Catch up with Melbourne‐based electro‐pop artist Aeora and listen to her new single "Medicine" from her forthcoming EP, Alt., due out in July.
What first got you interested in music?
I guess I was surrounded by music when I was very young as my parents like to play the radio or old records around the house. I liked singing along to songs. I guess the first inspiration to write and play music was when I listened to Taylor Swift and watched this doco on her about her starting it all when she was like 12 years old or something. I picked up guitar and piano and started writing.
Why choose the moniker Aeora?
I'm not really sure actually. I think it's because I don't really like the idea of my personal name being out there. So I guess I just wanted to have another name that was simple and stuff. So yeah, Aeora.
Which musicians would you say you've been influenced by?
BANKS, Tay tay, James Blake, Lorde and so many, many more. But they're probably the big ones.
How would you describe your sound to someone who had never heard your music before?
I guess it's pretty much just pop-electro. But my lyrics are a bit more pop and I like to tell a story usually. It's also quite dark, so I like to use some heavy beats and bass along with some shouty vocals haha.
What were your inspirations behind your single, "Medicine"?
I wrote "Medicine" about this really intense period in my life and spoke about a few aspects of it. I really wanted it to be quite dark. So the darkness was inspired by a lot of BANKS stuff and then after hearing Owen's (Rabbit) track "Denny's" I really wanted to get him to do the production of it.
Can you tell us more about what we can expect to hear from your forthcoming EP, Alt.?
Well! There's going to be 5 songs (including "Medicine" and another single that will come out earlier than the EP). There are a few more dark songs on there but there's also some sadder ones that have this kind of lush production behind it all. It's very exciting because there's going to be a lot of production that I've never tried before (as I'm working with another producer) and it's all just sounding pretty awesome right now. I'm super excited to release it all :)
What do you want your listeners to be able to take away from your music?
I like music that you can understand the story and the emotions behind it. I make it pretty important to write about things that matter to me and I really care about getting the vocals and production to match those feelings. So, all I'd want is for listeners to feel those things and understand them. It's cool when you have this mutual connection through music.
Is there anything you'd like to add?
Right now I'm watching Beyoncé's Lemonade video and I'm literally dying. This interview really took longer than it should have for me just because Beyoncé is a beautiful goddess and this is so great.