Back and Forth With … Aurora
Having burst onto the scene in 2015 with her debut EP Running with the Wolves, Norwegian singer-songwriter Aurora is on her way to Australia for Groovin’ The Moo this year. With another album scheduled for 2019, we spoke about where Aurora draws influence from and taking time to create.
BYO: Tell us a bit about how you started out with music! At what age did you start playing music and singing?
Aurora: I started making music when I was 6 years old, and it started turning into real songs when I was 9.
BYO: When did you know you wanted to pursue it full time?
Aurora: I didn’t really know I wanted to do this full time before that kind of just... became the situation for me. It still feels like it just happened. I never really pursued a career within music either in my childhood dreams or in life. I knew it was something I needed to do for myself, but I never thought it would become something I had to share with the world.
BYO: How much has your upbringing in Norway influenced your music?
Aurora: Nature influences me a lot. I often think I like nature more than I like people. because nature is undemanding and powerful and honest. The Norwegian mountains and forests can come across as quite wild and brutal too, which could explain the darkness in my music, and the wildness I tend to keep in me when I sing.
BYO: Do you sing in both Norwegian and English?
Aurora: I sing only in English for now, Norwegian seems too close and intimate at the moment.
BYO: You’re coming down to Australia for Groovin’ The Moo! What are you looking forward to with this visit?
Aurora: I am looking forward to seeing the sun again, as it’s been a few very dark and cold months in Norway. I don’t really like the sun that much because I burn... but I like looking at it from a distance.
BYO: Favourite place to travel to in Australia?
Aurora: I really loved every single place I visited Australia on my last tour there. I loved the access to water in Sydney, and I had a great time in some lovely parks in Melbourne. I also loved Adelaide. This time I’m exited to see even more places, a bit away from the main cities.
BYO: Favourite place to go to in the world?
Aurora: I like my own forest the most. Even after everything I’ve seen, home is still my favourite place.
BYO: Do you prefer the touring and performing process, or the music creation process more?
Aurora: Creating music is without a question the place I am most meant to be. I feel like I’m in touch with the very reason for why I am here. and the main thing that makes my life ... enough.
BYO: You released a single this year, Animal. What inspired that track?
Aurora: Animal is inspired by today’s society. There are some strange behaviour patterns in us, that I know we have in common with the animals, and some behaviour that even for the wildest animal, would be too cruel. We are such strange beings, and the song is inspired by the many things I dislike and like about us.
BYO: Run us through the process of creating that track – from the first notes to the final mix.
Aurora: I wrote the lyrics during one of my travels, and I went into a studio in LA to write with a lovely man who came 4 hours late to the session because of traffic, and I’d almost finished the song by then, and he made a very short but nice comment for a lyrical change and then went into the other room to play pool. LA is a strange place for me, so I really wanted to wrap the song in a blanket that reminded me of that place.
BYO: Will we be seeing more new music in the future?
Aurora: Yes.
BYO: Who would you name as some of your main musical influences?
Aurora: Enya, and some heavy metal bands like Gojira and Mastodon. I also love Leonard Cohen. he taught me that Music has power, and every word i put in my songs matter.
BYO: What do you do when you have a creative block? What gets you creating?
Aurora: When I don’t have it in me I just don’t write, I do everything else. I paint, or dance, go for walks, masturbate or any other thing that makes me happy and in touch with myself. But most of the time I’m very inspired, i have melodies and words in my mind all the time, so it’s hard to not write music, almost all. the. time.
BYO: Goals for the rest of 2019?
Aurora: I want to be a master Jedi lord, and also just conquer my own quest of continuing my little mission on this planet.
