Oliver Sean Alvares-Musician.

Oliver Sean Alvares is on a high. Christmas Day was special for him as his single ‘Everyday will be like a Holiday’ hit #1 on iTunesUK on the Blues Charts.

Not to mention, his ‘Doing That (Time, Love, Happiness) won Best Music Video at the Swedish International Film Festival. Just a few feathers on this talented musician’s hat. Getting hold of Oliver Sean is a tough task considering the amount of shows he’s busy with. Nevertheless, the loving soul that he is, Oliver has shared some beautiful stories from his life exclusively for ItsGoa. Humans of Goa is our original and official series that shares inspirational stories from the lives of Goans. Let’s jump right in…

Tell us about yourself…

My name is Oliver Sean Alvares. I’m a musician. My loved ones call me Ollie. My official website is www.oliversean.com.

What was that one moment when you decided that, “That’s it! I want to become a singer/musician” As far back as I can remember, I have always wanted to be a musician. I was singing at 4 and picked the guitar up at 8.

I don’t think I ever wanted to be anything else. Every time I’d hear a song I really liked, it would reaffirm my goal in life to be a musician. Every book I read about an artist inspired me. It would be a sin for the world to be denied this voice hahaha. I believe the voice is an instrument to perfect just like any other. If you are born with a good voice and a powerful one, you are naturally gifted and the more you practice and stretch that singing voice the better you get.

I was lucky enough to be born with a good voice and I believe I can express myself best with my voice. The guitar is a close second for me. Combined, these two instruments allow me to express myself perfectly through my songs.

A bit about your role models. People you look up to…

I look up to people who have overcome hardships in life and have made it in this world. People who have had a tough start in life but still made it to the top of their game on the basis of sheer perseverance and belief.

Especially people who haven’t lost their core beliefs of being kind and decent. One of those people is my Mom – I have been lucky to have had her as my role model in life and still do.

Any inspirational moment you remember in your life that changed everything…

There have been so many wonderful moments in my life. Little victories in life to me feel like the biggest win in the world (at that moment). I think this is one of the secrets to success.

Be grateful for the big things, but also for the little wins in life. Some of the big moments in my life have been getting my first music video on MTV, getting an MTV EMA nomination, my first #1 on iTunes, first Top 10 on the Billboard charts, and the list goes on, but I still remember when I got my scholarship in music at boarding school and the pride and joy I felt.

I still remember the time I won 1st place at a singing competition in school. Those were all big moments in my life – just as big as my countless #1’s on iTunes in the US, UK, Canada, the various Billboard Top 10 singles and Top 10 albums alongside the world's biggest artists, my MTV EMA nomination etc. Well you get it

What was the biggest challenge when pursuing this as a fulltime career? And how did you overcome it? A career in music is hard! There are no shortcuts. You may see an artist and all of his/her success and it may seem like it just fell into their lap – well, it hasn’t. The real musician who makes it big has been pushing all his life and is still working hard to keep his/her dreams alive.

The number of rejections and people taking advantage of a musician is more in this industry than any other. The sad part is that a true musician is a gentle soul and that gentle soul has to navigate through a world of horrible people that are part of the music industry. And some masquerade as musicians. Leeches is a word that comes to my mind. Which is why you should surround yourself with people who truly have your best interest at heart.

It takes a while to realize who those people are, but eventually you will get there. Don’t let anyone come before your immediate family – they will be your first and last REAL FANS.

Any memories as a kid you’d like to share? Maybe when you heard a song for the first time and the voice took you on a journey; or something from pop culture that influenced you?

The movie La Bamba was a big influence in my life as a 10-year-old kid. I watched that movie 5 times in one day and I probably messed up the video cassette (which I had rented from a video library). Name your favorite singer/artist or anyone in your industry that you want to emulate. Any fanboy moment you experienced or precious advice someone gave you? I have never wanted to sound like anyone or emulate anyone.

I have never understood some musicians who want to sound like a particular artist. I have been inspired by amazing singers and guitar players, but not once did I want to sound like them.

Some of the artists that I was a fan of and still am, are George Michael, ACDC, Michael Jackson, The Doors, Eric Clapton, Prince, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix, BB King.

Who is the one person you’d like to meet from the past? And what would you ask him/her?

“Jimi Hendrix! Why did you have to burn that guitar on stage man”

Can you write a couple of lines for us here on the topic of “Music is Life”? True Story – the first song I ever wrote was called ‘Music is my life’.

I was 10 years old and writing songs. This was the first one I wrote and I still remember the time and place I was at when I was composing and coming up with the lyrics. It was a beautiful time when I wrote that song and come to think of it. I remember every moment I wrote every song of mine and each of those moments are precious to me. I’ll never forget those moments, because I created a song from thin air and today some of those songs are heard by millions of people and makes people happy for a brief moment in time. It’s part of their life now. But I couldn’t have imagined that when I was writing that song. Writing music from your heart is the key to being happy as a songwriter and composer, just like playing music that you really love is the key to being a satisfied musician.

That is what music should be – something from your heart, something that is created through your life experiences. And those life experiences can be any little thing.

I wrote my first song at 10, my life experience was close to nothing at that point, but the little experience I had in life at age 10 gave me that beautiful song and many more after that. Music, Love, God – it’s all one… Music is Life!

What role did family and friends play in becoming Oliver Sean from Ollie? Any incident you recall that helped you overcome a hurdle or challenge in life with help from fam?

It’s always been just my mom and me. She has helped me overcome every hurdle in my life. She still does till today. And is my manager in the music business – how lucky am I to have the one person that truly believes in me since I was a kid, be my professional artist manager in the music business at this stage. I call her “Momager” :))

What were people's feedback (negative and positive) and who stood by you the most?

Oh, I have amazing fans. I have lifetime fans ever since they got bitten by my music or my live gig. Most musicians yearn to have fans like mine. These are the people who stand by me always and I love them all. Without my fans I wouldn’t be successful. I never let a major label push me around or dictate terms to me. I was confident that my music would touch people and those people would be all that I needed to be successful.

My Army! I was so right. I have hit mainstream major charts around the world just because of these amazing people. You call them fans – I call them Family, because the love I feel from them and for them is real. It’s a relationship sealed with real music (not commercial manufactured music).

What is the legacy you want to leave behind? And for whom?

After years of making music and writing songs, the one thing that keeps coming up at interviews, radio shows, and TV shows is that my music is so positive and it leaves people feeling happy. I have also heard songwriters talk about wanting to write songs like “Oliver Sean”. I guess that has become my trademark so to speak. I never intended that to be something in my music. It just is. I want that to be my legacy – I want people to want to listen to my songs when they want to hear something positive and feel happy and inspired.

I want my songs to put a smile on the listeners face. And I hope that a major part of the proceeds of all my music will go towards helping animals forever.