Interview for TÊTU (the first LGBT magazine in France)
Nov 8, 2016 20:00:26 GMT
AURONRA, aurorafan, and 11 more like this
Post by rd on Nov 8, 2016 20:00:26 GMT
Translated by rd
Aurora, the young Norwegian prodigy to conquer the world
TÊTU met Aurora, the young Norwegian prodigy, just before her Paris concert. A magical and timeless moment ...
Aurora is a Norwegian singer that some would call a prodigy. Indeed, only 20 years old and while her first album "All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend" (Decca Records) was released in March, the young Norwegian has pierced the air at lightning speed. It must be said that Aurora is a surprising talent and maturity. Her voice is powerful and intoxicating. The one that says to have been inspired early by Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen could think of Kate Nash, Björk or Dolores O'Riordan (The Cranberries singer) all wrapped in a strange and disturbing universe in the Woodkid. Critics weren't wrong. Praised by the press (The Guardian, Les Inrocks ...), she even was on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, the antechamber of success of the other side of the Atlantic.
There are artists that we hope to interview. Aurora is undeniably one of them. First, because when you hear her for the first time, we couldn't get rid of her music and her singular universe. Then, because she releases such energy that we say that being at her side must be mystical. Verdict once in contact? We were literally aspirated by her charisma, her smile and her sparkling eyes. Aurora is sure of herself, has a vivid imagination and a jubilant sensitivity. Interviews like this, we'd like to do every day.
Hello Aurora. Can you please introduce yourself to our French readers?
Hello French readers. My name is Aurora. I come from a village near Bergen in Norway. I live along a fjord, at the waterfront and it's very nice.
Where do you find all this inspiration?
My piano is beyond my window. Outside, there's the ocean, a lot of trees, a huge island. It's very beautiful. Looks like the world of Narnia, I don't know if you saw it (laughs).
Yes, of course! With Tilda Swinton, i love it!
I think these landscapes inspire me. I write a lot about the ocean and nature. Again, my piano is beyond my window. I draw my inspiration. But everything is inspiring: people, hands, trees, animals, smells ...
It is true that olfactory memory is particularly powerful.
Yes! It's quite inexplicable. But beyond the smells, I think that everything can be inspiring from the moment it's interesting.
Do you write your songs yourself or with the help of other people?
I prefer to write alone although I think sometimes, I need to write with others. Because I tend to write very sad, dark and rather slow songs. I think it's important to have some variation so that people don't end up depressed (laughs). "Conqueror" for example, I wrote the verses myself then the chorus with the band members.
My manager was in the room but I don't know if he actually participated. But he would be happy saying he did(laughs).
Sometimes I write with people but I do it mostly alone. It's good to do a little of both as long as I have been involved because I have to understand what I sing; I feel it like that. It's important to me that the words come from my heart.
There are many monsters and creatures that inhabit your music. Where do they come from?
I don't know actually. It doesn't take much to make me happy, but it doesn't take much to make me sad either. Sadness permeates my body longer than joy. If something bad happens, I'll remain sad for a very long time even if it's something insignificant. As dropping an ice cream on the floor (laughs).
To answer your question more specifically, I think that I'm a little attracted to morbid, frightening and repugnant things . I'm fascinated by the fact that humans can be so beautiful and at the same time so horrible. It's so strange to think that sometimes to be human is to be wilder than an animal. This ability to love and to hate. I have a song called "Murder Song" and it's not complicated to realize that she's not really happy. So I think that these monsters come from ourselves, we find them inside us.
There are artists that we hope to interview. Aurora is undeniably one of them. First, because when you hear her for the first time, we couldn't get rid of her music and her singular universe. Then, because she releases such energy that we say that being at her side must be mystical. Verdict once in contact? We were literally aspirated by her charisma, her smile and her sparkling eyes. Aurora is sure of herself, has a vivid imagination and a jubilant sensitivity. Interviews like this, we'd like to do every day.
Hello French readers. My name is Aurora. I come from a village near Bergen in Norway. I live along a fjord, at the waterfront and it's very nice.
Where do you find all this inspiration?
My piano is beyond my window. Outside, there's the ocean, a lot of trees, a huge island. It's very beautiful. Looks like the world of Narnia, I don't know if you saw it (laughs).
Yes, of course! With Tilda Swinton, i love it!
I think these landscapes inspire me. I write a lot about the ocean and nature. Again, my piano is beyond my window. I draw my inspiration. But everything is inspiring: people, hands, trees, animals, smells ...
It is true that olfactory memory is particularly powerful.
Yes! It's quite inexplicable. But beyond the smells, I think that everything can be inspiring from the moment it's interesting.
Do you write your songs yourself or with the help of other people?
I prefer to write alone although I think sometimes, I need to write with others. Because I tend to write very sad, dark and rather slow songs. I think it's important to have some variation so that people don't end up depressed (laughs). "Conqueror" for example, I wrote the verses myself then the chorus with the band members.
My manager was in the room but I don't know if he actually participated. But he would be happy saying he did(laughs).
Sometimes I write with people but I do it mostly alone. It's good to do a little of both as long as I have been involved because I have to understand what I sing; I feel it like that. It's important to me that the words come from my heart.
