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ec 1st. 2024. Dingle. OLIVE HATAKE is coming to t
he close of his second show at Other Voices, the penultimate date of a tour in support of his BOYS NEED LOVE album. The place is, to put it mildly, jumping. Just as album and set closer PLEASURE PEAK is about to reach a crescendo there’s a thud and sudden silence as his laptop lies on the floor with a smashed screen. It’s all beautifully chaotic, punk rock in electronic form. Nonetheless, his first experience of the Kerry event (having already played OV Wales earlier in the year) was memorable. “Dingle was special,” he says. “Dingle was very, very special. It was such a beautiful experience that I can’t really put it into words... All I can really say is that I’m grateful to have experienced that, to have played in front of that crowd and just to have been able to share my music with them.” And smash your laptop? “And smash the laptop... of course”. That was now, but how about then. When did he start making music? “Around like eight or nine. My sister bought me a guitar. I was a huge fan of Ed Sheeran, still am to this day. I bought it in Smyths, but I didn’t know how to play it. So I used to mute the strings, just strum along with whatever song it was. I played video games too much when I was younger, like way too much. So my sister said let’s get you out of the house, and she took me to guitar lessons. The teacher asked what songs I wanted to learn. I went, Ed Sheeran, like every Ed Sheeran song”. This would lead to his first, albeit reluctant, performance. “My guitar had this Simpsons flame on it, it was so cringey. I still have it to this day. I remember I was nervous about it. I was like, no man. I don’t wanna perform, I don’t want people to see my Simpsons guitar. It’s so embarrassing. But, yeah, I did that.” It was only the start. “I started using GarageBand on my iPhone and I would just record songs, covers. But I didn’t know what I was doing.” Soon he would become exposed to the kind of music that would inspire his sound.”I was a huge EDM fan on the low. Nobody knew about it. deadmau5, Martin Garrix, Afrojack, DJ Snake, Diplo.” That wasn’t just it though. “I grew up on Michael Jackson, so much Michael Jackson. I listened to a lot of pop when I was younger like The Vamps, Hannah Montana, JLS, Jason Derulo, 5 Seconds of Summer, Big Time Rush because I watched a lot of the Disney Channel. I feel one thing with Americans is when it comes to entertainment and music, they do it at such a high standard. That’s where that mentality formed now as I’m getting older in terms of writing music.” There was to be one formative moment when he was seventeen, studying for his Leaving Cert and preparing to study medicine. “Someone told me about Eden. I had no idea who he was, they were like, bro, you gotta go listen to this album Vertigo. I think I was like one of the last three or four people left 16 “My guitar had this Simpsons flame on it, it was so cringey. I still have it to this day.”