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Member Back to Top Post by onelittlewarrior on Suddenly a star. She's headlining the Øya festival, yet wonders if anyone will show up at her next concert



(Translated from Norwegian by onelittlewarrior



(Background story: The art of being oneself. «That’s what you want right there, that’s what you want right there!», talk show host Jimmy Fallon cried after Aurora had performed Conqueror for 8 million viewers in March this year. Aurora (Aksnes) had done what she usually does: dancing her way through the song in her characteristic and jumping manner. Unaffectedly and uninhibitedly. And suddenly a star. After I asked for a meeting it took two months before the girl from Lysefjorden had an hour of free time in her schedule. During the interview she was exactly like I'd pictured her: playful, honest and open-minded. That’s what you want right there.)







In a world of her own.

Everyone wants a piece of her. Aurora herself dreams of living somewhere in the middle of nowhere.



Around the turn of the millennium the area around Lysefjorden consisted mainly of steep mountains, deep gorges and the natural phenomenon Aurora. She used to run around in her funny skirts and blond hair pondering over anything. When she was six she had a go at an electric piano and "found out how it worked". And that's basically what started what today is one of Norway's most characteristic music careers.



In love. - It was just magic how I could make sounds by just pressing the keys. And then to combine them. Four tones may become ten different melodies. I just fell in love and have never stopped playing the piano, says Aurora Aksnes. She continued to make music through her childhood - at the same time dreaming of becoming an author, pianist, astronomer, pediatrician or dancer.



- Haha, there are just so many exciting things to do - including subjects like physics, mathematics and chemistry. I love to figure out how things function.







- And then you ended up a musical artist?



- Yes, I did. And it's fantastic. It really is. We've been on the road since Christmas. USA, Europe. It's just kind of exploded.



- How did this really happen?



Aurora laughs warily. She doesn't really now. It all happened so fast. A few songs were uploaded to Urørt in 2012, then there was the by:Larm festival, then the Øya festival in 2014 and then like a bang: the world. Including the Jimmy Fallon talk show earlier this year, with 8 million viewers.



- I never dreamt it would take off like that. But even if things have happened so fast, the journey has been a number of small steps. I can tell from my shoes; they're just worn out! It feels like I've been touring since last year, which is true, I suppose. Aurora laughs in wonder.



- Since 2 January we've travelled almost every day. I do so many shows so I notice that things are happening, yet it feels very strange and I'm still sometimes confused.



Dressed in a carpet on stage. Aurora did the Øya festival for the first time two years ago, a show that was so successful she decided to quit school as a consequence.



- What's the difference between Øya of 2014 and now?







- The last time I was quite nervous, and we did a lot of preparations for weeks and months. Now Øya is part a bigger tour of mine, and I'm really looking forward to it. It's such a beautiful festival and it'll be nice to be there now that I'm calmer. I'm much more confident and experienced now. Yet I have this tiny voice inside me that asks if anyone will turn up. Believe me, I know there'll be people there, but maybe not that many? I can't really see why they'd want to listen to me. It's difficult to see the side of me that my fans do. Even in Belgium.



- In Belgium?



- Yes, we did a show there in early July. We played a festival at one o'clock at night. Our luggage had been misplaced at the airport and I had to do the show in the clothes I was wearing; a kimono and blanket combo. But I was like, it can't hurt when it's in the middle of the night in Belgium. I've not even been to Belgium before. And then there were 8,000 people there. 8,000! And it was streamed online with me wearing this blanket and my bass player only had his hawaiian shirt on. I guess we were quite the sight. But that's festivals for you. People hope to see something new.



- Are there any negative sides to your success?



- Possibly that I haven't got time to do anything else. I miss reading books in quiet surroundings, hiking in the mountains, picking blueberries. I haven't got the time to do those things now. There are so many things happening and I'm too tired. And I miss my family. I have pictures of them with me. It's good of them not to send me messages and call me too often, that would've made things worse. They understand that I need to be where I am right now.



- Will you ever move back to Lysefjorden?



- To be honest I'd like to live somewhere even more remote. A place without people. Where I can pretend that I'm on my own little planet.







Fooled her piano teacher. Aurora Aksnes writes songs everywhere she goes. She has "at least seven" notebooks with her on tour, partly because she looses a couple along the way. In her books she jots down fragments of the world: a tramp, a hug, calm or chaos, a smell, you name it. Everything is churned through the Aurora filter and comes out in the other end as the fragile, broken and powerful report that we know from her first album.



- Your music sounds very un-constructed. It sounds more like the track of a world that already exists - inside yourself?



- Yes. That's exactly how it is. Spot on!



While travelling it all starts with the lyrics. At home the travel starts with the piano. She just plays. As far as sheet music goes it's just cumbersome.



