West Wittering musician brings out new lockdown EP

West Wittering musician Ollie Belcher – performing under the name BOYA – has got a new EP out on Australian label Metal Postcard Records (metalpostcard.bandcamp.com).
Ollie BelcherOllie Belcher
Ollie Belcher

Ollie, an interior design student at Falmouth University, has put the lockdowns to good use for the release.

“I suppose the silver lining of the whole horrible situation is that it has given me time to really focus on the here and now. It has given me time to work on the songs and for me to be really creative. It has given me time to have that tunnel vision.

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“And fortunately I am in a really good head space. I always try to remember that there are people less fortunate than myself but also there are lots of people who are more fortunate.

“I used to play music a lot when I was younger but then I stopped for quite a while. I used to play county rugby, and then I started music again when I was about 17 and after that I took it more seriously from about 18. I have been doing it properly for a few years now.

“I had a friend who got me into it again. I have always played a variety of instruments, and he was just saying ‘Play with me!’ so I just thought I would give it a go again. I had a few lessons when I was really young, but I am pretty much self-taught. I have always been interested in the finger-picking artists and have just watched videos and YouTube and so on.

“But I don’t find my inspiration so much from other musicians. I went travelling to India and Sri Lanka and Nepal and listened to a lot of stuff and really got into meditation. Really, a lot of my inspiration is from the ambient sounds around me. It is ambient music. A lot of it is very experimental, very fluid. I try not to have a beat. I just want it to be really natural. I am just trying to steer away from all the barriers. Everything I have put out until now has been completely instrumental, but I would love to get more vocals. I just really like the process of taking in the sounds around me.”

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The EP has been released on Sean Hocking’s label in Sydney – a connection Ollie made through his father: “I got in touch and sent him some stuff and he really liked it, and it just went on from there really. He likes a lot of the ambient stuff so it was just a really happy situation.

“It does mean a few issues (the fact that Ollie is in West Wittering and Sean in Syndey), things like making contact which would be so much easier if he was in England or London. But I am quite independent in my thinking and he likes me to experiment as I want. I just send it to him and he gives me feedback. I am quite strong in knowing what I want to do so he is quite happy for me just to get on with it.”

The new EP is called Momentary Moments: “The idea of Momentary Moments is that it is what it defines. It is taking moments from memories. It has taken a while. I started it back in the summer, and the first I made is now the last song on the album. The whole album is about taking moments from my personal memories and from my life and honing them.

“I am now studying interior design at Falmouth University, and I really want to get into sustainability but also using Eastern philosophies and making conceptual work.

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“I want everything to be sustainable. I want to be able to make like experiential designs in my architecture and in my music… things like virtual reality where the music controls the waves around you.”

Bandcamp – https://metalpostcard.bandcamp.com/album/boya-momentary-moments (most recent album out)

Soundcloud – https://soundcloud.com/boyamusic (personal soundcloud)

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/ollie_belcher/ (profile)

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