Oly's music career started at the age of 2 when she used to write songs for her mother on a toy piano.

"[My mom] thought I was just being a little kid, like 'La, la, la,' you know, just singing whatever," Oly recalls, "but then I would sing the same song over and over again and she started to think, 'Wait a minute-that's a song.'"

Fast-forward two decades. After playing guitar and bass in indie rock bands throughout her teens and early twenties, Oly returned to working by herself. "Considering I was writing everything like drums and bass and vocals, it just kind of became normal to play alone," she says. When her first guitar, a Danelectro Silvertone, was stolen, Oly was too sad to buy another one, so she turned to the keyboard for solace. "I felt like I was getting engulfed by cock rock, which is the stupidest thing to say, but all my friends were always raving about guys and their guitars and I was getting tired of it," she says, laughing.

Encouraged by her jazz vocal teacher and by singer and songwriter Cody Chestnutt, whom she met briefly at Miami Beach's annual Winter Music Conference, Oly began performing her new solo music for larger audiences. After gaining a following for her live and DJ sets, the south Florida native moved to Chicago, where there were more opportunities for shows and she could focus on writing. Since relocating, Oly has opened for M83, DJ Spooky and one of her favorite bands, Dat Politics. She's also collaborated and toured with Deceptikon and has worked on songs for Taiwanese artist Mochipet and French musician Khoral.

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