We got to chat with the rising pop-rock outfit from Australia, Ojay, about their latest release "December Snow".
1. Can you start by telling us who's behind the name Ojay?
"To our best recollection, the story of Ojay's name goes something like this:
The four of us had taken an illicit, hallucinogenic substance which will remain unnamed. One of us believed he had morphed into a glass of orange juice, and started shouting "I am OJ"! It didn't take long before we all followed suit and started chanting "We are OJ, we are Ojay!" And I guess that's how the name stuck ;)"
2. What made you all want to pursue a music career? (each member if possible)
Condo: For as long as I can remember I was obsessed with music - couldn't go anywhere without my little guitar. My mum still reminds me that I used to fall asleep to Green Day's Bullet In A Bible live DVD every night from the age of 4. I remember watching them play live on that DVD and just saying "I'm going to do that one day".
Sully: After playing music for so long, and after playing in so many bands over the years I’ve never lost my love for playing music compared to many other hobbies that I have tried and lost interest in, my passion for music has never slowed down.
Skills: I was never a creative kid, couldn’t draw or paint and even my handwriting skills were very average, but once I found music it’s like I found a way to express myself, I started when I was younger (around 12) and played for a couple of years but due to the family moving into a smaller house I couldn’t take the drum kit with me and it felt like I lost a piece of myself, but thankfully my mum bought me a new kit on my 21st birthday and I haven’t been able to get off the thing since!
Marshy: Absolutely love getting on stage. Getting a bit silly, singing with the crowd, and just having the best time with the guys on stage. I was introduced to playing guitar by a free program they were running at my primary school! From the get-go I was hooked. My father purchased my first guitar soon after, which was a no brand bass guitar for $50.
3. What can you tell us about your new track 'December Snow'?
"December Snow is our third standalone single after releasing our album "The Ride" earlier this year. Musically it is far different to anything we've released in the past, putting our typical high-energy output to the side for a slower waltz-like ballad. We've always had a massive range of influences spanning all genres, and those influences so often come out in our songwriting, but we often put those kinds of songs back on the shelf. This time we decided to just release it and see what happens.
Lyrically the song touches on a long distance love shared over the holiday season. Being from Australia we've always experienced a hot and sunny Christmas, while it seems like the rest of the world has a white Christmas. This song is our way of expressing that disconnect through a love-song."
4. Who are your main musical influences? (as a group or each member)
"We each have such a wide variety of influences, ranging from 80s hard rock and the 90s pop-punk scene, to classic rock, to modern day metal. We're even influenced by classic and new hip-hop, and the current pop scene - including the likes of Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift. We are all just obsessed with songs, regardless of what genre or who is gate-keeping it - we just want to listen to and write the best songs we possibly can."
5. What 2024 has in store for you?
"We have about 40 songs in the backlog right now. We want to just release them all right now, but we feel it is best to put them each out when the time is right, so you can expect 2024 to be another year of brand new Ojay.
We have a lot of exciting shows coming up at the start of 2024 already, including the Nannup Music Festival. We just want to keep being as active as possible and playing in front of as many of our friends as we can :)"
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