The young singer has made a name for herself on social media in recent years
Olivia Diaferia, lead-singer of popular Liverpool band XL Poncho(Image: Liverpool Echo)
One of the rising stars of Liverpool’s music scene, Olivia Diaferia has opened up on how “struggling in social situations” has helped her make a name for her band, XL Poncho, in the local music scene.
They are yet to release an album, but Olivia’s XL Poncho are already making a name for themselves in Liverpool thanks to their lead-singer’s TikTok presence. Over the last year, her TikTok followers have become familiar with her trademark upbeat, extroverted personality that sees her document her social life as well as giving glimpses of the band’s music.
Olivia said that away from her on-screen personality, she has “struggled” to fit in over the years. The 22-year-old told the ECHO: “I do struggle in social situations, sometimes I don’t know what to say, or sometimes I say too much. I get overwhelmed very very easily.
“I think that’s why I love going on nights out, people think that I’m a huge party animal, but it’s partly because when I’m listening to music and on the dance floor, I can just think clearly, and I can bring the energy and be bubbly. I feel like when you’ve only got the beat, the rhythm, and the instruments to listen to, it’s easier to feel more like myself.”
Olivia said that she isn’t always as confident as she appears(Image: Liverpool Echo)
While music has allowed her to “feel more herself” in recent times and plays a huge role in her life at the moment, Olivia said that it wasn’t until fairly recently that her love of music started to grow.
She said: “I was in a music lesson in school, and I was on the computers, and I was definitely not doing the work I was supposed to be doing, I was on YouTube listening to music. And the song Green Eyes by Erykah Badu came on. It’s like a 10-minute-long song, and I listened to it in full, and I was just like, ‘Oh my goodness, like this is absolutely amazing.’ I think my mind was blown, because I was just so used to indie music.”
Her interest in pursuing a career in music ignited, Olivia began studying at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.. She said: “I always wanted to be in a band, but I just didn’t know how to get it to materialise. So that’s why I was like, ‘Right, I’m doing music in uni because I need to find some musicians.'”
By her second year in uni, she had started her solo career, but her frustrations began to grow as she travelled down to London to meet “industry people”, who had advised her to change genre and started working with producers, leaving her feeling out of her “depth and out of control”.
A conversation on the bus home from uni with her friend Matty Price-Jones started to change everything. She said: “It wasn’t until I was getting the bus back with my friend Matty, and we were kind of both experiencing the same struggles, and we thought ‘You know what? Why don’t we write some music together?’ I hadn’t even thought about it, because Matty had been in bands for years, in rock bands, and he loves progressive rock and really heavy stuff.
She said that one of her biggest musical influences is Erykah Badu (Image: Liverpool Echo)
“That was completely the opposite of what I’m into, but somehow, it just worked really, and we met over the summer to write some stuff, and it was just an instant connection. I think it’s crazy having that musical chemistry with someone, because I’ve definitely had writing sessions before where I’ve tried to write with other people, and as standalones, but together it just doesn’t work. But with me and Matty, it’s just great.
Since Matty and Olivia started the band a year ago, they’ve added Mathew Kuelemans on bass and Sam Reynolds on drums. In that time the band have gained considerable popularity in Liverpool, playing gigs at the Sound City Festival, Rough Trade [Liverpool] and Band on the Wall in Manchester as well as various other locations across the city.
A significant part of the band’s quick rise in Liverpool’s music scene can be put down to their social media presence, which even pre-dates the band itself. For Olivia, it was clear even before starting the band that if she wanted her music to get noticed, then she had to have a presence on TikTok. She said: “At first I was doing singing videos [on TikTok], but it’s really difficult to maintain consistency with that, and I know TikTok likes you to post so many times a day. So I just thought, ‘Oh, I’ll showcase a bit of my personality and see what sticks really.’
She hinted that the band could soon reach a major milestone(Image: Liverpool Echo)
After starting TikTok while she was in uni, since forming XL Poncho, Olivia has further utilised the social media app to help draw attention to the band’s music by releasing videos of them performing their songs in various locations across the city. However, she said Tiktok also comes with its disadvantages.
She said: “Sometimes it’s a bit bittersweet because people will leave nasty comments and be like, ‘Oh, you know, she’s on TikTok. She thinks she can be a musician now,’ like as if TikTok came first, but it was always music. I’m grateful to social media, without it I would not have have the platform that I’ve got, and I would not have people wanting to come to gigs and wanting to hear our music.”
Looking towards the future, Olivia said that the band could soon meet a major milestone.
She said: “I struggle to think about the future, I’m like, ‘What’s happening right now?’ So I think we’re all just getting our ducks in a row and trying to figure out how we’re going to get some tunes out. We’re doing this all independently without a record label or any help, so that’s been a lot of hard work. But I think once our music does get on the the DSPs [Digital Streaming Platforms], everyone will feel super relieved and super proud.”