Q&A: Olive Klug Remains Tender Yet Unattached in Their Love Letter to Loss “Parched”
LOVE IS LIKE WATER — without it, life is sucked dry, seemingly bereft of all meaning. It is only when we are in love that the lushness of life returns. When showered with this undying affection, we grow, nourished by this serene feeling of security that is always there to fall back on. But there are times in which the very thing that was meant to quench us leaves us thirsty.
Singer-songwriter Olive Klug explores this idea of an unequal give-and-take in their newest single, “Parched,” released Feb. 17, via Nettwerk.
Ever since they began releasing their music in 2019, Klug’s folk-leaning discography has come jam-packed with revelation after revelation. The musician fearlessly delves into their psyche with every release, painstakingly dissecting their innermost thoughts and pairing them with a gentle acoustic soundscape.
“Parched” explores a type of relationship that many of us are, unfortunately, all too familiar with. After realizing that they were giving more love to their partner than they were receiving, Klug turned to music to help them make sense of this perplexing dynamic.
“[“Parched” is] about feeling like you keep trying to make something work, but for whatever reason it's coming up empty — even if you love the person,” Klug shares.
While they begin the track in a devotional tone, with a gentle piano underscoring the singer-songwriter’s soft vocals, they slowly rescind their affections as they arrive upon the ultimate conclusion: “I’ve been stuck in a drought, thought you’d be my way out but I’m / Parched after talking to you.”
While many claim that advocating for yourself is a no-brainer, Klug asserts that it’s much easier said than done. All relationships come marked with unique nuances, and most instances of conflict don’t have a cut-and-dry solution. While in this case, separation might be the best idea in the long run, the musician confesses that they do not want to let go of this beautiful “sunbeam,” even if the heat of their rays is painful to be around.
The themes in this track not only apply to romantic partnerships but to “hundreds of different relationship dynamics,” Klug exclaims. “It's not just about one thing or one type of dynamic. It can be related to any relationship that is not working for any reason.”
The universal relatability present in Klug’s tracks makes their artistry feel like a safe haven, a place where we can throw aside our differences and immerse ourselves in a world of mutual understanding. And rest assured, Klug will never tire of their ability to impact and connect with others. “I am successful because I have reached people,” they share. “This music has helped people feel their feelings, move forward in life, and access the feelings they need to do that.” And what could be more rewarding than that?
Klug will be releasing their debut album later this year, but until then be sure to quench your thirst with the serene melodies of “Parched.”
Continue reading below to hear all about Klug’s growth as an artist, their ever-changing artistry, and their upcoming record.
LUNA: What has been going on in your world besides gearing up for the release of "Parched"?
KLUG: I just moved to another apartment in LA! I moved to a studio, so that has been consuming a lot of my time. I'm trying to plan some tours; I haven't been doing shows for a really long time. I'm going on tour with my friend Philip in late February. I'm trying to get back out there because I love to perform.
LUNA: That's awesome. Congratulations on your move! Going back to touring with friends, the music industry can seem really dog-eat-dog at face value, but you have such an amazing community of artists surrounding you who seem to support you both professionally and personally. How does one cultivate this sense of a healthy and loving community, especially in an industry that can be so isolating?
KLUG: I have to keep reminding myself that there's room for everyone at the table. It's really exciting that we're all coming up together. We started out just in the pandemic — in a time of pretty intense loneliness. I consider my community to be people who got their start on TikTok; we were all coming up in a confusing time. The best thing that we can do is support each other. We're all gonna have a better time when we're raising each other up instead of trying to compete with each other. It takes reminding, for sure. I tend to be a competitive person, but I am so grateful for the connections that I've made through the music industry. I feel very lucky to have some friends who are having similar experiences.
LUNA: Thank you for that answer! It's so wonderful to have people who are going through the same thing because you can help one another through, especially if you're on the other side of what someone else is going through. It's so beautiful that you have that network.
