Glam-Rocker Viva DeConcini Releases Podcast, “I Love Olivia”

Ever thought about writing a book based off the story of a horrific breakup with an ex? Well, that’s exactly what happened when NYC-based glam-rock guitarist, vocalist, and LGBTQ activist Viva DeConcini’s relationship with a famous female author fell apart. However, it wasn’t DeConcini’s rendition of the story, it was her ex’s, who used the relationship as the subject of her successful novel.

In order take control of her own narrative and share the other side of the saga, DeConcini took to the form of expression she knew best, telling stories in the form of songs. In turn, the new podcast I Love Olivia was developed as a rock opera of sorts, using her musical expertise to weave songs through the alluring story of their life before and after the split.

I Love Olivia, the podcast that explores the loss of love through rock music and story-telling, showcases the post-punk, psychedelic singer/songwriter DeConcini’s musicality while leaving no stone unturned. While the rocker is no stranger to queer storytelling, this episodic adventure reality and fantasy is a merging of her latest album album Living Well is the Best Revenge and intermissions of tales behind the tunes.

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“I just felt like if you want queer stories in the world, I mean, sometimes you have to go do it,” DiConcini told OUT FRONT just before the release of I Love Olivia.

DeConcini knew she had to tell this specific, queer love story her own way, including the nuance and minutiae, because to her it’s the only way anyone can know what really went down. Through drawing inspiration from the split and pursuing a long-lasting desire to write a queer love story for the theatre, this set the perfect foundation for exploring the podcast realm.

“I wrote exactly what I’ve been wanting to write my whole life,” she said. “Barbara’s novel came out, and I started writing this as a response. It just kind of started pouring out of me.”

Her way of processing the split and the novel was to create some of the witchiest music of her career. She created alter egos with different genders, backstories, and names (Veronica Pierre and Charlie Columbine) and wrote songs for them fictionalizing the reality to get to the truth through the music.

“We had this lovely relationship, and so part of what I’m doing is parsing conceptually how loss functions in the creation of music, and how we’re kind of addicted to loss,” DeConcini said. “Ninty percent of music is, ‘My baby left me,’ right?”

She went on, “I read her novel twice, you know. And there was this really drastic change between the version that I read and the version that that she eventually published. I think that the sadness and the loss is what makes the story so touching, and you realize that a lot of people can relate to it,” she said.

Originally posing the response as a blog post, or even toying with the idea of a memoir, I Love Olivia was born because she wanted to make sure the correct tone and mood were delivered in a beautifully poetic and authentic package. The best way to do that was for DeConcini to combine her love of musical storytelling with an additional, auditory accomplice.

“A lot of my music is theatrical, and my style of guitar playing is theatrical,” DeConcini said. While she may embellish her songs, and she certainly carries that flair into her podcasting, it doesn’t make the stories any less touching, or real. In fact, it brings us closer to the real-life, authentic, and artist human herself.

“All storytelling, I think, is vulnerable, you know. Anytime you’re putting yourself up there, you’re making yourself vulnerable. But, at a certain point, you realize, ‘Where the lesbian stories that I want to see in the world?'”

Through I Love Olivia, DeConcini has created a new realm of creativity and art unlike much else out in the podcast sphere. It’s honest; it has integrity, and it’s downright entertaining.

The ten-episode, narrative, queer, musical tragicomedy is available now and can be found on a variety of streaming formats, including Soundcloud, as well as the artist’s website.