Q&A: meet Via, one of Melbourne’s delightful soul singers

Melbourne singer Olivia Rizzo, aka Via, has recently dropped her new single Fears Came True and we couldn’t resist but to add it straight into our new soul playlist. This song has a lot of emotions coming through from the lyrics right through to the passion behind every trill and cry.

Although her 2020 single drop has a heavy neo-soul feel, she actually began her music journey belting genuine ballads. Breathe Again, her debut single, is incredibly emotive but a hugely different vibe to her recent drop. Her new music holds close to her roots and you can really hear where her powerful voice comes from. So versatile, geddit girl.

Via describes her songs to be like her own personal journal entries, “straight from the heart”. Such vulnerability in showcasing the world what’s on her mind and how she feels about aspects of her life. If I were to share my journal entries the world would be hearing something like “day 157 in insolation, that b**ch Jessica still owes me $10”.

We had a chat with Via about her new release, her Narnia wardrobe and what’s coming up later in the year for her.

Heres a little snippet of our conversation:

Who is Via, where did the name come from?

Trying to come up with a stage name was so hard! I was brainstorming for months and months with countless hit and misses. When I was little, my grandfather used to call me Via, as its derived from my name, Olivia. My mum actually suggested it, haha. As soon as we thought of that, it just kind of stuck with me. It felt right.

Tell us about your third single “Fear came True”, what’s it about?

It’s about hindsight. Essentially it’s about that feeling when you enter a situation a little bit hesitant and in the end, everything you were worried about comes to light. Literally, your fears come true. It’s the most frustrating feeling, and it’s the most frustrating feeling in the face of love and heartbreak. To have everything you were worried about actually unfold in front of you.
My songs might as well be my journal entries, they are straight from my heart, and this song came at a time of a lot of confusion, anger and grief for me. So what I tried to do was let my audience feel the trepidation in the song. I think as a listener, you can feel there are a lot of unanswered questions, and that’s so common when a relationship breaks down. Have you been taking me for granted? Why did I forgive you so many times? Could you have been a better person or was I just blind? What was real?

What was it like to create this track?

So much fun! This song came after a very long period of writer’s block for me, it kind of came out of the blue. I was in my car trying to make a beat with the rhythm of my indicator when the line first two lines of the song came to my head. I pulled over on the side of the road and scribbled it down, rushed home and I had it finished within the hour. I contacted my producer, Rino, pretty quickly after that and we were in the studio not long after. Before Fears Came True I had always written ballads, this song was so exciting because it felt like I was really starting to find a bit of a niche with my sound.

What’s one thing in your house that if I were to walk in would be like “lol wtf, that’s so random”?

The first thing you see when you walk into my house is a giant armoire, which is essentially a wardrobe, and it looks like the one from Narnia. We’ve always kept it empty, so as a kid I was always sceptical about whether Narnia is actually in there or not.

If you could have anyone in the world serve you lunch who would it be and why?

Purely so I had the chance to talk to him, Al Pacino, because he’s the coolest. I have always had so much admiration and respect for that man as an artist. Except I would feel way too awkward with him serving me… can he have lunch with me instead?

What’s your favourite festival or concert moment and why?

I went to a Sam Smith concert with my sister while he was doing his In the Lonely Hour tour. He was explaining how he wrote the album during a time of heart break and was explaining how much he was hurting during that time. He then took a breath, and said that he doesn’t sing these songs for himself anymore, now he sings it for his audience, to help us heal, grieve, feel. I remember that resonated so deeply with me. Even more so now with the release because I don’t feel the same way I used to when I wrote this song. It’s not for me anymore, now it’s for you guys.

If you were running for Prime Minister of Australia, what would your slogan/catchphrase be?

You’d think as a songwriter, I would have some cool rhymes to answer this question with. I decided to draw some inspiration from Post Malone and use a slogan generator and it came up with: “If only everything in life was as reliable as Via!” haha.

Can we expect any more music from you in the near future?

Yes, yes YES! I’m planning another single drop very soon and an EP to follow soon after. There has been a lot in the works over the past year, I’m so excited to share it with you guys!

Yes girl we are so keen to hear this EP! We love Via’s drive and passion for music and the journey she’s embarked on. Can’t wait to see where it takes her.

Check out Via’s song below or head to our Sunday’s R 4 The Soul 🎷playlist to hear more songs like this one.

By Samuel Seedsman.