Melbourne-based singer-songwriter Mike O’Dowd has been celebrating the release of his stunning and poetic debut album, One Lover Leaves which has put him forward as an artist to keep an eye on. The record takes you on a journey of love and heartbreak, sang with soul and beauty with a tone of reflection. Futuremag’s Patrick Staveley chatted with the artist on his debut album, musical influences and touring goals.

FMM: How long did the process of getting the album out take?

Mike: I’m glad I sort of took my time because when I listen back to it I think it’s,  I can’t see any massive holes. There’s things I can definitely do better now that I’ve learnt a lot. I’m in a different place now. I think the writing took maybe about two years and maybe about two years in the studio but it’s kinda hard to gauge because it was all during covid so there was about six canceled sessions in a row that I had in Melbourne which was a nightmare. Kind of a long process made longer by Covid but yeah I feel like now after doing that I could count the second one in like six months. 

FMM: Obviously covid affected the music industry massively, how did it affect you personally?

Mike: It was definitely a bit of a struggle for me because I was living overseas a lot beforehand and came back around covid time. I was in certain cities, and k was kind of alone so I always had music and so no writing as like a therapy when I didn’t have anything else to do really. When we were locked down having music was more therapeutic so yeah I did a lot of writing during Covid and I found it really helpful. That being said writing songs and stuff and trying to record and get your name out, it has made it difficult. Also getting gigs is a little bit more difficult than what it was pre-Covid. To try and make money to put that in recording was definitely a struggle. It sort of makes things longer if you’re an emerging artist as well.

FMM: Have you had the opportunity to play in any aus festivals or any ambitions to do so soon?

Mike: Yeah that’s the dream. That’s what I’m trying to jump into now. So just playing smaller gigs. I’ll have a whole bunch that will be announced for sort of end of November, December and then you know just continuing on to play more and more and build it. Then yeah build to those festivals and just as many gigs as I possibly can. Because I was away and recording when I was back, my résumé’s not fantastic. You really have to be playing a lot and proving yourself so I’m just keen to play as much as I can again. Solo and then with a band as well, I’ve been trying to put a band together in Melbourne so as soon as that comes together that’ll open more doors. 

FMM: One of the big things about trying to make it in the music industry is that it’s such a grind. How’s your work-life balance?

Mike: I think it’s healthier if you’re a songwriter. If you can split it between the songwriting which is a quiet room introspective sort of thing and then on tour - the excitement and atmosphere and everything like that, if you can do that I feel like one sort of serves the other. It is a balancing act (on tour). It is a grind but it’s so much fun. There’s nothing like it. I would kill to have a whole month of gigs, that’s great when you can’t get it in. 

FMM: I couldn’t pinpoint any particularly glaring similarities you share with other artists. Who are some of your influences on your music?

Mike: That’s awesome, that’s the ultimate goal (to be unique from others). I’ve had people ask me to compare it to different artists so I think that’s a good thing. I try not to lead anybody to different artists so that’s fantastic. I think some of my influences are really good singer-songwriters so more like the craft, not necessarily the style. But people like (Bob) Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Townes Van Zandt. Yeah I just like that. So really just top of their game, singer-songwriters, lyrics, all that sort of stuff. Songs that just stand up if they’re acoustic or with a band, whatever it may be. So I think my goal is to be a big singer-songwriter.

FMM: When listening to this, you come across as a really good storyteller through your lyrics. Does this come naturally to you in some way or is it something that you’ve had to work on to build up to what it is now?

Mike: Songwriter-wise, if you’re having a lot of life experience - and that’s why I wanted to travel a lot when I was a little bit younger and experience as much as I could to be able to do that - but I’m still getting there now. The new batch that I’m writing for the second record is you know, more experienced and just refined and honed a lot more. There’s a lot of work but I really enjoy doing it and almost obsess over the lyric writing and songwriting.

FMM: I felt a lot of peacefulness listening to this record, you can transport yourself to somewhere calming while listening. What’s the most powerful thing about writing music for you? Is it the ability to express yourself in these ways or the ability to make others feel something from your art?

Mike: Yeah it’s definitely more selfish. I think the first impulse is more selfish because a lot of these when I listen to I can picture exactly where I was when I was writing those songs and a lot of times it’s when I’m sort of travelling, empty apartment whatever it may be. Yeah I don’t know, I think it’s more like therapy or it’s more self serving. I think it kind of has to be, it has to be really personal. And it relates to everybody else because everybody goes through basically the same emotions or experience or something like that on some level. So as long as it’s true and it’s coming from that place I think it relates to other people. 

FMM: One of the big themes throughout the record is heartbreak. Is it something that’s hard to kind of reflect back on when you’re writing or is it easy?

Mike: You’re definitely sort of working through it and I think unless you have some way to reflect and work through experiences like that in life, you can’t really move on. To me it was just a case of you know really reflecting on it and obsessing over it and trying to put something into a song that I was feeling at the time. Then after doing that you sort of take the power out of it and kind of heal yourself in a certain way.