- I am able to read sheet music at a pinch. But it's like reading a book in French when you've had some French at school - it's very cumbersome and you have to consult your dictionary all the time.



- You fooled your piano teacher?



- Yes, I did. I just learned the classical pieces by heart by listening to them. I'm good at playing by ear. But he found out when I played at this old people's home and I had forgotten the sheets at home but played regardless. Today I'm pleased I'm not very well schooled in music. I don't like it when it becomes too logical. The music looses its life.



- In one song you sing that you it's a long time ago that you saw the world as beautiful. What do you mean by that?







Aurora pauses uncharacteristically.



- Well, you know, I come from this very beautiful place, peaceful and unspoilt. But now that I've travelled so much I've seen things that aren't very beautiful. It seems like the world is worse off now than it used to be, but then again we're flooded with all sorts or news, almost intravenously so. But we have to remember that there are very many good things happening as well. It's so nice when people manage to react calmly when awful things happen around us. It's beautiful to see that even the most awful things generate a lot of love.



- If you were able to change things in the world, what would it be?



- The tendency that we all seem to be driven by fear. It can ruin so much. Fear can influence how you regard people, how you regard a country. And it can stop you from doing what you'd really want to do. I'd remove man's need for power and the tendency to abuse power. Seeing how many create fear in others just to gain power themselves is just sad.



Demon friends. All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend is the title of Aurora's first and so far sole album.



- How do you become friends with your demons at the young age of 20?



- The title alludes to both the the external and the internal. I often see people around me who're looking, in some search of who and what they are. In such a phase people can act in a strange and hostile way. It's important then to remember the nice aspects of these people, remember that they go through this search phase. That way what they do doesn't drain you of your energy. You have to accept yourself the way you are. That way you're able to accept others.







- And the internal?



- Everything that we have around us mirrors what's inside us so it's important to make friends with your inner demons as well. Make friends with the inner voice of yours that tells you that you're not good enough. It's important to remember that you too are a person in search of yourself, that you have positive qualities and that you can still make mistakes.



- What are your current dreams now that you've achieved almost anything an artist could want?





- That's a good question. I really didn't have time to dream about standing on stage and living off my music before I suddenly did it. Hm. So what I dream about now is making an album that is 100% the way I want it. No, not 100%, 98%. I have to learn to accept that not everything turns out the way I want. I have this strong vision with everything that I do but instead of focussing on details I have to accept what these songs - not 100% perfect they may be - mean to so many people. That people listen to them and feel love. Or grief. That's the important thing.



- Can AURORA become so big, making Aurora Aksnes disappear?



- No, never. I have deep roots that are difficult to unroot. AURORA Music is a cloud, otherworldly and magical. Aurora Aksnes is a tree.