KLUG: For sure! At the end of the day, I am so excited for everybody. Not everybody got their start at the same time, but there's this community specifically of folk singer-songwriters who were all posting from their bedrooms in 2020 and 2021. We were being our regular selves, where we were in college or working jobs at coffee shops [and went] from that to being really powerful forces in the music industry. It's really cool. Leith Ross, for example — I remember we would chat in 2020, and now Leith is such a powerful force in the industry. That is just so cool! Seeing that trajectory for so many of us has been just so amazing. I nerd out about it a lot.
LUNA: It's so incredible. You're actually friends with one of my friends, chrysalis, or Isa. I saw that you are playing on a bill with them in a couple of months and played at their Zoom concert the other day, so that's awesome.
KLUG: Isa is so sweet. It's so amazing what they're doing — that fundraiser and bringing a bunch of musicians together! It was such a special experience. Isa, if you're reading this, thank you for doing that, and I'm really excited to meet you!
LUNA: They're awesome. They are such a lovely person, and so are you. You touched upon the element of TikTok playing into building the careers of artists. It was so awesome, especially during COVID. Now it seems that we live in an age of self-promotion, and constantly feeling like you have to post on Instagram, TikTok, etc. can really affect your mental health. How do you kind of navigate through having a presence on social media and preserving your sense of self?
KLUG: I'll get back to you when I figure that out. It's really hard, and especially as all of social media gets so saturated with everyone promoting themselves. It gets really exhausting to not only post but also to consume all that content. I understand not wanting to interact with every songwriter promoting their music, and I don't want to spend all the time on it. I know that it's bad for my brain but I feel like I have to be on it all the time in order to understand the trends so that I can post something that adheres to a trend. Especially with a song that's not kitschy and very personal, like “Parched.” I'm actually very nervous and feel really anxious about posting and promoting it. My last single was called “Coming of Age,” and it was kitschy, fun, and silly. Promoting it felt fun — it didn't feel weird because it was a viral TikTok song; it is kind of funny, it's not super serious, so I felt fine promoting it. But this song is about a really serious thing. It's about a relationship that I was in that really deeply affected me. It was very nuanced, and I don't want to reduce it to a click-baity caption. I feel really nervous about this song, but more specifically promoting it.
Photo courtesy of Rae Eubanks
LUNA: That's a really good point. I never really thought that writing a witty caption could be akin to narrowing down this big expression of yourself into this gimmick that will get people to listen. That's a really interesting idea of trying to preserve the value and the message of the song, even when you're promoting it.
KLUG: It is really weird. Some songs feel worse or weirder than others. “Parched” specifically feels weird in promoting it. Hopefully people will still enjoy and like it, even if it's not like a viral sensation. Just to call back to what we were talking about earlier, TikTok and the internet were so valuable during the pandemic to foster connections and foster a sense of the world still existing beyond my bedroom. It was such a beautiful tool — it still can be a really beautiful tool, but as we go out into the world the landscape of self-promotion on the internet has changed from being something that was a tool for genuine connection to being a tool to get your music noticed by the industry.
LUNA: Definitely — TikTok is a double-edged sword. You have “Parched” coming out in a little less than a month. How are you feeling about the upcoming release?
KLUG: This is a song that I've had in the works for a really long time. I wrote it in August 2021 — a long, long time ago. It is definitely like unearthing an old relationship, and that makes me feel things. It’s interesting. I am excited about the release. I'm really proud of the song and I'm really excited about the video. It was the first music video I ever made, so that is gonna be really fun. I made the music video for “Coming of Age” after I made the music video for “Parched,” so it's an interesting little switcheroo there. I'm super excited, and I just hope that it can make people feel seen.
LUNA: I think it definitely will! The elements of the music video and the lyricism of the track and the melody will grab people. That's what I noticed when I was listening. The relationship dynamics that you sing about are not too often explored within music. You focus on a dynamic where you're not really getting an equal give-and-take within this relationship, but you're distracted by this — as you say — “sunbeam,” and don't really notice that you're not getting enough until you really feel it. How does one learn to put themselves first when this happens? What is there to do when you're in this circumstance?
