Oliver Conlon of The Carolyn

Time to load in. Oliver through Mamiyaflex C2 on Portra 800 120mm.

I first met Oliver in the back parking lot of an old church-turned music venue in 2019. We had beers in the back of a pickup truck while waiting around for the next set. I got to see him play live and then we remained mutuals on Instagram for the duration of the pandemic and into the future.

When I started toying around with the idea of doing a new segment on my blog to interview artists about things like socioeconomics, pathology, and whatever other interesting topics I think deserve being talked about, I asked around on social media for volunteers to be photographed and interviewed for the series.

Oliver was one of the first volunteers.

Oliver through Mamiyaflex C2 on Portra 800 120mm.

What would you say you do? In general. Not necessarily work, but if you were to describe yourself, what would be the first thing you would say to describe yourself?

I exist in a constant state of exhaustion and to cope with that I try to write songs about it when I’m not working or attempting to catch up on the sleep I’ve lost.

I also spend a lot of time thinking about Star Wars.

Do you trust most people to make the right decisions when faced with any given choice?

Not necessarily. I would say I trust people to attempt to make the right decision and learn from their mistakes if the decision turns out being wrong.

It may be more of a curse than anything else, but I generally tend to give people the benefit of the doubt unless they’ve given me reason not to do so. Even then I’m pretty forgiving.

Why do you think people react so differently when faced with the same choices as others?

I think there are so many factors that could contribute to it, but ultimately it just comes down to differing perspectives. An answer or solution that may seem obvious to one person may seem completely ridiculous to another. The way you were raised, your environment, the kind of people and ideas you are exposed to or align with can all play roles in the decision making process.

Oliver, The Carolyn through Mamiyaflex C2 on Portra 800 120mm.

What’s the best thing that happened to you today?

At the time I’m writing this, Joyce Manor released a remastered version of their self-titled album. I haven’t listened to it yet, but I’ve got it queued up for my drive home.

Do you believe in luck or fate? How heavily do you weigh luck or fate when gauging decisions or comparisons?

I go back and forth on this a lot. I’m mostly tempted to say that I don’t believe in luck or fate.

I think we often confuse privilege with luck, and coincidence with fate, but that’s not to say they don’t necessarily exist. That being said, I try not to take either into account in my daily life. I think relying on fate and luck can skew your expectations, and make you underestimate the value of your worth and accomplishments.

What’s one or two of your top goals or missions in life? How are you working to achieve them? What do you think the biggest barricade to realizing those goals?

I’d really love to make a decent enough living playing music to be able to quit my day job and do that full time. That’s really the biggest thing for me and I’m always working towards that goal in one way or another, even when it seems like I’m too burnt out to do anything significant, the wheels are always turning.

There are a handful of barricades in the way of achieving that goal. You could chalk it up to the over-saturation of the music industry, the preference of streaming over physical media, choosing to make music in a genre that has long since passed its peak in popularity, etc… but really for me I think the main thing getting in the way is the fact that most of my time is spent attempting to chip away at my financial burdens/responsibilities and a healthy dose of my remaining free time is spent being burnt out. But none of that is going to stop me from trying.

Do you believe that, in our system, the world more or less accurately rewards those with merit? Do those with “earned wealth”, (non inherited wealth), deserve it?

For the most part, no. There are always exceptions, but largely the system is set up to reward privilege and exploitation (be it of legal loopholes or of human beings) considerably more than genuine labor & merit.

Part two, do you believe, in general (outliers and one hit wonders removed) that merit earns artists and musicians income in accordance to their merit? Or do you think it’s primarily business / marketing and merit comes second?

The latter is definitely more true. The flawed way in which we measure success is also an important factor to consider. Some people see stardom and international fame/recognition as the metric for success in the entertainment industry, but some of my favorite artists have a relatively small, loyal fan base that supports their endeavors enough to the point where they can support themselves (and their families) on their art while not being wildly wealthy.

Part 3ish, is it even possible to deserve or earn success, or is it mostly random? Do you have people you look up to who you think earned financial success? What sets them apart from others?

It definitely is possible, and there are so many things preventing most people from becoming successful, that validates it that much more when they are able to. I try not to measure success on a financial metric, but in this day and age just living comfortably is a measure of financial success. The people I look up to most aren’t the ultra-wealthy, they’re people who despite all odds have been able to make a comfortable living doing something that they genuinely enjoy doing. They may not be completely free of financial worries/burdens but their art/trade/craft is what keeps them afloat.

What’s the number #1 thing you would change about your life or surroundings (past, present, or future), if you could? Why?

For a long time I used to say that I wouldn’t change anything about my past because I wouldn’t be where I am today. That still holds true in a lot of regards, but I wish I would’ve thought about “future me” a lot more in the past. If I had learned a trade or put some money aside maybe I wouldn’t be living paycheck to paycheck now, but who knows? I guess I’d just put at least safety-net’s worth of money in my bank account and pay off my debts if I could change anything about my personal life.

If you could change one thing about the world to improve it, what would it be?

Not to sound too altruistic, but I genuinely would even out the massive income inequality that we have in the world if I had the ability to do so. We have billionaires going to space while people are still dying of starvation and preventable diseases. That type of disparity should not be allowed to exist.

Double Exposure through Mamiyaflex C2 on Portra 800 120mm.

What makes you feel inspired?

There are a lot of things that make me feel inspired. Lately, I’ve been listening to a lot more non-guitar-oriented music than I usually do (mostly “art rap”) and that’s been helping me look at music from a different standpoint which offers a lot of inspiration in new ways.

I’ve also been getting inspiration from playing Sekiro lately. This game is incredibly difficult but that’s what makes it so incredibly rewarding, especially for a very casual/mediocre “gamer” like me. The game’s art design is absolutely gorgeous and the world-building feels very deep and lived-in. That kind of dense, lore filled material can be a treasure trove for sparks of inspiration (when I’m not yelling at the screen and fighting the urge to hurl my controller across the room).

How can others help you (or others) feel inspired and achieved?

They can CashApp me enough money to quit my day job.

Jokes aside, I think being genuine in your art (process/trade/whatever you’re good at), putting in the work, sharing it with others and supporting others is the best way to disperse inspiration and help others achieve their goals.

P.S. - At time of publication, Oliver listened to and appreciated the Joyce Manor Remaster.

Oliver is the singer of Atlanta locals, The Carolyn, and shared his time with me at a local house show. He asked that I promote the following:

Generally, my punk trio The Carolyn (socials, IG: @the_carolyn, Twitter: @thecarolynmusic). 

Specifically, we just finished tracking our second LP so keep an eye and an ear out for that in the near future.

My personal socials are @blunderbrain on pretty much everything except TikTok which is @blunderbrain11 but I would advise against following me there.

His CashApp is $ranch311 if you wish to tip.

The Carolyn just released a new single, 99 Problems, 0 Caveats. It is available on all major streaming platforms.