Q&A: Olivia Prado Gets Dreamy In ‘Dirty In The Sand’
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY DANY MIRELES ☆
Photo by Laura Piedrahita
THERE’S SOMETHING NOSTALGIC—about the feeling of getting dirt under your fingernails and dancing around the house without worrying who is watching. For Olivia Prado, the sense of carefree childhood freedom became the foundation for her brand new EP, Dirty In The Sand, a six-track collection of the early 2000s mixed with the intimacy of R&B. But beneath its infectious energy lies attraction, insecurities, uncertainty and the growing pains of trying to figure out who you are.
Following her 2024 debut, Olivia Prado approaches this project with a sharper and profound sense of herself as an artist. Across the EP, she embraces fun and playfulness while other tracks reveal a more vulnerable side of her artistry. The result is a project that feels less than a collection of songs and more like a coming-of-age movie, one that refuses to linger in a single emotional space.
Luna recently had a chance to chat with Olivia Prado, where she opened up about the making of Dirty In The Sand, expanding her emotional range as a songwriter and discovering what she wants to carry into her next chapter.
Photo by Jordan Naheesi
LUNA: Dirty In The Sand moves between playful, flirtatious moments and more introspective tracks. How did you approach creating that emotional progression across the six songs?
PRADO: In the last year or two, I’ve been more intentional about developing my writing across a range of emotions. Upbeat, catchy, fun tracks come most naturally to me and are definitely reflective of who I am as a person, but I wanted to grow beyond just that. I’ve been exercising the more vulnerable side of my songwriting too, so when it came time to put the project together, I wanted it to hold both. These six songs felt like the best representation of that range.
LUNA: The title Dirty In The Sand takes inspiration from childhood memories of getting dirty and playing freely. How did that concept translate into the sound and songwriting of the EP?
PRADO: To me, the EP has this really fun, carefree and youthful energy. There’s still a part of me that’s that little girl dancing and performing around the house without a care in the world, and that naturally comes through in the music I make. What I love is that the songwriting feels like the grown-up side of that. The music can feel playful and free, while the lyrics deal with attraction, relationships, insecurity and all of these very adult experiences.
LUNA: Your music blends the nostalgia of early-2000s pop with contemporary R&B. How do you balance those influences while creating a sound that feels distinctly your own?
PRADO: I think it happens pretty naturally because everything is filtered through my particular taste. I intentionally try so many different things when I’m making music. I’ll write over hip-hop beats, country or folk guitar, electronic production—whatever excites me. All of that experimenting ends up creating this blend of things that still feels like me.
LUNA: Songs like “Temptation,” “Up n Down,” and “Turn Me On” establish a playful energy, while tracks like “Ocean” and “Is It Enough” explore more vulnerable territory. How did you decide which songs belonged on this project?
PRADO: I had been making a lot of music over the past year or so, and these six were some of the songs I felt strongest about. I love variety in music and in life, so I think of the EP as a little charcuterie board of sound, if you will (laughs).
LUNA: What was the songwriting process like for Dirty In The Sand? Did the songs come together individually, or did you have the overall concept of the EP in mind from the beginning?
PRADO: The process wasn’t linear at all. I was writing songs knowing I was working toward an EP, but I didn’t really know what it was yet. I didn’t have an overall concept in mind from the beginning, but once I wrote “Dirty In The Sand,” I was like, “Oh, this is it!” That song gave me the world and the title for the project that I had been waiting for, and it helped pull together the other songs I’d been working on.
LUNA: “Is It Enough” closes the EP with a particularly introspective question. What made that song feel like the right conclusion to the project?
PRADO: “Is It Enough,” to me, just sounds like the perfect closer. It’s emotional but still big and anthemic. And after the fun of the EP wears off, we’re left to process feelings that are a little more unsettling and unresolved. It was also the most recent song I wrote for the project, and ever since I wrote it, I’ve wanted to explore that sound more.
LUNA: How did your approach to Dirty In The Sand differ from your 2024 debut album, Liv Laugh Love?
PRADO: Well, technically speaking, it wasn’t recorded in my closet, unlike Liv Laugh Love (laughs). So that’s a big difference! Liv Laugh Love was also my first go-around at making a project, so this time I had more experience crafting a project and stronger skills as a songwriter and vocalist.
LUNA: As an independent artist, you’re involved in everything from songwriting and creative direction to marketing and release strategy. How does having that level of involvement influence the way you develop a project?
PRADO: It’s a big undertaking, but I really enjoy developing everything from start to finish. It’s really fulfilling to start with demos and song ideas and watch them grow into this whole world that didn’t exist before. It’s interesting because since I’m not signed, I really have no rules (laughs). Learning how to bring an EP or album to the finish line fully independently is a skill I’m really grateful to have developed. I know it’ll shape how I approach my career moving forward.
LUNA: The EP explores attraction, intimacy, uncertainty and self-discovery without staying in one emotional space. Was there a particular feeling or idea you wanted listeners to take away from the project?
PRADO: I hope they can see the EP as a movie, the way I did when I put it all together. If they can, then I’ve done my job.
LUNA: With Dirty In The Sand marking the next chapter of your artistry, what do you feel this EP reveals about the direction you want to take your music moving forward?
PRADO: I think this EP is a taste of my unique voice in pop and R&B, and I’m really excited to keep getting better and developing my fingerprint as an artist. I also want to keep expanding the emotional range of my songwriting like I did with this project.
