What is your name?
Liv Austen
What is your genre of music?
Country/pop
Give us a little bio about you.
I was born in Norway but moved to the UK in 2010 for drama school. I started writing songs as a teenager and only properly started doing live shows after leaving drama school. I was discovered by a record label and signed in 2017, and have now released my second single since signing.
Tell us more about your music.
I love writing about real life. Whatever I feel like writing about that day, I try to be honest and direct in my lyrics. I take inspiration from both pop and country, and I feel my songs are a pretty good mix of both!
You are set to take the stage at C2C Festival 2018 (Country To Country) , how did that come about?
Yes! I am very excited! I applied to play and was so happy to finally get it again, I haven’t played it since 2015, but have gone to the festival every year since it first started in 2013. It’s great that the organizers are paying attention to what I am doing and giving me a platform again this year.
What can we expect from your set?
There is a bit of a tradition at c2c to play a cover to pay homage to other country acts, and I wanted to do that too – but I just have so many new songs I want to share with the audience that we can’t fit it in! So what you can expect is a great and fun show, filled with new, original songs.
Who are you looking for to watching when you have finished your set.
Clara Bond, she is fantastic.
You are set to release your new single , tell us more about it.
My new single is called Don’t Regret A Single One and is a song I wrote when I wanted to embrace the mistakes I’ve made in love in the past. It’s a bit of a feminist anthem!
What was the writing process like?
I wrote this one when I was feeling a bit sad about a guy who’d not treated me well, but when the chorus came to me and I got this idea that I’d learned something from every guy I’d met in my life, the rest of the song almost wrote itself and it became extremely cathartic.
What was the recording process like?
I recorded this with my producer Jon Wright at his studio and at a studio in North London called Copper Brown, it was super fun and easy. We knew exactly what we wanted to do with this one and made it quite rocky and fun.
Who did you work with on the single?
Jon Wright and I produced it together and he did guitars and bass, my violinist Gemma added strings to it and we got a great drummer called Stuart Pringle to drum on it. Ash Howes did the final mix and he is fantastic.
What is the message you are trying to tell us?
That you cannot exist without failure. If you want to live your life fully and learn anything at all you have to make mistakes. Also that you shouldn’t accept judgment from anyone, only you choose how you live your life and who you love.
What can you tease about your upcoming Album?
I have been working on it for the last year or so and we are still doing the finishing touches. I am dying for people to hear these songs, it is such a versatile mix!
Will we see any more shows or a tour maybe?
There will be plenty of shows this year, just keep an eye out on livausten.com/shows as that is constantly updated with the upcoming gigs! There will hopefully be a tour happening when the album comes out.
If so where will you be heading?
If I tour I would want to go all over the place, all around the UK and hopefully some European dates too. I think Norway, Netherlands and Germany are especially high up on my wish list.
What else can we expect from you?
I am also an actor, so look out, you may see me on the TV screen when you least expect it!
Are you a signed artist?
Yes!
Who are your influences?
Carrie Underwood, Carly Rae Jepsen, Kelsea Ballerini, Hanson and Shania Twain.
Where do you see yourself now in 5 Years?
Where do you see yourself in 5years?
I see myself touring a lot, hopefully on album 3 and writing for other artists too, maybe even producing!
When you’re not doing music, what do you do?
I act of course, I also love working out so you can find me in the gym most mornings. I love spending time with my boyfriend and my friends, and I am outside in nature the rare occasion a London girl gets to do that (it’s easier when I go back to Norway). You are also likely to catch me at a moment where I am binging on The Crown.
Where would your dream venue to play in your hometown?
I’d love to play Telenor Arena in Oslo – I’ve sung on that stage but only as a stand in at the Euro vision Song Contest!
Would you be up for collaborating with an unsigned artist or band? If so how can they contact you?
Absolutely! I am always interested in writing and collaborating with people. They can contact me through my website. Livausten.com/contact
What was the song you listened to most that influenced you to go more in to the music scene?
It’s hard to say what song precisely, but Alicia Keys was a huge inspiration for me to become a songwriter. Nora Jones really inspired me too, my voice sounded a bit like hers and it was so inspiring that people loved listening to someone who didn’t have a massive powerhouse diva voice, because I don’t!
Where is your dream festival to perform?
Glastonbury for sure, SXSW would be amazing too!
What made you go in to music?
I just instinctively wrote songs from such a young age, I don’t think I could help it. Also learning the piano from when I was young probably made me love it.
What’s the best advice you have ever been given?
You will play your own songs thousands of times, so make sure you love them.
What advice would you give to aspiring musicians not just about the industry also just as an artist/band?
Don’t waste your time thinking about branding, labels, managers, etc etc before you know who you are. Don’t be in a hurry, don’t ever compare your journeys with others’. Just write tons of songs, good and bad, and do tons of gigs – good and bad. Then you can start looking at the rest.
What quote or saying do you always stick by?
Go where you’re celebrated, not where you’re tolerated.
When you are at a gig, what are 5 things you cannot forget?
To warm up, to have a moment to myself before I go on, my set list, water, and hair spray!
You come off Tour
1/ Where is the first place you go?
My bed!
2/Who is the first person you see?
My best friend. My boyfriend yours with me so I don’t have to say him!
3/What is the first thing you eat.
Tacos – we Norwegians are crazy about homemade tacos.
Where is the go to place in your hometown?
I grew up in Oslo but my family mostly lives in Lillehammer (both in Norway) now. In Oslo id say the opera, you don’t even have to go inside- the outside is so amazing. In Lillehammer you must visit Nikkers, it’s the most Norwegian pub you’ll ever see.
Do you have social media accounts so your fans can follow you?
Yes! I am on Twitter and Instagram, Facebook.
