A producer, composer, singer, and songwriter, Olga Bell certainly knows how to stretch.
But then, perhaps that's to be expected. Born in Moscow and raised in Alaska, the Brooklyn-based artist learned to absorb enormously varied cultural touchstones from a young age.
Touring as a vocalist with Dirty Projectors and Chairlift, Olga also makes dance music with British musician Tom Vek as half of Nothankyou.
Right now, though, the Brooklyn-based artist is focussing on something quite personal. 2014's song cycle / album 'Krai' was a folkloric study of her homeland, an enormously ambitious yet remarkably immediate work.
Once more moving forwards, new EP 'Incitation' will be released on October 16th. Seemingly prompted by themes of "personal violence" and notes that "while fear can be brutal, even crippling, it is also a necessary force for change."
Clash is able to share the lyric video for 'Incitation' alongside a short Q&A with Olga Bell – check it out below.
What sparked the new project? Was it always designed to be an EP?
I wanted this to be a stand-alone EP from the start. It doesn't borrow material from a past or future release, it's completely its own thing. I made it to work through a tough time.
You seem drawn to focussing on conceptual projects, what lies behind this? Do you need / enjoy having a common theme to focus your writing on?
I love rules! Limitations are important in the digital realm, which is inherently limitless. Thinking about constraints, even titles early on really helps me focus my ideas, which would otherwise be all over the place. My natural state is kind of manic and maximalist, so I need lots of rules.
'Incitation' draws upon 'personal violence' – what made you focus on this theme? Is it drawing from personal experience?
It's not a reference to actual violence, just my way of working through internal conflict.
Clash is premiering the video for the title track. What inspired 'Incitation'? Can you tell us anything about the writing process?
I started it in Alaska! It was the last summer that my parents lived there, and I remember staying up until 4am working on the beat in the kitchen. I kept running out to the back yard and throwing myself on the lawn, trying to take in everything about summer in Alaska, especially the light at 2am. That made me think about the Dylan Thomas poem that everyone studies in high school. Once 'Incitation' was done it set the tone for the rest of the EP.
Were you involved in picking the visuals for the lyric video? How does it expand upon the music/lyrics?
The visuals are by Noah Kalina, an artist whose work I love, with whom I've been lucky to collaborate quite a bit over the past few years. The cover of the EP is Noah's work too. I sent him this track and asked if he had any footage of something about to explode, and he sent back these two astoundingly perfect smoke videos that he made upstate.
Are you planning any live performances around this project? Can you share any details of this?
The release show is October 10th at National Sawdust in New York, and then a run of UK/EU dates will follow. I'm not supposed to say anything further, but it'll be in a support capacity for a really great band.
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Photo Credit: Noah Kalina
'Incitation' will be released on October 16th.
