Postcards From Seventeen: O Warwick's Debut Single "Lonely Creek" Tells a Tale of Heartfelt Becoming

My first listen of O Warwick’s debut single “lonely creek” brought me unexpectedly to a place I hadn’t been in a very long time. The lyrics, so drenched in authenticity, spoke directly to the 17-year-old self I used to be: smoking weed beside the creek, wading my way through the unique fusion of peace and anxiety that only comes about when you’re changing so fast it gives you vertigo. Instrumentals pulled me into the scene even more, as the layers of natural and electric sounds made their way over a grounding beat, and over a moment when the trees were “growing eyes” and the creek faithfully rippled and hushed along, a futile attempt at quelling the restlessness within.

Thankfully, O’s storytelling didn’t abandon me in this forgotten place. Instead, the closing lyrics demonstrated reconciliation between a young, afraid self and an older, more knowing one.

It’s time to go home 

You know all you know 

It’s not your time to know me

After the journey “lonely creek” took me on, I was especially curious about this last line. In a conversation with O, he was gracious enough to bring me into his own story. 

“I’m in Los Angeles now, but I’m from this place called Marin County. It’s a big nature place and there’s beautiful woods. “lonely creek” was inspired by feeling homesick for it. When I was a teenager, I would go drive around West Marin. Part of the song talks about getting high. I was imagining that I’m high and I see my reflection in the water, and I’m like, freaked out, because this is myself before I transition. I’m transgender, and there’s this weird disconnect. It’s like when you look at pictures of yourself when you’re a baby and you’re like it’s me, but it’s not me.” 

O expresses that each time he plays this song, he lets out all of the emotion of that younger self. That rather than fearing the disconnect he feels toward them, he uses his art to reconcile with them. 

“There’s a line that says ‘I’m 17 and wise [...] No one can hurt me I’m alive.’ I thought I knew everything and there was this feeling of being invincible. But I didn’t know anything. It wasn’t my time to know what I know now. Which is not that much.” 

The song’s crescendo builds to an attempt to liberate his younger self— “take your hand, pull you out of the lonely creek”—followed by a vocal break that opts for the poetry of melodies in place of words. The final lines then come to terms with the only gift he can truly give his 17-year-old self: the patience that accompanies knowing “It’s not your time to know me.”

I ask him how he went about transmuting this experience into his art: 

“I write all my songs on guitar, like a picking thing, very folk. The initial idea was just thinking about how I was feeling homesick. And when I write, it just kind of pours out of me. It’s not like I’m thinking, oh, I’m going to write a song about this.” 

This generative process gained even more momentum in collaboration with O’s friends and fellow musicians Truman Sinclair and James Sinigalliano. 

“It’s kind of co-produced by both of them, even though they were never in the same room. 

I brought it to Truman and he came up with a groove for it and told me to ad lib the vocal break. Then James and I worked on it. We recorded Calvin Lundin on drums to replace the original drum machine we had on the track. We also added the layers of all these little sound things that I’m really into.” 

O then tells me how each time he plays the song live, it changes again. This fluidity stems from his roots in jazz music, growing up with artists such Nina Simone and Ella Fitzgerald, and later feeling inspired by the vocals and rhythms of Lianne La Havas. 

“I love jazz, and a big part of it is the live aspect. That’s what I’m really into and why I play live so much. At USC, I initially studied jazz and was trained in jazz voice. I transferred into pop and now my music’s kind of folk, but it also has that jazz, as well as ambient, influence. I’m trying to do a genre bending thing.” 

He also derives inspiration from R&B and soul artists, including Hiatus Kaiyote and Erykah Badu. He credits his careful songwriting to his mother’s writing career and how much she encouraged him to read, as well as to the legendary lyricists Adrianne Lenker, Elliott Smith, and Joni Mitchell. 

“lonely creek” amalgamates these influences whilst bringing forth something that feels wholly refreshing. It is a promising debut for O and left me wondering what more we will see from him. 

"lonely creek" cover art

“My next single 'grasses grow' comes out in November. I wrote it coming out of a depression, but it’s a hopeful song, like when I can see again that life really is beautiful and I do want to be alive. 

A third single coming in December is called “glass.” It’s a little more experimental. Initially when I wrote it, it was a pretty folk song, but we’ve made it the weirdest production-wise. There’s noise and stuff and guitar with pedals on it. 

And then my album, The Outside, is coming out on January 23rd. Some of the songs relate to religious trauma. The title track is about my experience being trans and dealing with dysphoria.” 

Healing Force of the Universe, a venue and record store in South Pasadena, will host The Outside’s release. You can find O on streaming platforms as O Warwick, and on instagram @owarwickmusic where he posts all of his showdates, announcements, and clips. 

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Julia White is our Editor-in-Chief. She wrote the article. Claire Filby is a member of our art team. She made the graphic.