KLUG: Oh my gosh, I really don't know. I wish I could say I knew and give you some sound advice. Something I really like about this song is that it can relate to hundreds of different relationship dynamics. It's not just about one thing or one type of dynamic. It can be related to any relationship that is not working for any reason. The relationship I wrote about was a situation where I felt like I was giving more than the other person was putting in, but I really liked them. I couldn't get them to commit or give me what I needed. Some people hear the tune and are like, “This reminds me of an abusive relationship,” and then some people hear it and have been like, “This reminds me of a five year–long relationship where we just weren't in love anymore.”
That's what I really like about this song — it's not really hyper-specific. It's about feeling like you keep trying to make something work, but for whatever reason it's coming up empty — even if you love the person. I've had conversations with my singer-songwriter friends and they're like, “Oh, people told me this really detailed story about their relationship and I didn't feel like it was about the song at all,” but I love when people have their own interpretation. I'm really excited to hear what feelings this brings up for people and what types of stories they have that relate to this. It'll be really different for everybody.
LUNA: It's so magical when there are so many applications of a song's message to different stages of life or various kinds of relationships, whether it's platonic or romantic. You did a really amazing job at making this concept universal even though it's about this one specific thing in your life. You have this folk singer-songwriter energy happening within your discography. What elements of folk music help form your artistry?
KLUG: The simplicity and honesty. For a long time, I really thought that I needed my music to be so complex. I'm not somebody who went to music school or who really knows theory. I'm not somebody who's going to make something complicated for the sake of making it complicated. I appreciate music that does that — for example, I love Jacob Collier. He does that a lot — he makes really interesting sounding, crazy music that I've never heard before. I thought I had to do that to be recognized as a legitimate musician. What I love about folk music is the simplicity and the honesty. It's not trying to be anything that it's not — it just is. I love that, and I've always loved that. My favorite artists are Joni Mitchell, Simon & Garfunkel, and John Prine. All of those classic folk artists are honest and raw. That's what I love about it.
LUNA: It's all really potent storytelling — you tap into that as well. The simple lyrics that can be interpreted in so many different ways is also a signature of folk music. You wrote “Parched” a couple years ago — does your relationship with these songs change as time goes by? Does performing the songs bring you back to that time? Or do you feel more informed when looking back upon those experiences?
KLUG: It always depends on the song. It doesn't always bring me back to the time that I wrote it — sometimes I think about how the song relates to my current situation. I sometimes have a really hard time with specific songs … not [getting] emotional when I'm on stage. “Parched” is definitely one of them. But even more than this, my song “Self Help.” Whenever I perform it, I have to stop myself from crying. It's about recognizing how far you've come and recognizing that a younger you would be really proud of you. You're not perfect and you still have these problems. Every time I perform it, it feels so relevant. I would be proud of myself, but I'm also not perfect, and I am struggling. It's so hard to perform that without crying.
But then there are some songs where I feel like it's a cover. My song “Raining in June” has had such a far reach, even beyond people who I would consider to be my fans. It has so many more streams than any of my other songs, and I meet people all the time, who are like, “Oh yeah, I've heard that song, but I didn't know it was new,” or, “My friend played this song for me and I don't think she knows who you are.” It's the song that exists as a thing outside of me, which has been weird. So many of my songs are so personal but “Raining in June” feels like this separate entity, in a way. When I perform it, I don't even feel like it's my song. I'm like, “This is just a song that I'm performing,” but then there's other songs — like “Self Help” — that feel like my song in such an intense way that it's almost too much. It definitely always depends.
LUNA: It goes to show that there are certain parts of us that continue to develop for as long as we live and then there's some parts that we can look back on with sorrow or fondness — or something like that. You touched upon it perfectly.
KLUG: Totally. It depends on how personal or universal a song is as well.
LUNA: I want to touch a little bit upon the music video for the track. It's this beautiful lyrical dance expression in the desert. What was the experience of filming it like?
KLUG: It was so interesting. I had never done a music video before, and my label helped me connect with a music video director and the director helped me connect with a choreographer and a dance partner. I knew I wanted to do a lyrical dance video because I loved doing that as a kid. I took dance lessons and was on a team, and I really miss doing that. So much of being a musician has been exploring these other parts of being an artist that I don't feel as confident in or that I don't feel that I'm very good at. At first I really resisted it; I was like, “I just sing my little songs. Why do I have to make a show poster or design merch and make a website?” But I've actually had so much fun learning all of those elements and developing those skills and sides of my artistry.
