A Chat with Ollie Cook (12.08.2022)
Following an impressive run of releases last year, Ollie Cook has unleashed his album The Boy with Pearls for Eyes. Juggling real life with musical creation, he has compiled a collection of tracks that tackle important themes, using relatable lyrics and catchy melodics. With a lot to say across the tracks, he leaves you with a fair amount to think about while wanting to listen to the album all over again. We had the chance to chat with Ollie Cook about the album, juggling responsibilities, emotions, creative processes and much more!
OSR: At just 17, you have started your musical career quite young, but what was it that first drew you to music?
Cook: I’ve been surrounded by music my whole entire life, whether it’s through family, friends etc. When I was around 11 or 12, just starting high school, I had older friends that would turn me onto all the cool stuff. A lot of post-punk to begin with, then that turned into more singer-songwriter stuff as I got older. Still love the post-punk though.
OSR: Your new album release The Boy with Pearls for Eyes tackles a lot of different themes, from depression to being blinded by everything around you. What prompted the exploration of this album?
Cook: A lot. I think I’ve always kind of touched upon the drearier subjects when writing my music. Usually, it’s all autobiographical, writing about things that have happened in the timespan before or during the creative process.
OSR: While touching on all these topics, the album is really a journey told in two parts. Was this something you actively planned or did it occur more organically?
Cook: Nothing is ever planned, I got really lucky with how the sequencing of the record plays out. Although there is a big shift in mood around halfway through, I feel it’s necessary and hopefully, it doesn’t feel disjointed in any way. I almost see it as a test like, yeah, you’ve just got through the first 4 or 5 tracks etc, but are you actually listening, you know? Maybe that’s just me. Also, that shift in mood can be anywhere for the listener, I don’t want to shoe-horn in this concept that some people aren’t buying.
OSR: You completely self-produced the album during your first year in college. Did this juggling of responsibilities affect your creative process?
Cook: College most definitely helped me improve the production aspect of the record. I’d go in, learn a new technique, and then go home and apply it to my own recordings. Writing the album was just about the same, I try not to let the education interfere that much with the process. I’d like to keep them kind of separate in a way.
OSR: When you were creating the album, you wrote more tracks than what you have included. How did you choose the songs that would make it onto the final release?
Cook: Choosing the songs came naturally. There’d be loads of ideas and loads of concepts that I’d want to use, but never really could make fit in. Some songs were written months before finishing the album, whereas some could be days before it was mastered. Lots of cases of recording the songs, re-doing them, changing this chord, changing that chord etc. I had one song that made it onto the record in which it was a completely different tune months before, kept the words and changed the chords, and recorded it in one day. Now it’s my favourite one. But I wouldn’t say I’m that picky.
OSR: The Boy with Pearls for Eyes is not your first album release, but how do you feel it compares to your previous releases?
Cook: This album, to me, feels like an actual album. Whereas other projects like Testing (Testing… Can You Hear Thee?) felt like just a collection of songs. At the time though I would’ve thought “man, this is the one, this is the album”. It wasn’t. Maybe I’ll feel exactly the same in another year’s time when the next record comes out. Who knows? I hope this one is my most mature sounding to people. My main goal was to prove myself, like I’m more than just a teenager writing songs in my room for fun, this actually means something to me. It’s not like the others didn’t, this just seems more real. People will feel differently about it I suspect, I’m just excited to get it out more than anything.
OSR: Your music has a wonderful fusion of alternative rock and folk in its movements. What has most influenced your sound?
Cook: Lots and lots of influences, whenever a new album releases I like to make these little inspiration playlists that I put up on my Spotify so people can see what I was bumping during the making of the record. Anyway, where do I even start? For this one it was lots of Neil Young, Big Thief, MJ Lenderman and BCNR (Black Country, New Road), just to name a few. During the start of the writing process, I think Big Thief and BCNR both put out their new records; you can definitely hear the influence on mine. Literally, there’s this part on ‘Pearls’, the first track of the album, where it goes all ambient and the guitar gets louder until the drums kick in. I’m convinced I’ve completely stolen that from Isaac Wood. Oh, and on ‘Maggie’, I absolutely love James from Big Thief. His percussion is insane, his groove man. I tried getting the feel of their song ‘Change’ during that middle part of my track. Thanks, Big Thief.
OSR: Do you feel that the length of time spent creating the album has enhanced the storytelling flow of the end result?
Cook: A lot more care has definitely gone into this record, so I’d say so, yeah.
OSR: If people could listen to only one track from the album, which would you recommend to capture the essence of the whole?
Cook: ‘Bell Tower Blue’, or Track 10 we call it. The masterful Track 10. It’s just my favourite. It’s so simple and I love the part where everything comes in. Three chords and the truth, man.
OSR: There are a lot of emotional hits in the tracks, woven into some really moving melodies, but what is the one thing you would like to stick with people after they listen to the album?
Cook: I want people to leave the record inspired. Inspired that they can create something at home too, all by themselves. Impressed? I hope so. I’m very grateful that I’m releasing music and I have people resonating with it. Making music for yourself is one thing, and when other people feel it too, it’s really nice.
OSR: Other than continuing with college, what else do you have planned for the next 12 months?
Cook: Hopefully lots of shows. I want to see people man. Maybe another project? I’m already working on new stuff now. But shows, lots and lots of shows. Oh and finish college too, that’d be a plus.
Thanks to Ollie Cook for chatting with us! You can find more about him on his Twitter, Instagram and Spotify.
