Tuesday 24 January 2012
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Thursday 12 January 2012
Monday 2 January 2012
Photoshoot for my double page spread
Article for my double page spread
Armed with a guitar, a pen and a serious case of confidence, Liam Ostler sets out to become Indie’s biggest music star. He talks to us about following his dream but the hardships along the way.
Fresh from his gigs while smashing views on YouTube, Liam tells us how writer’s block can cause serious damage. ‘Urmm more often than not, I get a serious case of writers block *laughs*And that really slows down the speed of the music as you can guess, I always find myself coming up with little verses or one liners but find it hard transferring it into a song’. Thankfully he does finally get over his writers block and soon returns to writing inspirational, heart-wrenching music for us all to enjoy.
After writing music for 2 years, which of course interrupting his school life, he finally decided to chase after his dreams and started posting his videos on YouTube. After seeing the successful performers as a result of YouTube, Liam decided to try his luck and see how big he could be. ‘I started posting videos on YouTube and that’s how I found myself absolutely loving performing. I’ve saw that YouTube has helped so many performers get recognised for example Justin Bieber, he started off with small videos on YouTube and now look how famous he is’. We hope you get that famous as well Liam! Fortunately for Liam, soon enough he was recognized from a potential source.’ Someone from the Picket (in Liverpool) saw my videos and wondered if I would be interested in performing a small gig. Of course I jumped at the opportunity and had an amazing time’.
Every musician has ambitions to be as big as they can. You gotta give Liam credit for wanting to be as big as the A-team star Ed Sheeran, don’t we all! However Liam just aspires to be the artist that everybody can relate too and find inspiration in his songs. ‘I also hope that maybe one day one of my songs could help someone to feel better about themselves or about their life and for them to realise that there is always a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow’. Maybe if they dress like a leprechaun they will find the pot!
First gigs are always tough for a new performer unless you’re a robot and you do fantastically the first time, unfortunately that’s never the case so the stress levels are at an all time high. However Liam’s story of his first gig sounds surprising brilliant, maybe he’s a robot after all! ‘At my first gig I was , as anyone else would be, incredibly nervous, I was struggling to get into my normal flow of playing music, but after I played a couple of songs I really got into it. The audience seemed to be enjoying my music so I took that as a hint to keep playing as well as I was. But when it was over a sense of relief flew through me but I loved the feeling of being on stage and I knew I wanted to do it all over again’
Interview with artist: Liam Ostler
- When you started writing music, what did you aim to achieve?
Urmm well I always loved the feeling of hearing my favourite song on the radio, and I wanted to make others feel like that whenever one of my songs would play. I just wanted to be able to affect people in such a way, like an overwhelming excited feeling.
- Is there any messages you want to send to the audience of your music?
Never give up and when you feel like you’re at the rock bottom and at your lowest point, just remember all the support you have from friends and family and use that love and support to make yourself stronger. I remember being told that I was terrible and that I would never be a musician but I just completely ignored them and set towards my goal. All through your life you will be told that you’re not good enough by lots of different people but what you have to think is am I strong enough to prove them all wrong. I did and I love it.
- In ten years where do you think you will be?
Well I hope to be as big as most of the stars today, maybe headlining major concerts, I want to be at the point where I feel at the top of the world, and I will try my hardest to reach my goals.
- Do you find it hard writing new material for your music?
Urmm more often than not, I get a serious case of writers block *laugh*
And that really slows down the speed of the music as you can guess, I always find myself coming up with little versus or one liners but find it hard transferring it into a song. However when I do manage to break my writers block , the music just flies out of me and it’s very easy to find a nice rhythm and nice lyrics.
- What do you think about your fan base?
As small as my fan base may be, I’ve always felt supported by all of them and I appreciate that as I would not be where I am now without their love and support.
6. Which artist do you hope to be as big as?
*Laughs* I really hope to become as big as Ed Sheeran, he hasn’t been here as long as big stars such as James Morrison or anyone like that but I really love how popular he is getting after the short time he’s been in the music industry. I also find his music incredibly inspiring and I really hope to break into the music industry as well as he did.
7. What is your inspiration for new music?
Well I take general tragedy’s in life and think about how they make me feel. It allows me to pour my feelings into a song and to get my audience to almost feel as I feel. For example I could take something like the death of a friend and use that to help me explore my feelings on the matter.
9. How long have you been writing music for?
Urmm about two years. I remember hearing a song one day on the radio and I thought to myself how cool it would be to be able to do something like that. To like take the way I feel and pour it into a song for thousands of people to hear. So I first starting writing a couple of lyrics here and there and than starting playing music along with them and I’ve found myself hooked every since.
10. Do you like spending your free time writing music?
Yeah of course *laugh* It’s my passion writing music, it’s everything I’ve wanted to do, even during school I would find myself writing songs rather than paying attention in lessons, which of course would get me into trouble but it was all worth it *laugh*
11. What has your favourite moment so far?
During my last gig, I decided to stop singing to see if the audience would carry on and they did, it was a tremendous overwhelming feeling, I almost broke down in tears on stage *laugh*
12. Tell me about your first gig?
As anyone else would be I was incredibly nervous, I was struggling to get into my normal flow of playing music, but after I played a couple of songs I really got into it. The audience seemed to be enjoying my music so I took that as a hint to keep playing as well as I was. But when it was over a sense of relief flew through me but I loved the feeling of being on stage and I knew I wanted to do it all over again.
13. How hard is it to get into the industry?
Unfortunately I still haven’t been signed by a major label, but I really hope that one day I will be found as I really want to be able to play my music to hundreds maybe even thousands of people. I will just keep going at it, getting better and better along the way and hopefully one day I will be recognized.
14. What are your ambitions?
I aspire to be the musician that everybody can relate too and can use my music to find deep meaning and purpose. I also hope that maybe one day one of my songs could help someone to feel better about themselves or about their life and for them to realise that there is always a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.
15. What are your songs about?
Things which have affected me personally, things that mean a great deal to me and generally the things that have affected maybe other people so that they can relate to my songs.
16. Best piece of advice for any new musicians?
To be honest I’d just say keep going for it. Never give up on your dreams no matter how dark the trail looks.
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