Olivia Lane Makes Her Own Sunshine in Music and Life
Olivia Lane's positivity is contagious. The bubbly singer-songwriter has an optimistic life outlook that oozes out of her and onto each person she meets. During a chat with Taste of Country, Lane was all smiles talking about her new single "Make My Own Sunshine" and the advice her mother, also a singer, has given her over the years while working to pursue her own dreams.
One life lesson Lane says she learned from her mother at an early age was the ability to laugh at herself. It's something Lane carries with her daily.
"I laugh at myself a lot," she says with a big smile. "I feel like I take my industry seriously but I can't take myself too seriously. I think that's a key to life. My mom told me from a young age, 'If you can't laugh at your own jokes, how can you expect anybody else to laugh at your jokes?' I try to have a great sense of humor about life in general. We're all just humans trying to figure it out."
Lane's mother was a Texas regional singer who sang in honky-tonks and bars when she was in her 20s. She eventually moved to Nashville and tried to be an artist in Music City, but the lifestyle wasn't for her, Lane explains.
Though her mother may have given up on a career in music, her love of music was showcased constantly in their home. Lane says she remembers music always being played throughout her house growing up.
"She was the root of all my musical influences, honestly. She would take me to the studio and she would let me record with her, and just experience being in the studio," Lane recalls. "I'm really fortunate to have a mom who understands what I'm going through. We have a really special bond now, too."
Lane likens her constant energy to that of the Energizer bunny. She credits her parents for raising her to be "super driven and really go for my dreams" and says hard work is in her blood. And when it comes to songwriting, Lane tries to keep things as positive as she is, as can be heard on her new single.
"Make My Own Sunshine" was co-written by Lane, Ilya Toshinskiy and Jim Beavers, and she says she went into the writing session wanting to write a fun and happy tune.
"I need something fun in my show. Something upbeat and fun. I want to make people smile," she explains.
The three writers were pitching ideas and jamming on a chord riff when Beavers suggested they write something to do with sunshine, seeing as Lane is a person filled with sunshine.
"We basically came up with this idea called 'Make My Own Sunshine' and the first verse is literally my life," she admits. "'I'm running late, my phone's dead, I'm needing me a green light, I'm seeing red.' I feel like that's a lot of peoples' experiences when they're having a bad day. You hit every red light. Your phone's dying. You're lost. Siri's not helping you out at all."
Lane says she wanted to make a three-minute song about how everyone has their difficult days, but there's always a silver lining when looking back. "I hope this three minute, fun song might put a smile on someone's face."
The video for "Make My Own Sunshine" brings this concept to life, as well as Lane's unyielding positive life outlook. The clip starts with a woman cutting her off, but Lane doesn't let the moment affect her.
"It's like, 'You know what, you still have the rest of your day ahead of you. It can only go up from here, so let it go up.' That's what 'Make My Own Sunshine' is about," she adds. "It doesn't matter what situation you're in, you can always try to find the sunshine in the darkness that you're going through. If my three-minute song can take someone away just for three minutes and make them happy, I've done my job."
The 24-year-old is gearing up to release new music later this year and says her voice is that of a millennial girl in her 20s trying to figure life out while staying positive. She promises that the music will show more colors of herself, but that the positive outlook will remain.
"[It's] a little more pensive. A little more reflective on some negative experiences I've had, but how they've affected me positively," Lane shares of the music. "How such a negative experience, like a breakup, or a death, has affected me, but how it's made me a stronger person on the other side."
Olivia Lane's single "Make My Own Sunshine" is available on iTunes.
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