The second solo studio album from Oli Spleen, Gaslight Illuminations, is a lot more heartfelt than its predecessor, touching on many raw and personal themes including the emotional fallout of a toxic relationship.
Composed after the death of his father, the album is a collaboration between Spleen and members of Brighton indie-noir band Birdeatsbaby. Together they created a sound with lush orchestration and a sensitivity to mirror the depths of emotion within.
In this interview spotlight, I chat with Oli Spleen about his latest album, technology, challenges and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)
I’m from Brighton on the south coast of England. I’ve never been that keen on defining what I do in terms of genre. When I released Gaslight Illuminations and was made to pick a genre the only category that seemed to fit was “alternative”.
I didn’t want to do a rock or electro album this time and was taking my cues more from the French Chanson tradition when I wrote the songs with my collaborator Mishkin Fitzgerald. This is a songwriting tradition that predominantly conveys songs from a raw and personal place, delivered emotionally and viscerally without varnish. When recording the album I favoured the vocal takes that had a raw honesty to them over aspiring to technical perfection.
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to keep going?
I never saw myself as a musician and never learned an instrument as a child as my mother hated the sound of the recorder which was the first instrument children learned when I was at school so I didn’t take that class and fell behind in music after that.
I was studying fine art in London at the turn of the millennium when I fell ill with what was then an AIDS defining illness, most notably TB and a perecardial effusion, an infection of the heart. At this time a doctor came to me and told me I was within my rights to turn down the medication I was being offered and effectively end my life. I was 22 years old and felt like I had done nothing with my life. For the first time I realised I wanted to live but I knew that if I got a second chance I had to follow my heart so I could achieve something that I could be proud of by the next time death comes to call.
It was a long path to recovery but I wrote a book about my experiences and my first band The Flesh Happening formed at the book launch.
I’m motivated by that memory of coming close to death, it urges me to create and perform as if it were the last thing I might ever do.
How is this new release different than previous ones? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific?
My previous album as a “solo” artist was written with a producer in France and I had very little say in the music, I just found a way to put my voice and words into his structures. Equally the bands I’ve been in have been rock oriented so I would just adapt my voice to their energy.
This time around I wanted to write the songs from the lyrics up so the words and emotions would be at the forefront. I also wanted a more orchestral sound than it’s predecessor, favouring instrumentation over electronics or rock guitar.
My collaborators on this project Mishkin and Hana from the band Birdeatsbaby and Forbes who was previously in the band, understood what I wanted and made it come together beautifully. Also Steve who played bass on the album was able to convey my ideas to Forbes the producer in technical rather than artistic terms, so he became assistant producer.
The songs on Gaslight Illuminations don’t have a fixed time signature, I wanted a fluid sound throughout that morphed to mirror the emotions I was trying to convey. The opening track imperceptibally increases speed so the listener hopefully gets drawn in to the narrative on a subconscious level.
I really wanted to create something that might affect the listener emotionally this time around. By exposing my own raw emotions the hope was that the songs may resonate deeply with others.
A gloriously dark and haunting work, there are themes of growing older, life, death and mortality running throughout. In Gaslight Illuminations Oli Spleen has pushed himself further than ever and appears to have reinvented himself yet again.”
Salena Godden author of Pessimism Is For Lightweights.
Name one or two challenges you face as an indie musician in this oversaturated, digital music age? How has technology helped you (since we know it does help)?
It seems today that it’s not making the art that’s the struggle as much as trying to find an audience to hear it. The hustle to get an album listened to and reviewed is tremendous as there are so many other acts out there doing the same. This can feel soul destroying, particularly when you are exposing so much of yourself through the music. A bad review can feel like a personal attack.
That said, online distribution means that your music can be heard in parts of the world that it wouldn’t have reached before. It’s just letting people know you exist in the first place that’s the hardest part. You have to become artist and sales person at the same time which I find very challenging. It helps to acknowledge that how ever much you believe in your work not everyone will like it.
What was the last song you listened to?
Stars by Janis Ian, I’ve become obsessed with that song as it encapsulates much of how I feel about the struggle to be heard and understood. Nina Simone’s version is wonderful too.
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
I have a vast CD collection and records too which I just don’t listen to anymore as it’s easier to stream stuff online. I do love the ritual of listening to an album on a record player though and I wrote Gaslight Illuminations with a side A and B, six tracks to each side, with the intention of releasing it on vinyl. Side A was to be called “Mirrors” and B; “Smoke”.
Sadly by the time it was completed I had run out of money. I still plan to make a physical release of it when I can afford to.
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
Bandcamp has been the kindest to me in terms of income. With other online outlets you’re inclined to get royalties which amount to pennies. At least with bandcamp the majority of the money from the purchase goes directly to the artist. When I released Gaslight Illuminations I made a couple of hundred pounds back on it from sales on Bandcamp, this isn’t nearly the cost of creating the album but it’s a real help. I also started a Patreon page which is a great way to prerelease music and ideas exclusively to loyal fans in exchange for a little financial support.
Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?
https://www.youtube.com/OliSpleen
https://www.facebook.com/OliSpleen
With Gaslight Illuminations, Oli Spleen comes of age. Battle-scarred and world weary he may be, but Gaslight Illuminations is his most tender and personal collection to date. Touching on French chanson and Weimar cabaret, on death and loss, Gaslight Illuminations is a mesmerising work from an artist who has embraced his maturity.”
Darryl W. Bullock author of David Bowie Made Me Gay, 100 Years of LGBT Music.
