Pop star Olivia O’Brien in concert in Sonoma on Dec. 11

‘I hate u, I love u’ and more|

Singer-songwriter Olivia O’Brien is familiar to millions of pop music fans thanks to her triple-platinum self-composed collaboration with fellow singer Gnash, “I Hate U, I Love U.” The Napa native is headed this weekend to Sonoma Valley to perform a fire relief benefit concert at Gundlach-Bundschu Winery on Dec. 11.

“I’m stoked to announce a killer and very unique benefit show in the barn,” said Jeff Bundschu. “Olivia is a local with a global following, a big voice and a bigger heart. She’s coming straight here after the last show of her tour to raise money for fire victims. Your teenage kids almost certainly know her so ask them to take you! It will be a great night for a great cause.”

O’Brien, now 18, has been singing and writing songs since she was 7 years old, and taught herself to play both guitar and piano.

She attended Justin-Siena High School in Napa but left after the first semester of her junior year.

She had been posting her original songs on SoundCloud for fun, not thinking anything would come of it, until singer/rapper/songwriter Gnash reached out on Twitter in 2015, after hearing her cover one of his songs. Midyear, when he asked her if she had any original material, O’Brien sent him a voice-note of the beginnings of “I Hate U, I Love U,” which she wrote at age 15.

She left Justin-Siena once her song became a hit, she says, because her relationships with some of her classmates became more difficult “after the song became popular.”

Gnash invited her down to Los Angeles to record and the song rose quickly through the Billboard rankings and ended up a top five hit.

O’Brien has just released a debut EP, “It’s Not That Deep” via Island Records. The record includes the new singles “No Love,” “RIP” and “Empty,” plus two new tracks, “Tequilawine” and “F%^& Feelings.”

“These songs are based on what I’ve felt, experienced, and observed from the time I’ve spent in the past year in L.A.,” said O’Brien about her new album. “I hope that my music can inspire people to be real and honest, which are the most important values for both my music and life. I want the focus of my career to be on the music and what I have to say... which gets lost sometimes in social media. I hope you can listen to these songs knowing that the words came from me and that I tried to put as many aspects of my life into this project. and most importantly, just don’t take the trivial aspects of life so seriously because ‘It’s Not that Deep!’”

O’Brien continues to write and record new songs with the goal of “creating music that people can identify with and enjoy. I’m looking forward to releasing more music and showing who I am as an artist and songwriter.”

In terms of who she is listening to and influenced by, she says that SZA is her favorite artist right now.

“She inspires me endlessly and I would love to work with her,” she said. “Someone I’ve looked up to for years also is Kehlani... I’ve been listening to her since before I ever made music and she definitely influenced a lot of my early stuff.”

She has just finished the final weeks of her first major U.S. tour, opening for the duo Jack & Jack. The seven-week tour, which opened Oct. 23 in Fort Lauderdale, will wrap up Dec. 10 in Los Angeles. The next night, Dec. 11, she will be performing at GunBun, “to bring hope to the people of this region and inspiration to others to continue participating in relief efforts.”

While her closest friends did not lose their homes, a few of her mom’s close friends did.

“One of my mom’s friends had to take shelter in her pool for hours and hours while she watched her house burn down and could barely breathe from the smoke,” she said. “It is absolutely terrifying and breaks my heart that so many people had to go through such traumatic experiences and lose everything they have.”

While O’Brien doesn’t get back to Napa often, she enjoys being home for Christmas.

“That’s enough for me because it makes it more special and I look forward to it a lot,” she said. “I get to see most if not all of my friends from home and do everything I used to do... which, in such a small town, doesn’t take up a whole lot of time.”

Up next? She says, “I am ready to take a break from touring and focus on writing and being by myself. I’m going to release an album soon and I want it to be perfect.”

She is moving forward with her career without looking back.

“The most surprising thing to me is the fact that I did not finish school and am OK with that,” she said. “College is an amazing thing for either preparing for a career you want that requires a degree or for figuring out what it is that you even want to do in life... but I already know what I want to do and it doesn’t require a degree. I am doing what I love and I think it is a blessing that I know what I want at such a young age and am doing just that.”

O’Brien said that while her life has changed dramatically since moving to L.A., she doesn’t feel famous.

“I am one of the little guys,” she said. “I know many people who are much further along than myself and their fame is at an entirely different level. I do not get paparazzi, I do not go to award shows, I don’t really do red carpets. I just make music and a few people know who I am. That’s how I like to think of it, despite some people fervently believing that I blew up and am now some crazy stuck up famous person.”

O’Brien said that now that she is living every day among truly famous people, she has been struck by how uncool and unimportant it all is.

“Fame is a social construct and honestly, it’s nothing to be jealous of,” she said. “I’ve seen people do some pretty disgusting things to stay relevant in pop culture and that’s probably the worst part of it all. The only really good thing, in my opinion, is the ability to have your words touch hundreds or thousands or even millions of minds and make an impact on people. That is a power that is truly a gift and should be used to better the world, which I intend to do as I gain more success and influence.”

All of the proceeds from tickets, fees and wine sales of the Dec. 11 concert will go to Napa Valley Community Foundation and Sonoma County Resilience Fund.

Concert begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 at atticketfly.com/purchase/event/1589714.

Email lorna.sheridan@sonomanews.com.

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