Music has always been a big part of Olivia Krul's life, from performing at her church to musicals around the community.
Now, she's taking the logical next step and becoming a recording artist.
The youth's debut single, Where I Need To Be, dropped earlier this month.
When the song made its way to streaming platforms including Spotify and Apple Music, Krul was surprised by her roommate with their own song release party, complete with signs, balloons, and cake.
The Halton Hills native who's studying to be a teacher at Lakehead University was overwhelmed by the reception to her track from the people in her life, saying the support they’ve given is invaluable.
“Writing a song and releasing it for people to hear is a real vulnerable experience,” Krul says. “You don’t know how people are going to react. The amount of support I got from family, friends, mutual friends through school, and extended family reaching out to me has been great.”
Those closest to Krul - who's also known locally for her tutoring business - may not be too surprised by her latest venture as she's always had a passion for singing.
“When I was young, I was introduced to The Sound of Music; it was my favourite movie growing up,” Krul says. “I probably watched it a hundred times. I’d sing the songs from the movie at home, and I’d sing the songs they taught us in kindergarten. I was always singing at home.”
Krul worked with producer Mark Zubek, who helped her take the song from an idea to a recorded work.
Zubek and Krul have known each other for years, as the producer went to high school with Krul’s father.
“I knew exactly who I wanted to reach out to when it was time to do this,” Krul says. “Mark was the perfect person to work with. He’s a musical genius and he was able to bring my vision to life.”
The pair worked for three weeks, writing, recording, and editing the song before releasing it for listeners.
Zubek starts with asking for the person's inspirations and the style of music they want to write, then turns to lyrics, asking for phrases to build a chorus around.
“She told me about her experiences, and I sit there like a therapist writing it down as fast as I could,” Zubek says. “At the end of this, we have a page full of words that we can look at together, see what pops out, and what best encapsulates what she’s looking for.”
The end product is a folk, acoustic pop, emotional mashup. Krul says she takes influence from her favourite artist, Lizzy McAlpine.
“I was really inspired by her work; I find to to be really relatable,” Krul says. “I love the whole singer-songwriter genre and wanted to give it a try myself.”
Krul’s song, Where I Need To Be, is available to stream on Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube.