[The video] was one of them. This music video was a great opportunity for me to dive back into dancing and see how that feels. I knew I wanted to do that, and I also knew I wanted to have it set in the desert. That might be a little bit of an obvious metaphor — “Parched,” the desert. I live in California so it was perfect. Besides those two elements, I left the rest of the direction up to Anastasia, who was the music video director. She did such a great job. Coming back to the simplicity, it's a very simple video, but it also has a lot of really strong motifs that reappear throughout. The red flag motif is really present throughout the whole thing. There's a bunch of different types of flags that we got. It's visually really cool how there's no color except for that. I had a great time filming it. It was honestly so cold, because we filmed it in December. I filmed all day, but I was so cold the whole time. Every time I filmed a scene there was somebody there holding my jacket to put back on immediately. It was still really fun and a great experience.
LUNA: It's really beautiful, and the visuals are so striking. I especially love the contrast between the desert and then all of the water at the end. That's so awesome. And like you said, it has these really potent motifs that will really speak to an audience.
KLUG: Thank you! It's so different from my other video for “Coming of Age.” One thing about this album is that it is kind of all over the place, but I don't really care because I'm experimenting with what it means to make an album. I didn't even try to make it cohesive, so it's going to be all over the place.
LUNA: It's your artistry, and you should have the right to take charge of it and figure out what you like and what you don't like — just have fun! That's the most important part. What do listeners have to look forward to when it comes to the album?
KLUG: It's a bunch of the best songs that I've written in the past two to three years. Before I signed to Nettwerk, I was just putting out songs based on how well they did online, so if a song did well online I would try to get it done as fast as I could and put it out. With this album, I went through my entire back catalog and went through everything I had written and asked myself, “Can I finish this song? Is this a song that fits a certain theme?” I picked 10 songs that I think are the best songs that I've written.
It's gonna be really exciting to have a full body of work out there. I have been working with an amazing producer named Ehren Ebbage. He's really talented, and he's somebody who doesn't want to impose his own thoughts or opinions. He's like, “Okay Olive, what do you want this song to be?” If I don't know, he really challenges me to figure it out. He's like, “I'm not gonna make this song — this is something I want you to figure out. I can help you actualize that vision.” That has been really amazing and it has really helped me to grow beyond, “Okay, here's the plan! Producer, you do what you do to it.” This has challenged me to think beyond the initial writing of the songs.
LUNA: It's always so wonderful when artists have producers that challenge them instead of stifling them. I'm really happy that you have such an awesome producer and that you're genuinely proud of your album.
KLUG: I'm excited. One thing that I find interesting about this album is that it feels like a representation of a younger me. I'm 25 right now, and by the time I put out the album I will be 26. It's such a representation of where I was at when I was 23 or 24. I feel a little bit weird and embarrassed that I'll be 26 and producing an album about growing up. I have some self-judgment around that, but this is a really genuine representation of where I was at during that point. A big misconception that I had is that when artists put out albums, that's what they're feeling right now — but it's really not. A lot of times, it's what they were feeling two years ago.
LUNA: We're at my last question now, and they’re about the future. Different artists define success in different ways. For some it's financially, for some it's the impact they make on people. What defines success for you?
KLUG: What defines success for me is, like you said, the impact you make on people. Seeing that I have made a significant impact on other people through my music makes me feel successful. I am successful because I have reached people. This music has helped people feel their feelings, move forward in life, and access the feelings they need to do that. That is success. Success is also growth as an artist. I definitely hope that my songwriting and my artistry grows and changes as I move through life. I don't want to keep writing the same types of songs. Even if that's scary and even if it's a risk to not write the type of song that attracted these fans to me, the risk is always worth it. That's my next phase: committing to growing, trying new things, and experimenting with new ways of writing, new ways of playing guitar, and new ways of producing.
LUNA: It's always a journey. You're doing a great job in the midst of it, so congratulations on everything.
KLUG: Thank you so much!
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