With his funky style, talented up-and-comer Jelly Oshen is rapidly building a fan base both young and old; his debut single looks set to continue that trend.
“'Garden Of Love' is about everyone’s happy place or favourite thing and sharing it with someone special,” Jelly says.
“At the time [I wrote the song] I was really into bubble tea, and so the 'Garden Of Love' beat just popped into my head.
"The song can be translated to something that you love. It’s for the people – young, old, whatever you want. It’s my anthem for happiness. Pretty unbelievable actually how smoothly everything is playing out.”
Relaxed, magical and idealistic are just a few ways to describe Jelly’s debut. ‘Garden Of Love’ is a catchy tune, which gives off the vibe to lay back and allow your mind to wander.
A lyricist by the age of 8 and a multi-instrumentalist by 12, Jelly found his singer-songwriter calling at 14 and has an ocean of material stocked up.
With lyrics that stick, his songs balance lo-fi styles with polished production. If you want to understand Jelly Oshen think Ed Sheeran and Bruno Mars meeting up with Frank Ocean; add a little island flavour, and you get Jelly Oshen.
Jelly explains how the 'Garden Of Love' music video didn’t take long to produce. “[The music video] was actually done in one day, maybe two days; we went around Cairns with a family friend filming in areas that I know of and where I hang out with my friends, then I just lip-synced over the song.”
Born into music culture and raised on the festival circuit, Jelly is no stranger to the ins and outs of a musician’s lifestyle. Mentored by renowned roots band Katchafire, Jelly began to develop his musical flare leading to a disciplined lifestyle of daily music writing and artistic research.
“I kind of grew up around them because my mum had worked with them most of my life. Then when I decided to get into the music [Katchafire] really wanted to help and take me along for the ride,” Jelly says.
While still balancing the challenges of high school, Oshen always hits the stage as often as he can. “Last year I had a lot of school performances, and my teachers are always trying to help me out and get me little gigs at bars or cafes often enough – at least once a month.
“I don’t usually get nervous or anything. I’m not to interactive with the audience, but I’m not shy or tense either on stage, I just feel like myself.”
The future is beaming bright for this talented multi-instrumentalist, who says we can expect more new material soon. “I’m actually recording a song now that I only just started working on, and I’ve got a fair few ideas down that I’ve been working on as well.”
