"I just really understand ‘the girl with the mousey hair’ who gets quite disappointed over the world," nods Aurora, as we unwind in an East London pub after she performs a breathtaking cover of David Bowie's 'Life On Mars' for us. Kicking her legs, she twirls an animated gesture towards the window. "She hears about this greater, more beautiful life and world that there might be somewhere.
"She asks herself the question of if there is life on Mars, is there a purer life that I don’t have access to? I get that. We’re down here and we can’t really get anywhere."
That's why Aurora has done everything in her power to make her own world. One where the dizzying highs of every joy and the crippling depths of darkness that come with 'ordinary life' are viewed through a fantastic prism, highlighting the beauty and spirit in every moment of being human.
This journey in sound and vision is far from contrived, however. You can tell by the wonder with which she views her surroundings and the situation that she's found herself in, this just-turned-20 Nordic phenomenon is quite simply sees everything as an adventure. Just don't allow her vision and eccentricities to paint her as a cartoon. She is anything but.
"David Bowie himself is just a hero, isn’t he?," she continues. "He was so special; he was a genius. It’s very important to embrace your inner quirkiness and he helped me to not be ashamed of anything."
That same dreamlike sense of wonder and escapism is what elevated her cover of Oasis' 'Half The World Away', to make it so universal that it could go beyond any notion of a 'cynical festive ad campaign' to worm its way into the hearts of so many. That's why she took up the challenge in the first place (“I didn’t even know what John Lewis was…for real," she admits."
But it turns out having the soundtrack to the John Lewis Christmas advert is in fact, a pretty big deal. It put her on a much larger platform and provided her with a very enviable level of exposure for an artist who was about to release her debut album.
"I try not to pay attention to anything that people say," she shrugs. "I don’t want to be effected or become cocky – is that a bad word?
“I don’t want to be arrogant. You get a lot of good and bad feedback and bad feedback can be exciting, but it’s funny how people put things. I want people to be so passionate that they either love it or hate it, but when a grown man picks on a 19-year-old girl from Norway – that’s a bit funny!"
Photo: Jon Mo
The lofty ambitions of her aesthetic and the sonic realm she rules over have indeed had that very divisive reaction she was hoping for. So much so that the fanatical drive and dedication of her following has earned them the official name of 'Warriors and Weirdos'.
Look at the front rows of an Aurora gig or scroll through some Youtube comments and you'll find nothing but love and hopeless devotion.
"It’s amazing that I have fans, I love them all," she beams with a wide-eyed smile. "I wouldn’t be here without them, and I need them as much as they think they need me. I love the way that they give me a lot of love – more than I usually get. I mean I get love from my family but..."
She laughs, shakes it off and returns: "My fans see me as an angel, but I’m not an angel. I’m just a normal person from Norway who writes music. They expect from me what I expect from them. They would be surprised if I was ever mean or inappropriate, but I want to be a good role model. You become that immediately when you get fans."
She describes the release of her album as "the most wonderful and horrible feeling I’ve ever had. Like giving birth, both painful and beautiful". The wonderland contained within is the direct result of letting her dreams lead the music down the garden path.
“My mind drifts away, and for many many years of my life I’ve spent it in a daydream," she smiles, unphased. "I daydream and I dream at night, so my songs adopt that different world. They can be quite beautiful but also brutal and quite sad. They’re wrapped in a dreamish way of seeing things.
"The sound world I’ve created is strange because the album was done for over a year so now it feels very old. I’ve gone into a portal into another world. That’s why it feels painful, because I’ve moved on. I know so much more about myself as an artist now than I did when I made the album. It’s going to be a bit difficult knowing that it will be the new Aurora for everyone, when it’s actually the old Aurora. I have to let things go.”
So can we expect album No.2 fairly soon?
“I have already written many songs that nobody has heard yet," she admits. "I want all of them on the album. I want to release a second album as soon as I can because I can’t wait.
"I love eating pizza, I love swimming and I love making albums – they’re my three favourite things.”
Just don't eat pizza before swimming...
"Oh no! That would be a bad idea."
Indeed, but as long as she lets her dreams lead the way, the unfolding future of Aurora will be a joy to behold. Free of inhibitions, she's always looking skywards, making life on Mars seem all the more possible.
As well as performing at a run of European festivals including Oya, Sziget, Lowland, Rock En Seine, Electric Picnic, Festival No.6 and Bestival, see Aurora's forthcoming UK tour dates below. Get tickets and more information here.
Mon October 03 2016 - GLASGOW Art School Tue October 04 2016 - MANCHESTER O2 RItz Thu October 06 2016 - NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE University Fri October 07 2016 - BIRMINGHAM O2 Institute 2 Sat October 08 2016 - BRISTOL Trinity Mon October 10 2016 - BRIGHTON Concorde 2 Tue October 11 2016 - OXFORD O2 Academy Oxford Thu October 13 2016 - LONDON O2 Shepherds Bush Empire Sat October 15 2016 - CAMBRIDGE Junction Sun October 16 2016 - LEEDS Brudenell Social Club
Photo: Press
Last Edit: Feb 15, 2024 20:46:40 GMT by likkevrom: replace now broken link & add note about earlier itnerview
