with these people singing about your real feelings, and the things that are really happening in your life. What is your bond like with them and how do they come into your creative process?
Well, to be honest, first of all, I just love them. Like I have to say, I’m SO glad I have them in the band. I just have a very close bond with them… it feels as though it's just friends playing music together, you know? Specifically, to each one of them… I started playing with Patrick in a band that I had with Isabella (Isabelle Mettle) called Papaya Sunset in my first year of University. I always felt very comfortable with him from the beginning, especially when we play… because he's got a way of understanding what I mean when I create, especially when I start saying random things because I'm very bad at theory… And Patrick just gets it… so I’d say he’s kind of my right hand music wise. And then Fred and Frankie… in my head I have them together because I met them at the same time. They're just kind of the ones that keep the fun going, especially in rehearsals, because I can get so stressed every time we rehearse.. because I want to get everything done in a particular way and how it is in my head. And sometimes I can be a bit rigid, and they’re both able to expand my creative process more…allowing this feeling that we're still getting the work done, but we're still having fun... just that balance. And Freddie is just my best friend, so it's just great to have him. He's a great musician. He would just be so happy, for instance, to start playing congas… he’d say “you want conga’s? let's get congas.” Same with the keys…I was like, “I would really like a keyboard player…” And instantly he was like “I'll play keys, I'll do it, I'll learn.” I just hope that they all enjoy playing in the band as much as I enjoy having them in the band. And it's just been, it's just been so great… I would never have changed the band ever.
Also… one of the reasons the music also sounds great and all of the songs sonically reflect what each song is about, is because Rueben Angus was in charge of the production and mixing. And I just have to say a massive thank you to him because he’s one of the best… and he's just very easy to work with. He's always super on it and he has such cool creative ideas whilst always checking in to see what we all think about it… he's just great. I do think that the songs also reflect so well because they're experiences that I've really been through… but I just bring the skeleton, and then we kind of build it all up all together… it doesn’t feel like just ‘Ota Brown’, it’s a piece of us all.
So, you’ve come over from living in Barcelona to be in Liverpool to pursue music can you tell us more about that?
Well, I was initially going to pursue humanities in Barcelona… but I just wasn't really convinced it was what I really wanted to do. So I started researching what I could do music wise in the UK, because I had been in the UK a few times and I just always really enjoyed it… and I thought it was a good country in terms of the music industry. So, I looked into it with my mum…and the funny story is that we realised that with Brexit, they were gonna double the fees for European internationals... so that wasn’t really an option. So, I was sent to a boarding school in London the day that Brexit was approved and stayed there for months. Then, I had the option of London, Southampton, LIPA or the University of Liverpool. And I didn't get past the second stage of the London course… and I had barely heard of Liverpool before coming here. Now, I couldn't imagine what it would have been like without meeting the people that I have and having these experiences… I’ll be forever grateful. Everything that I’ve found here has been so great… and I'm so glad that I've got so many friends that are doing music as well, because we all have a relationship as friends as well as supporting each other as artists.
Who has influenced you to write and why? What draws you to the music that you love and how do you feel like it reflects in your own creative art?
Well, I think one of my main influences as a whole genre, even if maybe it’s not the one that you can hear the most in my music, is definitely jazz and soul… and that's just because my dad is a big, big fan of jazz and soul… and he introduced me to this kind of music since I was very young. In fact, there's a video of us from when I was recently born of him dancing to Michael Jackson with me in his arms… which is just a perfect picture of where my music taste comes from. So, that's kind of the main one, even if it's not the most reflected in my music. And then...I think one of the things, actually, from coming to Liverpool that has changed in a big way has been my music. Well, maybe not changed… but definitely expanded quite a lot, which I'm very grateful for as well, because I'm on to the ‘Brit pop’ now… and English R&B. I think, in my opinion, British music is… most of the time… better than American Music. Especially if we're talking about English speaking music as a genre. Basically, I think that my music now is kind of a reconstruction of Neo Soul, R&B, some elements of pop definitely, and kind of Spanish chords or Spanish sounds every once in a while. And then Cleo Sol is definitely an influence, probably my biggest one right now… like her baselines and her rhythms and things like that, like my most recent stuff, it kind of reflects better these influences.
Where do you see your music expanding to from this? Because I think you've had a beautifully strong start with ‘Windows’… Everyone loves it and you've really captured different parts of yourself within it, as well as different genres, influences and sounds on a wide spectrum. Where do you want to take your music next?
Well, I think my style from creating this EP has definitely developed. I think I've managed to find the sound that I want, a little bit better. Obviously, this EP has been my little baby. It's the first time I've put music out, so it will forever be a special thing for me. But, it is true that since it's my first thing that is being released, I still have so much room for improvement… or to get closer to the sound I wanna have. And, the stuff that I've been writing recently… that we've already played a couple of times, actually… I think people have really liked it. I’d say it's a bit more sassy, which is definitely something that I want to include in my music. I don't know if you have this?...I'm guessing yes, because we like similar genres and stuff like that… but music to me is kind of, um, a bit of the alter ego that we were talking about earlier. It kind of makes me go into this sassy character in full control. I think you can still see a very Cleo Sol, Erykah Badu or like Amy (Whinehouse) feel… of feeling a bit of that attitude. I think it also plays into the sound that we're gonna start playing a bit more by including horns. We did a gig recently with the saxophone and trumpet… they took the songs to this higher level, in my opinion… they just became more complete. So bringing in that jazz influence is something that I want to keep as a constant.
Although, I have to say, I don't really know what's going to happen in the future... I'm trying not to think about it, because being a singer is so great and I love it, and I love performing, and it's something that I wanna continue doing. But at the same time, I do have a lot of other interests, so...I wouldn't want it to become.. hm..
You wouldn’t wanna confine yourself to that?
Yeah, exactly. I've always said, and I hope I always keep this, that I don't wanna become anything… I don't wanna be a star, you know what I mean? I'm happy to just do my music, play a couple of gigs, and if that gives me a bit of money, that's great. The interests that I have, as an example, as a composer for film, which is a big thing for me… and that's my masters as well. You know I wanna keep… continuing my passions. I don't want to only be a singer.
‘Windows’ was released May 3rd, and is available across all streaming platforms.