(Original article at



(Translated from Norwegian by(Background story: The art of being oneself. «That’s what you want right there, that’s what you want right there!», talk show host Jimmy Fallon cried after Aurora had performed Conqueror for 8 million viewers in March this year. Aurora (Aksnes) had done what she usually does: dancing her way through the song in her characteristic and jumping manner. Unaffectedly and uninhibitedly. And suddenly a star. After I asked for a meeting it took two months before the girl from Lysefjorden had an hour of free time in her schedule. During the interview she was exactly like I'd pictured her: playful, honest and open-minded. That’s what you want right there.)Everyone wants a piece of her. Aurora herself dreams of living somewhere in the middle of nowhere.Around the turn of the millennium the area around Lysefjorden consisted mainly of steep mountains, deep gorges and the natural phenomenon Aurora. She used to run around in her funny skirts and blond hair pondering over anything. When she was six she had a go at an electric piano and "found out how it worked". And that's basically what started what today is one of Norway's most characteristic music careers.- It was just magic how I could make sounds by just pressing the keys. And then to combine them. Four tones may become ten different melodies. I just fell in love and have never stopped playing the piano, says Aurora Aksnes. She continued to make music through her childhood - at the same time dreaming of becoming an author, pianist, astronomer, pediatrician or dancer.- Haha, there are just so many exciting things to do - including subjects like physics, mathematics and chemistry. I love to figure out how things function.- Yes, I did. And it's fantastic. It really is. We've been on the road since Christmas. USA, Europe. It's just kind of exploded.Aurora laughs warily. She doesn't really now. It all happened so fast. A few songs were uploaded to Urørt in 2012, then there was the by:Larm festival, then the Øya festival in 2014 and then like a bang: the world. Including the Jimmy Fallon talk show earlier this year, with 8 million viewers.- I never dreamt it would take off like that. But even if things have happened so fast, the journey has been a number of small steps. I can tell from my shoes; they're just worn out! It feels like I've been touring since last year, which is true, I suppose. Aurora laughs in wonder.- Since 2 January we've travelled almost every day. I do so many shows so I notice that things are happening, yet it feels very strange and I'm still sometimes confused.Aurora did the Øya festival for the first time two years ago, a show that was so successful she decided to quit school as a consequence.The last time I was quite nervous, and we did a lot of preparations for weeks and months. Now Øya is part a bigger tour of mine, and I'm really looking forward to it. It's such a beautiful festival and it'll be nice to be there now that I'm calmer. I'm much more confident and experienced now. Yet I have this tiny voice inside me that asks ifwill turn up. Believe me, I know there'll be people there, but maybe not that many? I can't really see why they'd want to listen to me. It's difficult to see the side of me that my fans do. Even in Belgium.- Yes, we did a show there in early July. We played a festival at one o'clock at night. Our luggage had been misplaced at the airport and I had to do the show in the clothes I was wearing; a kimono and blanket combo. But I was like, it can't hurt when it's in the middle of the night in Belgium. I've not even been to Belgium before. And then there were 8,000 people there. 8,000! And it was streamed online with me wearing this blanket and my bass player only had his hawaiian shirt on. I guess we were quite the sight. But that's festivals for you. People hope to see something new.- Possibly that I haven't got time to do anything else. I miss reading books in quiet surroundings, hiking in the mountains, picking blueberries. I haven't got the time to do those things now. There are so many things happening and I'm too tired. And I miss my family. I have pictures of them with me. It's good of them not to send me messages and call me too often, that would've made things worse. They understand that I need to be where I am right now.- To be honest I'd like to live somewhere even more remote. A place without people. Where I can pretend that I'm on my own little planet.Aurora Aksnes writes songs everywhere she goes. She has "at least seven" notebooks with her on tour, partly because she looses a couple along the way. In her books she jots down fragments of the world: a tramp, a hug, calm or chaos, a smell, you name it. Everything is churned through the Aurora filter and comes out in the other end as the fragile, broken and powerful report that we know from her first album.- Yes. That's exactly how it is. Spot on!While travelling it all starts with the lyrics. At home the travel starts with the piano. She just plays. As far as sheet music goes it's just cumbersome.- Iable to read sheet music at a pinch. But it's like reading a book in French when you've had some French at school - it's very cumbersome and you have to consult your dictionary all the time.- Yes, I did. I just learned the classical pieces by heart by listening to them. I'm good at playing by ear. But he found out when I played at this old people's home and I had forgotten the sheets at home but played regardless. Today I'm pleased I'm not very well schooled in music. I don't like it when it becomes too logical. The music looses its life.Aurora pauses uncharacteristically.- Well, you know, I come from this very beautiful place, peaceful and unspoilt. But now that I've travelled so much I've seen things that aren't very beautiful. It seems like the world is worse off now than it used to be, but then again we're flooded with all sorts or news, almost intravenously so. But we have to remember that there are very many good things happening as well. It's so nice when people manage to react calmly when awful things happen around us. It's beautiful to see that even the most awful things generate a lot of love.- The tendency that we all seem to be driven by fear. It can ruin so much. Fear can influence how you regard people, how you regard a country. And it can stop you from doing what you'd really want to do. I'd remove man's need for power and the tendency to abuse power. Seeing how many create fear in others just to gain power themselves is just sad.All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend is the title of Aurora's first and so far sole album.- The title alludes to both the the external and the internal. I often see people around me who're looking, in some search of who and what they are. In such a phase people can act in a strange and hostile way. It's important then to remember the nice aspects of these people, remember that they go through this search phase. That way what they do doesn't drain you of your energy. You have to accept yourself the way you are. That way you're able to accept others.- Everything that we have around us mirrors what's inside us so it's important to make friends with your inner demons as well. Make friends with the inner voice of yours that tells you that you're not good enough. It's important to remember that you too are a person in search of yourself, that you have positive qualities and that you can still make mistakes.- That's a good question. I really didn't have time to dream about standing on stage and living off my music before I suddenly did it. Hm. So what I dream about now is making an album that is 100% the way I want it. No, not 100%, 98%. I have to learn to accept that not everything turns out the way I want. I have this strong vision with everything that I do but instead of focussing on details I have to accept what these songs - not 100% perfect they may be - mean to so many people. That people listen to them and feel love. Or grief. That's the important thing.- No, never. I have deep roots that are difficult to unroot. AURORA Music is a cloud, otherworldly and magical. Aurora Aksnes is a tree.(Original article at www.aftenposten.no/amagasinet/Aurora-Aksnes---Jeg-hadde-aldri-trodd-det-skulle-ta-sa-av-600553b.html) Reply

