Check out our interview with London based duo Sunset Olive (Jihea Oh and Fiaa Hamilton), who recently released their vintage-tinged debut “Love Me More”.
Effortlessly fusing ‘70s funk vibes with a bold pop sound and dexterous bass licks, the empowering “Love Me More” lyrics reveal the intimate and often tricky journey of discovering self-love after traumatic experiences.
Describing themselves as a “two-member girl band striving for equality in music and culture”, Korean-born Jihea is one of the industry’s most sought-after bass masters, playing for the likes of Griff, Labrinth and Ellie Goulding across career-defining stages such as London’s O2 Arena, Wembley Stadium, Madison Square Garden and main stages of Coachella and Glastonbury Festival.
Follow Sunset Olive @sunsetolive_
Hi Fiaa, Jihea, please tell us a little about you?
Hey Naluda Mag! Firstly thank you so much for having us! Jihea is incredibly cool, kind and talented; Fiaa is also talented and kind but she’s also very bubbly. We are best friends doing what we love the most – music!
Describe yourself in 3 words?
Real, equal & groovy.
We’re sure you have been asked this million times but how did you get in the industry?
So Jihea started as bass session player and I started in a girl band, it wasn’t until Jihea began playing on records in studios and I began writing the songs I sang that both of us knew we wanted to do more of what a recording artist does as we were more performing musicians! As soon as we did know, there was no stopping us. We have spent the last year writing and preparing our band, we are just getting started in the music industry in a totally different way than what we are used to but it’s definitely for us!
How has this changed your life?
Sunset Olive has been a healing process, we started with heart ache and we are now feeling power and happiness to help others through music! We both trust each other and we are both kind and considerate of each other. We have taken the time to understand one another; we are both completely different so we have learnt so much from each other, but we do share the same heart which has been the most beautiful part of coming together in a band. It’s completely changed our life! We have grown musically and emotionally as individuals because of the band.
Describe your sound in 3 words?
Soulful, bouncy, groovy.
Who influenced you and why did you choose to make music?
We both have our own individual inspirations, like Fiaa loves Amy Winehouse and Jihea loves PJ Morten – but for our band, it has to be Silk Sonic and Beyoncé! We went to Vegas to see Silk Sonic and it was a show to remember. Beyoncé is empowering and we want our listeners to feel that from us too! We want to empower people and promote equality.
Tell us about your new single “Love Me More?”
We released it October 2022! It’s the first of many to come, we wrote it with JungleBoi, an incredible writer and producer, as well as up and coming producer and writer Pengwin. We had a lot of fun writing this song, it came at a time that we started to find self-love and that’s the message within the song. We also want to send a special thanks to BBC Introducing and Amazing Radio for their support with this single.
What’s the story behind the song?
Well Jihea had heartache and so did I! We had written so many sad songs but this song came at a time that we were finding strength and we wanted it to be an anthem of healing and putting yourself first – no more heartache we say!
What advice would you give to your younger self and why?
Fiaa: The younger me was scared, held herself back and let her thoughts get the better of her – so I would tell the younger me that your purpose is to be the observer in life, so live and make mistakes! Don’t let your thoughts hold you back, those thoughts are not you – your soul is you!
Jihea: I agree – we all put so much pressure on ourselves and it’s important to just be your true self.
Best advice ever given?
That you are not anything that you can change! Your body is not you, it’s a cage to get you through life so be kind and healthy with it. The thoughts in your head are not you! Your soul is you, so be true to who you are! You are unique, so stop comparing yourself to others and adding unnecessary pressure or expectations on yourself.
Do you support any charities?
This is an amazing questions, because we are currently in talks with finding the right charity to partner with. We have a lot to come regarding this but we do have one current charity that we have been brain storming with called Cultural Roots, and creatively thinking of beautiful ways to make change for those that need it! Fiaa has also done some ambassador work for Action For Children and Surrey County council’s children in care teams, as she grew up in care. Jihea has been a part of the church raising money and awareness to help others.
What’s next for Sunset Olive in the last months of 2022 and for 2023?
More singles, live shows and collaborations with charities!
Where we can follow you?
@sunsetolive_ on all platforms! TikTok, YouTube and Instagram are our most active profiles.
Quickfire – list your favorite!
Book: The bible ???? & Solve For Happy by Mo Gawdat – and The Big Magic! Ah we can’t stop!
Quote: “Fly away to the moon with your heart, fly away to stars with your art” – that might have been a lyric that’s to come hehe
Movie: Anything that’s not scary!
TV Series: We rarely watch TV, but Fiaa does have a guilty pleasure of Selling Sunset though!
Favorite Food: Korean fried Chicken and Olives!
Travel Destination: Hawaii! But we do love LA.
Sports Team: This is hard! I have this long-life joke with Jihea that she’s going to marry a sportsman, so I guess we will support whatever team Jihea ends up marrying into ahah!
Photo Credit: Max Giorgeschi
