Hi Oliver! How did you decide on the sound of Halfway to Paradise? Was there a lot of experimenting?

It was a lot of experimenting. I just love music of all genres, and a lot of this EP came from all around the world. I made songs in Germany, songs in LA, songs in Australia. So I had a lot of different influences go into it, and I think it's a collection of just where my head's at, which is ballads and some hip-hop stuff — it’s kind of everything.

Who inspires you musically?

Justin Bieber is a big, big inspiration for me. You can probably tell. I'm a massive Noah Kahn fan as well. I love folk music. I've been listening to him for a while now. Chase Atlantic are my favourite band. And then I like emo stuff too, like Blackbear I'm a big fan of. Just everything musical inspires me, art, I love it.

So the EP is called Halfway to Paradise. What is your idea of Paradise?

Oh man, this changes all the time. It started by going on tour and traveling the world, and now I’ve done that. The next goal is... I don’t even know. But honestly, I’ve come to terms with Paradise as being happy, being confident and comfortable in your surroundings, being around people that make you happy, and being free and carefree. That, I think, is Paradise.

Nice! Are there any paradise locations that you’d like to travel to?

I really want to go to the Netherlands. I’ve been to Europe a lot, but I’ve never been to the Netherlands, to Amsterdam — that’s on the bucket list. And I really want to go to South America. Mexico — that’s a big bucket list.

You've toured the world a lot in 2024. What are three Aussie things that you take with you when you go overseas?

That’s a good one. I don’t really take anything with me, but I probably should. I love Vegemite. It’s always good being overseas and showing people Vegemite. That's always fun. I should start taking Vegemite everywhere I go when I go overseas. Tim Tams are great obviously and everyone is always in awe when they try a Tim Tam for the first time. I always take my merch, my jewellery — I guess they’re Australian because it’s my stuff. 

What advice would you give to TGs who dream of becoming musicians or singers?

Follow those dreams. Don’t give up, and don’t let anybody tell you that you can’t do it. Because you can do anything.