Q: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how your childhood impacted your musical
direction?
A: My name is Ollie Gullick, and I am a 19-year-old gay artist from Surrey, UK who now lives in Boston after moving there last year from my expat life in Abu Dhabi. Music has been a part of my life from the beginning, with two musical parents our house was always filled with instruments that I started experimenting with as soon as I could. Allegedly, I once attempted playing our piano with a knife, which my parents were not too pleased about. I was a regular at ‘Musical Playtime’, a local baby class, and according to my mum while all the other kids were running around, as normal kids do, I would sit totally still, entranced by the teacher’s accordion playing.
When I was 7 I moved to a new school which offered instrumental lessons, and out of all of the options I chose guitar, as I thought it would (ironically) help me get a girlfriend. I started piano lessons when I turned 10. It was also around this time I started messing about in GarageBand on my iPad, writing songs about all the girls I thought I liked. Then one day the music video for ‘Bangarang’ by Skrillex came up on my YouTube, and that changed everything. I fell in love with electronic music instantly, and started attempting to produce and DJ like my favourite EDM artists, using the moniker ‘DJGULLICK’ (do not look that up on Spotify). Becoming a world-famous DJ and producer was my plan for a few years, but that quickly changed when I heard my dad playing ‘Comfortably Numb’ by Pink Floyd on our upright piano.
I was absolutely entranced with everything about it, and that quickly led to me listening to ‘The Wall’ in its entirety, soon followed by Pink Floyd’s entire discography. I was absolutely obsessed. Then in a surprising turn of events, my family moved 5,000 miles to the desert of Abu Dhabi for my dad’s work. To say the change was dramatic is an understatement, but it was easily the best thing that ever happened to me. However, we were only there five months before Covid hit, and like the rest of the world, we were stuck in our house. Although it sucked, it was in these few months that music really came to the forefront of my life. I suddenly had hours to practice, write and record, and I realised there was nothing else I wanted to do with the rest of my life. During this time, Berklee College of Music opened a center in Abu Dhabi where I started taking classes, and before I knew it, I had moved to the US to study at their main campus in Boston. That brings us to today.
Q: How are you planning on growing your fan base and sharing your music with the world? What message do you have for anyone who is about to discover “Ollie Gullick”?
A: I am never happier than when I’m on a stage, so I would love to be able to introduce people to Ollie Gullick through live shows. My band and I have played many shows in Boston over the past year; however we are looking to start playing in other cities in Massachusetts and beyond. For anyone about to discover Ollie Gullick, my message would be to strap in, as this is only the beginning!
Q: Who is the most inspiring artist for you right now? And where do you find inspiration for making music?
A: Right now, I would have to say Chappell Roan. Her recent explosion has been so much fun to watch, and her songwriting, performances and artistry is truly unique in a time where uniqueness is hard to achieve. However, after doing some research into her background I realised that she was in no way an overnight success, and spent a decade grinding away in the music industry before she hit the mainstream. This gives me, along with all artists at the beginning of their journey, a lot of hope that all the hard work will be worth it.
I find the majority of my inspiration comes from my life experiences and the songs I write are very linked to where I was physically and emotionally at the time of writing. I always try to process what is happening both to me and around me with music.
Q: Can you tell us about the story or message behind the song, “Sushi!.”?
A: I wrote this song when I was 18 about my early teen years when I was discovering myself as a gay man. It is about the beauty and excitement of intimate experiences I have had over the past few years, as well as the secrecy involved with it having grown up in environments where being gay was taboo.
Q: How would you describe your sound in one word for potential listeners?
A: Eclectic.
Q: Did you face any challenges while writing or recording “Sushi!”?
A: Surprisingly, no. I had the chorus written in my notes app for ages, and when I was searching for new material I found it and wrote the full song in one sitting. The band loved it, the crowd loved it, and I did not feel I had to make any changes from the first draft as I often do. We recorded it at The Record Co. back in April (2024) with the incredible engineers Julian Villegas and Bruce Chen, and it was then beautifully mixed by Kolton Jacobs and expertly mastered by Kai Polidori. The whole experience from conception to release was the most fun I’ve ever had with a song.
Q: What is the message of your music? And what are your goals as an artist?
A: When I was growing up, although I always had friends and was never a particularly melancholic child, I felt very isolated from other kids as I knew who I was so early. I came out as gay at 11, and was never into ‘normal boy things’ like football or cars. As we all grew up and matured this became less of an issue, however this isolation didn’t disappear but instead changed forms, as my friends started getting into relationships and experimenting. Although, as you can hear in Sushi, I wasn’t totally isolated from this, it was difficult having to hide myself and not fully experience one of the most enjoyable parts of adolescence. Through my music and artistry, I want to show others who have been through or are going through what I experienced that they are not as isolated as they may feel, and they don’t have to go through this journey alone. That does not just mean little gay kids, but instead anyone who feels isolated from those around them for any reason.
Q: Who is your dream artist to collaborate with? (dead or alive)
A: Of course, I would say people like Bowie, Lennon, Joni Mitchell or Roger Waters, however I feel I am already collaborating with my dream artists. My band, The Lads, made up of Alex Reeves, Andrew Schuler, Jack Helfer, Colin Lillich and Leo Birken, are 5 of the most incredible musicians I have ever had the pleasure of working with and I would not be where I am today without them. Each of them brings their own artistic flare to all of my songs, taking them to new places they would’ve never reached without The Lads. I love them all very much, and I can’t wait to work with them for years to come.
Q: What is your advice for people interested in pursuing music as a career or for those trying to enter the industry?
A: I have two main pieces of advice that I have learnt over the past few years. Firstly, always work as hard as you possibly can for what you want. The music industry, as well as the world, will never just hand opportunities to you, you have to go out and find them yourself. Trust the process, I promise it will be worth it. Secondly, and most importantly, know who you are and don’t compromise it for anything. The best way to stand out in the world is to be different, and as humans we conveniently all have individuality built in. Of course it is important to take time to learn your craft as a musician, but it is just as important, if not more important, to take the time to learn who you are, what you want, where you’ve been and where you’re going.
Q: If you could go back in time and give a younger you some words of wisdom, what would they be?
A: I know it’s cliche, but I’d tell him to worry less. Everything works out even better than you can imagine and all the small things like party invites, social standing and little comments from others are not nearly as important as you think. Stay in your lane, keep doing your thing, and see where it takes you.
