Olivia Kaplan

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Olivia Kaplan came to music through the American folk and jazz standards swimming throughout her childhood. At 13 she started writing songs on her dad’s Guild acoustic and has dedicated herself to the craft with ever-growing acuity since. After pursuing a formal vocal and music education in high school and college, she left a conservatory level jazz program at McGill University in Montreal and made her way back home to record her own songs, while getting her degree in ethnomusicology at UCLA.

Olivia has self-released two EPs, Goddamn, I Miss You (2014) and At the Seams (2018), and singles “Comfort Food” (2019), and “What You Want” (2020). 2021 finds her embarking on a new chapter with single “Wrong”, a warm and bouncing groove dedicated to everyone trying their best to find balance in devastation and absurdity. The track features Buck Meek (Big Thief) on guitar.

Olivia Kaplan's debut full-length album, Tonight Turns To Nothing (2021), introduces this dazzling songwriter to a musical landscape primed for her ease and duality. In 11 songs, she reflects on the pitfalls of modern intimacy and her own personal defeats with a measured self-awareness, melancholy and wit. The songs were written and recorded during the off hours of her side-hustle as a waitress in Los Angeles and made in the garage studio of the album’s producer and her band-mate, Adam Gunther. While the unmistakable anchor of Kaplan’s music is her rich, smoky voice and cathartic storytelling, her songs are elevated by inspired production choices, delicate arrangements, and the musicianship of the people in the room: including drummer Jorge Balbi (Sharon Van Etten), Alex Fischel (Spoon), and Buck Meek (Big Thief). The album was mixed by Joseph Lorge (Perfume Genius, Phoebe Bridgers).