What's Wrestling Got To Do With It?

Why storytelling is important for artists

Hi hi hi hello hello hello

Before we get into the meat of this email—

EXCITING NEWS EVERYONE!

The first single off my debut album — Typical Forever, a concept album about geology — is coming out NEXT WEEK, on August 9th!

‘Earthquake Room’ is an quirky indie pop song about a date at London's Natural History Museum's earthquake simulator. Fans of pop outliers like Jens Lekman, Regina Spektor and David Byrne will enjoy this one.

I know I harp on about how I don’t use Spotify, but if that’s your music listening platform of choice, then pre-save the song here:

And for the rest of you, hold tight!

🪄 UPCOMING GIGS

Some fun things coming up for GEOLOGISTS and PEOPLE IN KENT/SUSSEX. And I’m sure there’s an overlap there, too.

The London date has two performances because one of them is part of a conference and one is just an evening concert. Well worth looking into which one you’d prefer to go to! The society is also offering a limited number bursaries to help people attend.

Brighton, 8th August: Kowloon Cowboy + Friends, The Pipeline | FREE/PWYC

Folkestone, 17th August: Compass Music Festival, Location TBC | FREE ENTRY

London, 17th September: Earth’s Canvas: Exploring Geology in Creativity Conference @ The Geological Society, Burlington House | TICKETS

London,17th September: Earth’s Canvas: The Concert @ The Geological Society, Burlington House | TICKETS

👊 Betrayal

The curtain swept back.

Out stepped a man in a maroon suit. I would soon come to know this swaggering gentleman as Tate Mayfairs. He was sporting a ‘dress-shoes-no-socks’ look which is very… Essex man at a wedding, lets say. On each shoulder he bore a shining wrestling belt, which would have been impressive but by the end of the day I learned that quite a lot of wrestlers had belts, and liked to tout them around. His swagger, his sunglasses, his machismo established him as a ‘heel,’ what they call an antagonist in wrestling.

To boos and a salute of raised middle fingers he descended the stairs and entered the ring, shaking his head and taking it all in.

Silence descended as he was passed the microphone.

‘WHY.’

The jeers started again.

‘WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME,’ he elaborated.

‘YOU CALL ME NAMES. YOU BOO AT ME. YOU LOOK AT ME WITH DISGUST,’ he swept the audience and focused intently on the small group of guys who were joyfully leading the charge. ‘YOU CALL ME NAMES, LIKE “SHIT JOEY ESSEX,” OR “WETHERSPOONS CARPET.” WHAT HAVE I EVER DONE TO DESERVE THIS?’

We got a short monologue from Shit Joey Essex, until our hero (the ‘face’??? I believe that’s the term???) materialised: good old Eddie Dennis from Wales.

‘I SEE YOU TATE MAYFAIRS!’ Eddie called out as he climbed into the ring.

At this point I realised that Tate had most likely looked at a map of London and selected two popular tourist spots for his wrestling name. In which case, call me Wembley Croydons.

Eddie berated Mayfairs for his oversized ego, and they had a very emotionally-involved conversation about how Tate had driven Eddie to the hospital one time and was a good guy deep down, really. A lot of pointing and bad acting. But it seemed like we were getting a moment of reconciliation! Oh, how lovely!

Clearly this was my first wrestling match.

After the wrestlers hugged it out Eddie turned to look out at the audience. Tate, like a pantomime villain, took out a knuckle duster and held it aloft for all to see, before sliding it over his hand. We shouted! Look out, Eddie!!!

Wrenching up his face, Tate slugged Eddie on the back of the head.

Eddie went down. The crowd exploded in anger. People rocked in their chairs, shouted and threw up their hands, while Eddie lay on the ring floor, eyes closed and still as a stone.

The uproar settled. Tate flexed his punching fist. We were defeated.

A voice cried limply, “why have you done this.”

‘I’M THE HERO, EDDIE NEVER DESERVED YOUR LOVE,’ gloated the Wetherspoons Carpet.

He picked up his belts and swept out of the ring, leaving his friend out cold.

I turned to James and Geremi who I’d come to the wrestling match with. Geremi’s eyes lit up and said, ‘Lore drop!’

We’d just been handed a healthy dose of lore in this wrestling world. The background to these characters which would eventually fuel a match later on.

See, when it comes to wrestling, you cheer harder when there’s a back story.

🏰 Lore, In Your Inbox

I will tell anyone and everyone about how useful having a newsletter is, as an artist. In lieu of a stage where I can act out my grievances with Tate Mayfairs, I have an email which lands in everyone’s inbox weekly, giving them a better idea of who I am as a musician and why I do what I do.

I started this newsletter out as a way to share my thoughts about geology, from a songwriter’s perspective. And I ended up sharing demos of songs on here, too. These thoughts and songs became the basis of my debut album, which comes out in March.

I’ve written this newsletter for over 2 years now, and have just crossed the 100 posts mark. Sometimes I wondered, in the midst of writing and sharing all my thoughts about my embryonic album: am I sharing too much, too soon? Will people be bored by the time the music comes out?

Ladies and gentlethems, the answer is no.

These weekly emails became my mission statement, developed and then repeated over and over. People soon understood what I was about. Why I was writing songs about geology. What kind of music to expect. And they understood the emotional story behind it.

So, by the time it comes out, people wanna hear the songs. Just like how we wanna see the showdown between Eddie Dennis and Tate Mayfairs.

When you know more, you care more.

🎤 It’s Comments Time! I Wanna Hear From YOU

1. Have you ever seen a live wrestling match and DO YOU LOVE IT AS MUCH AS I DO

2. Do you currently write a newsletter? How is it going for you? Do you want to start one?

3. If you were a wrestler what song would you want to walk out to?

Want more? Check out some ways you can support me & my music:

• buying my music on Bandcamp

• forwarding this newsletter to a friend!

• and if you haven’t already, subscribe:

Til next time! Be good,

Olivia 🌈✨🏔🎶