Producer Livy, songwriter Gyuna and older sister of NewJeans' Danielle — Multiple hats haven't slowed down singer-songwriter Olivia Marsh as she pursues her own musical journey, becoming the first singer to debut under Warner Music Korea’s new label MPLIFY.

In fact, every step she took and every experience she had built up inside her to become the story that every singer needs to truly appeal to listeners, the recently debuted singer says.


“I’m honored to be known as Dani’s sister, and I think it’s only natural that that’s what I’m known as now,” Marsh told reporters in an interview held earlier this month at Warner Music Korea’s headquarters in southern Seoul, mentioning the NewJeans’ member by her nickname.

“She debuted way ahead of me and she’s doing so well,” Marsh said. “I’m very proud to be Dani’s sister. I’m happy, but I’ll also try hard to make good music and pave my own path.”

Marsh will release her first album on Thursday, four months after making her debut under Warner Music Korea’s MPLIFY label last October. Titled “Meanwhile,” the EP includes five tracks composed by Marsh over the past two years and is “a collage of different emotions” she felt during that time.

“I have so many demos saved onto my computer, but I decided to pull out the songs that I thought either had a story of their own or were related to me in some way,” Marsh said. “Some are related to special memories from the past or a certain event in my life. They’re quite different in style because I wanted it to be like a collage of different emotions for this album.”

All five tracks — double lead tracks “Strategy” and “Backseat” and B-side tracks “Waterworks,” “42” and “Pina Colada” — are in English. The singer was born in 2000 in Australia and lived most of her life there, until she decided to move and pursue a career in her mother’s country three years ago. She had been working as a composer for a content production company that specialized in short-form videos while juggling her freelance job as a songwriter.

She started composing music in 2023 under the name Livy, for when she writes either the lyrics or music, and uses the name Gyuna as a vocalist. She has also worked with some famed K-pop acts, including girl group Kep1er for its 2023 track “Happy Ending,” Loossemble for “Sensitive” (2023), BoA for “Emptiness” (2024) and Kiss of Life for “R.E.M” (2024).

It was last year “around March,” according to Marsh, when she met the CEO of MPLIFY and the executive producer at Warner Music Korea, Samuel Ku, at a group songwriting session.

“He watched me work and then later asked me whether I wanted to debut as a singer,” Marsh said. “I was so flattered by the offer, but I couldn’t say yes at that very moment. I’m a serious introvert, and I just didn’t feel confident about having pictures and videos of me posted everywhere. But it was also a chance I couldn’t pass on, so I said yes.”

It took her a few months to muster the courage after his offer. The two people that gave her the most confidence were her mother and her sister, the esteemed NewJeans member.

“I remember what my mom told me when she saw me debating myself,” Marsh said. “She said, ‘Do what you want. I will always support you.’ My sister gave me a lot of advice based on her experience, and she cheered me on so much. But at the end of the day, it came down to my choice. I decided to overcome my fear and just do it.”

One piece of advice from Danielle was to follow one's “gut feeling,” in the exact English words, Marsh said. Just as her sister Danielle, who is often caught on camera speaking in English due to her developing Korean skills, Marsh also resorted to finding her words in English rather than expressing herself in the Korean that the reporters spoke in.

“There are a few demos that I’ve tried singing in Korean, but I can hear my pronunciation lacking a little, so I’m going to practice more and sing in Korean as well,” she said. “Right now, I don’t particularly want to define my music as either pop or K-pop.”

Along with the support from her own sister, Marsh has also been receiving support from Danielle's fans, many of whom left comments on Marsh’s Instagram account asking whether the two Marsh girls would collaborate on a song or perform together.

“We don’t have anything planned yet, but I would love to do so if I got the chance because we have such similar taste in music,” Marsh said. “I remember as children, we used to dance around in our backyard with our tutus on and pretend we were fairies. We had a trampoline, and did you know that you can jump higher when it rains? So we would sing, dance and jump on the trampoline on rainy days together.”

The singer was also open to collaboration with other singers as well and says she will still continue to write songs for other singers, under the name Livy. Marsh claims to have “a lot” of songs in diverse styles stacked up on her computer, which she hopes to unveil in the future.

“I like to sing a variety of different genres,” Marsh said. “I enjoy it so much, but I think it may also be the challenge for me — to find my very own color and identity, both as a person and as a singer. I’m going to try to narrow down on the music that I want to pursue to build my world.”

Marsh will meet up with fans in Kuala Lumpur on Feb. 16 and in Bangkok, Thailand, on Feb. 21. The singer met with fans in Seoul on Feb. 12, the day before the album’s release.

“I think one of the greatest things that I’ve felt after I’ve debuted is that energizing sense of ecstasy I get when I’m performing in front of everyone,” she said. “The energy and the emotions that I get from the audience is just everything to me. I’m glad I chose to become a singer.”

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]