Ollie Wride
Oliver "Ollie" Jack Wride is a British singer-songwriter. He is best known for his work with influential synthwave act FM-84 and subsequent solo releases under his own name.
Early life
Wride grew up in East Riding of Yorkshire, England. He was educated at Pocklington School from 1997 to 2006.In 2007, Wride moved to Brighton to study music at Brighton Institute of Music, where he earned a degree in Professional Musicianship in 2009.
Wride has cited that his musical influences were derived from his father's record collection while growing up, including David Bowie, Bryan Ferry & Roxy Music, Peter Gabriel, Queen and Michael McDonald.
Music career
Wride got his first break in music when, during his tenure at BIMM, he auditioned for an all-female band and was subsequently signed by Atlantic Records some months later. Within a year of signing with Atlantic, Wride had written for and with Justin Hawkins, Rob Cavallo and Shayne Ward on the Meat Loaf album Hang Cool Teddy Bear, and also Sophie Ellis-Bextor.He went on to form and perform in Joywride with Josh Dally, Poppy Kavanagh and James Cross after Atlantic exercised not to extend their option. In July 2010 Joywride supported Tinchy Stryder and The Saturdays at the O2 Arena in London, playing to over 14,000 people. They toured with Rita Ora, Jessie J, Lawson and Olly Murs and headlined Sundown Festival in Norwich in 2013.
In 2015 Wride was introduced by Dally to synthwave act Timecop1983, collaborating on the track “Wild Love” for the album Reflections released that year.
In 2016 he worked with the San Francisco-based producer FM-84, co-writing the songs "Never Stop", "Running In The Night" and "Wild Ones" released that year on the album Atlas.
Wride released his debut album Thanks in Advance in 2019, which charted at 95 on the UK Official Album Downloads Chart. It also charted on Billboards Top 10 Electronic charts as well as No. 1 on iTunes' Electronic charts.
He embarked on his first solo tour across the USA in 2023 with a sold-out performance at West Hollywood’s Troubadour on 15 June 2023.
In the same year, he signed with M3 Recordings, a record label started by Matt Pinfield, Matt Malpass and Matt Holmes.
Wride released his second album The Pressure Point on 7 February 2025 with the final single "Wish You Well" featured on Spotify’s New Music Friday playlist and John Mayer’s SiriusXM Fresh Finds. The single also featured on BBC Music Introducing York & Humberside on 9 January 2025. The album charted at 49 on the UK Official Album Downloads Chart and entered the Top 100 on the UK iTunes Charts.
He supported the album by touring the UK and USA from 2024 to 2025.
Concert tours
- UK/US Tour
- The Pressure Point Tour