I don't know actually. It doesn't take much to make me happy, but it doesn't take much to make me sad either. Sadness permeates my body longer than joy. If something bad happens, I'll remain sad for a very long time even if it's something insignificant. As dropping an ice cream on the floor (laughs).
To answer your question more specifically, I think that I'm a little attracted to morbid, frightening and repugnant things . I'm fascinated by the fact that humans can be so beautiful and at the same time so horrible. It's so strange to think that sometimes to be human is to be wilder than an animal. This ability to love and to hate. I have a song called "Murder Song" and it's not complicated to realize that she's not really happy. So I think that these monsters come from ourselves, we find them inside us.
Do they come from your own nightmares?
Yes, sometimes!
You dream a lot?
Oh, yes! I dream a lot. It's very exhausting because when I wake up in the morning I feel like I haven't slept at all. But I think it's good thing to dream.
You're still young, how do you see the evolution of your music?
You're still young, how do you see the evolution of your music?
I would like to work towards a perfect combination between angels and monsters. I love beautiful music. Do you know Enya?
Yes, it's really very beautiful, overhead...
Absolutely! Looks like angels. It's very beautiful. I love classical music; it lulls me and I fall asleep peacefully. On the other hand, I also like heavy metal like Gojira or Mastodon. The lyrics can be a little scary sometimes. But, it's important to me that the music isn't just sad. It must be happy and sad at the same time, like that people are a little confused. This is more challenging because it makes you want to listen to the song because you don't understand what you're feeling.
I think that's really what makes the intensity of your music.
I think that's really what makes the intensity of your music.
Oooooh thank you very much!
You transport people figuratively but also literally: your concert starts in two hours and you have plenty of fans queuing up outside (laughs). You saw them arriving?
Yes, I met eight because I arrived a little while ago. One of them gave us Nutella pancakes. I became friends with two of my French fans. One of them is called Maëva and she always gives us pancakes when she comes to see us in concert in Paris (laughs).
What do you say to your fans when they meet you? What's their return for your music, which is so powerful and lives incredibly in you?
Well I think the effect produced by my music on others, particularly during my concerts, is a bit like the difference between a good and a bad dancer. With a bad dancer, there is no emotion, it's almost exhausting. Whereas with a good dancer, it's so beautiful when we feel things together. That's kind of how I imagine the report that my audience interview with my music. That's what I want to convey to them. I want to give everything I have to my audience because for some it's their first time and for others, it may be their last.
Aurora is currently touring across the United States.
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Original article by Jérémie Lacroix
Photos by Mathilde Ka
Photos via post tumblr: (X)Yes, I met eight because I arrived a little while ago. One of them gave us Nutella pancakes. I became friends with two of my French fans. One of them is called Maëva and she always gives us pancakes when she comes to see us in concert in Paris (laughs).
What do you say to your fans when they meet you? What's their return for your music, which is so powerful and lives incredibly in you?
Well I think the effect produced by my music on others, particularly during my concerts, is a bit like the difference between a good and a bad dancer. With a bad dancer, there is no emotion, it's almost exhausting. Whereas with a good dancer, it's so beautiful when we feel things together. That's kind of how I imagine the report that my audience interview with my music. That's what I want to convey to them. I want to give everything I have to my audience because for some it's their first time and for others, it may be their last.
I work for TÊTU, the first French LGBT magazine.
Yes, it means "stubborn" in English, isn't it?
(Laughs) Absolutely. I was just about to tell you. I like to explain to foreign artists what "TÊTU" means, because I think it's a beautiful name for a LGBT magazine, it sums up the feeling that can guide us in the daily struggle for our rights.
Yes, I also think it's a nice name.
It's one of the first LGBT magazine in France, at least with such visibility. TÊTU fought in favor of marriage for all and for many other things.
I think it's great. You're going to make me cry, it's so beautiful what you're saying to me here (Aurora with eyes that load of tears but managed to contain them).
Do you approach LGBT issues and stories in your music? Do you talk about them in your songs?
I wrote many songs about this because for me it's impossible to understand how people can't find that love is beautiful in all its forms? It makes no sense at all. Love is something so pure and beautiful, it's what brings us closer to the divine. Love is like a beautiful flower that some would trample. But for me, it's still a very inspiring theme: the history of the right to love who we want. This is one of the worst things humans have done to other humans, forbid them to love who they wanted. I am so happy to see that people today stand together, even if there is still a lot of hatred.
Persons of the same sex can get married in Norway for a long time now, isn't it?
Yes, for many years. Recently, some priests even agreed to perform homosexual weddings. Anyway, I said I wouldn't get married in a Church as long as everyone wasn't allowed to do so.
You who are working in this magazine and all the others who are fighting every day, I think it's great.
Thank you very much and especially for agreeing to receive us before your concert in Paris.
I was thrilled. The interviews are important, but sometimes it's a bit tiring and repetitive (laughs). But when I saw in my diary that I was to be interviewed by a LGBT magazine I was very happy. This is the first time.
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Original article by Jérémie Lacroix
Photos by Mathilde Ka
