Exciting: What would you ask an owner of a Tiny House? Let Wyatt know by emailing him.
Starting July 21st, ShareGVL will start a tiny series, ‘Tiny Beginnings,’ showcasing Upstate Tiny Houses and their owners. Stay tuned for a bookmark link tomorrow, allowing you to follow along for all of next week.
Today’s story, the story of Andrew Oliver is below. Enjoy!
Name: Andrew Oliver
What is the most interesting fact about yourself? I was home-schooled but took one class my junior year at a public school, two classes my senior year. The purpose of doing this was to simply play basketball at that specific high school, Grattan Academy. I was also the Homecoming King my junior year.
How long have you been in Greenville? I moved to Greenville, South Carolina in 2013.
What is your background? I grew up in Greenville, Michigan. Yes, I went from a Greenville to a Greenville. I have two siblings: Amanda and Stephen, my brother Stephen is the other half of our band, Brother Oliver. I am the wild middle child with the middle child syndrome. Amanda, my sister, always seemed to do everything right, she never got into much trouble. My brother, Stephen, got away with whatever he wanted because he was the baby. We had a hard brotherly love growing up, I’ll admit that I was hard on him. However, we are business partners in our band now, and I’ll also admit that I am still hard on him.
Greenville, Michigan is pretty rural, it is a small town. It is about thirty-minutes north of Grand Rapids, Michigan. There was not much to do there [Michigan], it was very rural and there was only one Pizza Hut and an Applebees. Pretty much, those were you two options when it came to food. I remember it was even a big deal when we got a Wal-Mart, it was that kind of small town vibe. There wasn’t really much of a social landscape but we were also homeschooled, we had to make our entertainment. We had to make our own fun.
In Michigan, I was one of the better skaters in the area. My friends and I were always making skate videos, and my riding a skateboard was one of the first [digital] content adventures I made. My friends and I use to make videos of us acting up and skateboarding. We would film as many days of the week and weekends as we could. Facebook was new at the time, I don't even think that Facebook had the ‘Like Button’ or ‘Views’,[data] it was just Facebook Comments. We posted a video, it would have had a good amount of comments, so it was a nice gauge on how many people were viewing the content. This led to a sponsorship with a skateboarding company for two months, prior to the company going under.
I feel as if Stephen and I were apart of the last generation to play outside a lot. I am grateful for how I grew up, it was the classic, ‘go and ride your bike, kick it with someone that you do not know.’ Eventually, I would move away as I got bored and ancy.
In my early high school years, I got into making music. We did grow up taking music lessons, so my brother and I had basic music knowledge. However, I had no idea how to be a songwriter and producer, I just learned through the passion that I had. Stephen, after senior year in high school, we just started falling in love with playing the music live. Stephen and I have both been all in on this.
I was a Bob Jones University Graduate, I followed the path of my father, now a pastor, and my mother as they both went to Bob Jones. My father has his Bachelors, Masters and a PhD from Bob Jones. My parents obviously love the school and to honor their wishes, I decided to come to Greenville [South Carolina] and go to Bob Jones even though my parents would have been fine with me going elsewhere.
I am a music producer at the heart, in addition to that of a content creator. I come from a relatively strict religious background, it was a little bit of a transition to go from my religious background to what I am doing now, playing music. There was a lot of pushback at first such as my family life. I went from one world to another. But now, being relatively successful for a twenty-six year old, but there is still a lot to accomplish in the music and entertainment industry. I can say that I am self-made, this is something that I am very proud of.
What are you currently reading and/or watching? I have been watching old school NBA. Specifically, I have been watching game five of the 2004 Championship with Shaq and Kobe.
What are your hobbies? I am one of those people that love to work. When I am not working, well, I am still working. That is what I love to do. I am an avid skateboarder, I had a deck sponsor for a time. I like to ride but I also like to play basketball, go fishing and anything with the old American past times.
Who do you work for? Brother Oliver
What is your day-to-day? I am a music producer and performer, but I am also an entrepreneur and content creator. I really make my money from my music.
How would you describe Greenville? It is a happening place. I travel all the time for shows and I always say Greenville is the spot.
How would Greenville describe you? Ahh, hopefully in a good way. I think that they would describe me as an up and coming artist. I am grateful for Greenville, it has been incredibly supportive. They have opened their doors, the people have been wonderful. I hope that Greenville would also say that I am easy to work with, wanting to work hard, do the best that I can within the entertainment realm.
Where is your favorite Greenville morning hangout? Waffle House
Where is your favorite Greenville evening hangout? The Radio Room
What about Greenville makes you proud? We have a super healthy economy right now for small businesses.
What is your happiest Greenville moment? We opened for The Steve Miller Band at the Peace Center, it was a sold out show recently in March.