Strike A Chord
Singer Olivia Dean discusses the powerful emotional connection between football and family, women’s confidence around sports, and why summer is all about rounders in the park
By Al Greenwood
Illustration by Cat Sims
The worlds of sport and music are often compared, blurred and held parallel in emotional power. To explore this subject, I spoke to East London singer Olivia Dean, who shares her life-long love of West Ham FC, a more recent passion for rounders, and the fundamental ability of music and sport to bring people together.
A BRIT school graduate, and Amazon Music’s Breakthrough Artist 2021, Olivia has an eclectic music taste that shines through her music, which draws strong influence from soul and Motown. Although she is just 23, her music expresses a raw emotional depth that many artists fall short of across their whole career. Olivia’s seemingly inherent ability to marry intensity and playfulness through her work came across strongly throughout our call.
Prior to the interview, I shared my own experience with Olivia – how I came to find myself stepping out from behind the drum kit and writing on the subject of women’s sport. When my touring schedule took a hiatus due to Covid, it was through exercise and moving that I found most fulfilment and sense of purpose. Yet the conversations that surround the world of sport and “fitness” are all too often daunting and intimidating – preoccupied with body image, rather than the simple joy of movement itself. This immediately struck a chord with Olivia. “When I was approached to do this, I wouldn’t use the word nervous but I thought, ‘Am I even qualified to speak on this subject?’ But as I thought about it, sport actually has played a big role throughout my life. I’ve always loved football. Growing up, I went to West Ham games with my dad – he had a season ticket and always took me along. And I love playing rounders once a week with my mates. But I think sometimes, as a woman, you feel a sense of insecurity if you start to talk about sport.”
The parallels between Olivia’s experiences and my own are manifest, and after some reflection Olivia continued: “Thinking about it, what is it about sport? Throughout my life, why has it been a constant theme? Maybe it’s a cliché, but it really has been at times that have brought people together in my life. Whether that’s connecting with my dad by going to football games together every week, or inviting all my mates round to watch a big boxing fight.”
From here I asked about Olivia’s playlist, and for her to pick out a few key tracks for us to discuss. She was quick to assert: “They’re quite random, but they link to stories that are important to me. The first track is my own song called Password Change. I wrote it the day after the England World Cup game. I’d had a massive argument with my boyfriend during the match, but the situation was so intense, in the pub with all our mates trying to watch the game, so it was a case of, ‘We need to both park this right now. This is more important.’ It was interesting that when it came out I did get a few sarky comments, younger guys saying stuff like, ‘Oh, you should not shut up when the football is on,’ and you just think, ‘You’re really missing the point.’ That was quite frustrating, but that song did connect with a lot of people and I’m really proud of it.”
I know the song Olivia is referencing well, and was keen to learn about the process behind the music video – which recreates the scene that played out in the pub. The contrast between the carnival-like atmosphere of a pub during a World Cup game and the tension depicted between the couple is incredibly captured. Olivia reflected:
“I wanted to recreate exactly what happened. So we went to a pub in Stepney Green. It really captured a moment in time. That summer was just incredible – the heatwave, the World Cup, it felt like everyone was having an amazing time, but then there was me and my boyfriend in the middle of it, so I wanted to depict that whole atmosphere. In the video we recreated exactly what happened.”
Nods to the world of football and fandom permeate Olivia’s music, and this led us to the second key song from her playlist. Olivia’s capacity for storytelling once again captivated me as she set the scene: “2011: Rizzle Kicks had just come out and I was obsessed with the song Down With The Trumpets. I was on the back of the bus with my dad, going to the old West Ham ground, Upton Park. I played it to him and he said, ‘Liv, what’s this? Love it.’ I Bluetoothed it, because my phone was gonna die and we wanted to keep listening – that’s what you did back then – and we played it the whole bus journey. And now that’s just a very specific song I associate with going to the game.
CONNECT
We always used to go to the same pub, the Black Lion, before a match and have drinks with dad’s mates and my uncle Jed – who’s not really my uncle but more my football uncle. At the ground, we’d go to a specific corner that was pretty rowdy and you would never sit down. I went to a game recently, and everyone was sitting down eating popcorn and it made me feel really sad. Back then, you would stand up and sing the whole game and my dad would put me on his shoulders. We’d sit by the corner flag, so whenever someone from the other team took a corner, all the other supporters would be swearing, and I was so young, I’d be shouting, ‘You smell like poo!’ It was so much fun and I’m glad my dad took me along and made it our thing. He could have easily just taken my brother and I would have stayed at home, but instead it was something the three of us did together.”
This all resonated with me so strongly. My own relationship with my dad has been inconsistent at times, and yet the routine of football facilitates a connection that runs far deeper than the game itself. In my life this has remained fundamental to our relationship, and, on hearing Olivia speak with such enthusiasm about her formative memories of West Ham with her family, I came to understand my passion for Manchester United as inseparable from the vehicle it has always offered myself and my dad to connect.
The final track that we discussed from Olivia’s playlist drew on the theme of connection, but through a different sport. American Boy by Estelle – despite it being a classic anthem of my high-school years, it was a post-lockdown memory that earnt this song its place on Olivia’s list, because of a very special association with rounders. “When lockdown restrictions eased in summer 2020 and you could meet outside, we used Whatsapp to organise a game of rounders. People could add any friends into the group chat and it really took off. We met once a week for a massive game, sometimes with 20 fielders, drinks, and we’d get a playlist going – the go-to song was American Boy. I don’t understand why people don’t play rounders more. It’s such a good time and forces you to get to know everyone. It was honestly the highlight of my summer and that’s always been the most important thing for me – bringing people together.”
The energy and excitement with which Olivia shared her stories and memories of sport struck me as the most compelling advert for its unifying power. I couldn’t help but recall the start of our conversation, and the reticence with which Olivia approached our conversation. I questioned Olivia on this and she reflected: “I feel like sport, as an environment, can be an intimidating place, and if you don’t have the language to discuss it, or if you don’t know loads, you have to prove so much. When you say you like football and guys reply, ‘Really? Well explain the offside rule?!’ Also, when you’re younger there’s so much more organised sport in school. And maybe girls feel like there are fewer teams to join. I was thinking of joining a five-a-side team, but there just aren’t half as many in my area as there are for guys.” I probed, how can we start to shift this for women and girls today? “I guess talking about things more openly and having conversations.”
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