INTERVIEW: Blaze Olsen and "Rich Pricks"

By Alexie Jung

Born and raised a military brat, Blaze Olsen’s journey from coast to coast across the United States has profoundly influenced his music. After abandoning traditional education to pursue his passion for music, he made the bold decision to uproot himself and move to California in 2020. Living off the beaches of Malibu during the pandemic, he found solace in the freedom of his van and the inspiration of the ocean waves.

His track “Rich Pricks” serves as a raw expression of Blaze Olsen’s frustration and envy towards those born into privilege. The track, characterized by its infectious energy and punk attitude, reflects the artist’s visceral reaction to the stark wealth disparity he witnessed in Malibu. We caught up with Blaze Olsen around this new release to find out more about his artistry, influences, and upcoming plans.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Hey Blaze Olsen! What inspired you to create “Rich Pricks” originally, and what motivated you to remake it with Daddy NAT?

I believe my inspiration came from the way I was living, I felt like gutter trash. My clothes were dirty and worn, my hair was greasy and gross, I had bought 200 vapes from China and was smoking them like a fiend. It was just a bad time in my life. I remember I was so angry because the entire year I worked on my album Funk Love and Sex, and when I released it my expectations were destroyed. I was pissed because I would see people who were just born with money doing nothing with their lives and then there was me grinding with my two jobs while also spending my free time making music and I had nothing to show for it. So I got mad and the words just spilled out of me.

Can you describe the creative process behind collaborating with Daddy NAT on this track?

I originally hit up Nat in November on Instagram not thinking he would hit me back, but he did. We texted a bit until he said: yeah send me a track and I’ll see if I vibe. I sent him “Rich Pricks” and he was in love. I truly just felt that getting someone else on this track and getting more hands on, it could get it out there into the world more, to share the message in it.

Nat took a few months to get it back to me, but when he finally sent me over his vocals I was so excited. The creative process was all done on our own times. He lives in Austin and I live in California. The internet bridged the gap for us to make this track together.

How has your upbringing as a military brat and your experiences living across the United States influenced your music and perspective on societal issues?

When you grow up moving around every three to five years as a kid, you see and learn a lot about how the world works and particularly how people work. You get all this information about pain, hatred, evil, sadness, love, joy, and hope, but every time you start to get really close with your friends. You would have to move and start all over again. So growing up I did not know how to let people in. I could make friends easily, but never felt truly known. That’s why I was drawn to music and bigger issues, because I didn’t grow up with the small picture, I grew up seeing the whole thing.

In what ways do you see music as a platform for addressing societal divides and advocating for change?

Music is a medium for the creative. I believe that if you truly care about this world and the people in it, you should attempt to use your influence to stand up for the little guy. These last years the working man has gotten FUCKED by big corps and its own government. I have felt it; I’m in it. So having the ability to use the internet and use my passion to stand up and speak up, to me, is very powerful. I hope to make a change – I truly do, because Lord knows we need it.

What do you hope listeners take away from “Rich Pricks” and your music in general, in terms of sparking conversations or inspiring action?
I hope that you enjoy “Rich Pricks”, and hopefully it makes you upset. It’s meant to spark that fire in you, to make you get pissed, to not take shit from these people who think they can walk all over us. To show you that you’re not alone. This is a fight we have to do together, because if we came together we could actually bring about a change in this world.